Monster Paradise

by LightNovels

343-

9. Chapter 9

Chapter 1001: Lurker

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin Huang hid in the alternate dimension and watched everything that was happening on the platform of the airships through the semitransparent defensive shield far away.

Despite the defensive layer through which he could not see the people's faces, he could sense each of their combat strengths clearly.

"How many demigods are there in the Purple Crow?!" The Purple Crow had 14 demigods, which shocked him. He initially thought the Purple Crow would only have four to five demigods at the most. However, the reality was three times more than he expected.

"I suppose the demigods from each zone are gathered here. Wow, they're really going all out!" Bloody said while smiling, "But the number is really so much higher than we expected."

"Seven among the 14 demigods just elevated these recent months." The stone tablet's voice came all of a sudden. "A few of them haven't even had their demigod aura stabilized completely."

Lin Huang smiled casually after hearing what the stone tablet said. "I see… I suppose they know they're short-handed since the Crow Spirit election is happening this year. They picked a few of the imperial-level purple gold-rank members who are hopeless to elevate to Virtual Gods and elevated them to demigods."

Although Bloody could not hear the stone tablet's voice transmission, it figured Lin Huang must be speaking to something inside his body and could not help but to interrupt, "What you said is highly possible. The Purple Crow's all set for the Crow God Ceremony this time, so they definitely are ready for any interference. Elevating demigods at the very last minute before the Crow God Ceremony is indeed the best way to fortify the number of members with top combat strength in the organization."

"But I can't figure out their standard of Crow Spirit candidates." Lin Huang raised another doubt. "Theoretically, the higher the combat strength is, the better it is for the Crow God's body because a high combat strength would mean a stronger flesh and soul. That should be the best Crow Spirit candidate. I think it's best for them to pick a demigod as the Crow Spirit. However, not only did they pick a couple of immortal-level candidates, but there's even a holy fire-level among them."

"What you said is merely your subjective judgment." The stone tablet could not help but point out through voice transmission again after hearing Lin Huang's observation. "The most important thing when it comes to picking the right body isn't the strength of flesh and soul but the compatibility."

"To powerhouses who are on true god-level or above, imperial- and holy fire-levels are no difference to them; they're just ants. To them, the difficulty of transforming a holy fire-level's flesh and soul is no different from transforming an imperial-level. The most would just be the slight difference in the time spent."

"What you said about demigods being the most suitable vessel is so wrong on all levels."

"Unless there's no other option, no True God would want a demigod to be their vessel. The reason being, the broken Godhead in a demigod's body would be a great limitation. Using a demigod as their vessel would mean that the maximum combat strength of the vessel can only be perfect-stage demigod-level. On the other hand, the True God could possibly train the candidate to virtual god-level or even true god-level if he picks an imperial- or immortal-level candidate with outstanding potential."

While Lin Huang was in a heated discussion with the stone tablet and Bloody in the alternate dimension, the world out there was tossed into chaos as well.

Below the sea level of the Tranquil Ocean, the people from God Bless hid in a demigod relic space a couple of kilometers away from Lin Huang's alternate dimension.

The demigod relic was disguised into a liquid droplet and rippled following the waves on the Tranquil Ocean.

The people in the droplet observed everything that was happening on the airship not far away.

Two people in the space were fighting.

"Commander Feng, I think we should give up on the second target of our mission which is the Crow Spirit. As soon as the Purple Crow takes the Detective Eye out, we'll snatch it immediately. We don't have to wait for the Crow God Ceremony to begin so that we can avoid unnecessary trouble," Shen Yu suggested directly.

"Shen Yu, Master God's Messenger gave us two missions. You're asking us to give up on one mission before we've even begun. What are you trying to do here?" Commander Feng looked at Shen Yu in contempt.

"So, let me say this to your face. Your suggestion has been rejected. I'm the commander and it's my call. I want both of the mission targets! We're not giving up on any of them!"

"Feng Li, it only takes a few minutes to transform the Crow Spirit's body. If you want to capture the Crow Spirit, you can only do that within those few short minutes. It undoubtedly raises the difficulty of the mission by heaps. If we fail to capture the Crow Spirit within the given time, we'll be fighting an opponent who is comparable to perfect-stage demigod-level or even virtual god-level when the integration of the Crow Spirit and the Crow God is completed! By then, we might not even complete any of our missions!"

"Then, we'll capture the Crow Spirit within the few minutes of transformation!" Feng Li insisted while glaring at Shen Yu.

"You mother—" A young man gripped Shen Yu's shoulder and shook his head when Shen Yu almost cursed out loud.

It was the other Division 3 captain, Li Qing.

"Shen Yu, if you insist on disobeying my order like this, I'll talk to Master God's Messenger and send you out of Division 3 when the mission is over."

"I don't need you to talk to him. I'll do it myself. You as*-kisser, I've been tolerating you for way too long! I'll report your misguidance if this mission fails!" In his rage, Shen Yu shook Li Qing's hand off from his shoulder and began screaming.

Lei An and the other three who stood aside turned pale from the scare.

Even Captain Li Qing smacked his forehead, feeling helpless about the situation.

"Shen Yu, are you asking for death?!" The intention to kill flashed in Feng Li's eyes.

"Alright, alright. Let's take a step back. We're on a mission now. Both of you can solve the conflict between you guys after the mission is over. Don't interfere with the mission." A tall and big fatty walked past Feng Li and stood between both of them. "If Master God's Messenger finds out that the mission failed because of your internal conflict, I'm sure you guys will be in grave trouble! Moreover, we'll be affected too. Please don't hurt the innocent. I'm begging the two of you. Can we do that? I don't want to be sent to God-knows-where for hundreds of years."

"Brother Fatty is right. Don't hurt the innocent." Another female demigod stood out and grabbed both of them.

The duo finally stopped fighting after hearing the fatty mention the God Messenger.

They knew very well that being benched was not the only thing that would happen to them if they really caused the mission to fail because of their internal conflict. They might even have their cultivation abolished and be asked to leave God Bless.

Just when they stopped arguing, they soon saw ten Crow Spirit candidates in white robes surrounded the altar in a circle, flanked by empty space on the airship deck.

Subsequently, the ten of them removed their white robes and revealed their naked bodies.

A black altar seemed to have grown in the middle of the massive platform made out of the four airships. It integrated with the pitch-black platform, appearing out of place.

Ten naked young men and women sat in a circle surrounding the altar with space between each other.

Lu Dong and the other 12 demigods and two demigod-level summoning beasts hovered above the altar. They surrounded the ten Crow Spirit candidates and the altar in order to protect them.

Clearly, they had rehearsed the formation many times. They were in position without even speaking to each other. The entire process took less than a minute.

The Crow Leader hovered into the air above the altar and looked at the time on his Emperor's Heart Ring.

Lin Huang, who was watching in the alternate dimension far away, could not help but glance at the time too.

"11.58 p.m…."

The Crow Leader crossed his arms in front of his chest and shut his eyes. He waited for the time to pass patiently.

A moment later, it was 12 a.m. sharp.

He opened both of his eyes as a gigantic Imperial Palace solidified rapidly above his head.

It was a massive black city. The city walls alone were 100 meters tall and spread tens of kilometers. It was a few folds bigger than the platform made of the four airships.

Two majestic city gates that soared 200 meters high were in the middle of the city wall. They stood even taller than the city walls.

There was a purple crow with its wings spread wide open carved in the middle of the two massive gates. The crow's eyes seemed to have two huge red rubies mounted on them, sitting on each gate.

It was the Purple Crow headquarters, the Crow Leader Yan Ping's Imperial Palace — the Crow City!

As soon as the Imperial Palace appeared, Yan Ping's aura was completely released without him hiding it. He was clearly on perfect-stage demigod-level and was a terrifying existence comparable to a Virtual God.

The air around seemed to have frozen as the massive black city hovered in the sky.

Even Lin Huang could not help but exclaim out loud, "What a gigantic Imperial Palace!" This was the biggest Imperial Palace he had ever witnessed in his life.

"Although a demigod can't form a God Territory, an Imperial Palace possesses a certain God Territory characteristic. It's usually much bigger than an ordinary Imperial Palace," the stone tablet explained.

Just when Lin Huang was musing about the reason Yan Ping summoned the Imperial Palace, Yan Ping began controlling the Crow City.

The eyes of the purple crow on the massive black city gates seemed to light up with a red glow. Two glaring sparks burned all of a sudden.

A rumble broke the sky a moment later.

The two massive gates of the Crow City seemed to be pushed open by a pair of invisible hands.

As soon as the gates were opened, black silhouettes poured towards the altar in a frenzy. They were like a black waterfall drowning the inside of the altar. The black silhouettes in the altar became rowdy, seeming to seek escape. However, they appeared to be shackled by an invisible force.

"That soul power wave…" Lin Huang frowned as he watched. He sensed what the black silhouettes were faintly, but he could not be sure.

"It's his soul. Due to the Imperial Palace, it became visible to the naked eye," the stone tablet explained, "Seems like he's using soul sacrifice to summon the Crow God."

"What a Crow God!" Lin Huang's expression became serious as he watched countless souls being poured into the altar and gradually turning into a black liquid.

The pouring lasted for over ten minutes. Yan Ping only recalled his Imperial Palace when the black liquid in the altar turned into a whirlpool. He took a box from his storage space out.

The box was only the size of a fist. It was the color of blood with black sigils covering it.

Yan Ping performed a complicated hand seal quickly and the black sigils on the box soon began to flow rapidly. Later on, the sigils on the box cover faded and it opened automatically.

There was a crimson eyeball in the box.

Yan Ping seemed not to dare to touch it. When he flicked it through the air, the crimson eyeball flew out of the box and dropped into the whirlpool within the altar below.

A while later, the crimson eyeball began expanding at a high speed.

It grew from normal human-size to a giant sphere of approximately three meters in diameter half a minute later. It hovered from the altar slowly and hung in the air about ten meters from the altar.

The eyeball had completely transformed by now. There were red and purple blood vessels all over it and many blood vessels dangled like vines from it. They connected to the whirlpool in the altar below.

The eye now had a red iris and a pitch-black pupil.

An ominous aura spread across the space, lingering in this broken mini world.

Even Lin Huang felt a slight suppression as he watched everything far away in the alternate dimension. He had goosebumps all over and his scalp tingled numbly.

He did not find the eye scary, but rather it was the Crow God's aura that spread out which gave him a physiological reaction.

The people who had the same reaction at the same time were the God Bless members and Hong Zhuang who were hiding in the dark.

"This is scary. The aura alone gives someone a sense of despair. It can almost make someone lose their will to fight," Lin Huang could not help but exclaim.

"Apart from a True God's Holy Power, this Crow God should have some other suppressing power that exudes such spiritual oppression that's so much higher than others who are on the same level as he is!" explained the stone tablet.

On the deck of the airships, everyone including the Crow Leader Yan Ping, the other 13 demigods and the two demigod-level imperial monsters fell from the air onto the deck due to the Crow God's Holy Power.

The ten naked men and women at the border of the altar were quivering. They were not afraid, but it was a physiological terror that made them lose control of their bodies.

All demigods had Divine Power in their bodies, so they had a certain resistance to such Holy Power. However, people below demigod-level who had zero Divine Power in their bodies were like naked humans in the snow whereby they could not resist the Holy Power's suppression at all.

Yan Ping, who hovered above the air, spoke as soon as the eyeball had completed its transformation.

"Master God, we've picked ten Crow Spirit candidates. You may select the Crow Spirit."

The eyeball peeped at Yan Ping and subsequently glanced through the ten naked men and women below one after another.

Less than ten seconds later, the eyeball stared at the fifth person all of a sudden after it had just glanced through five of them.

Yan Ping and the rest held their breaths. 'He's done picking so soon?'

The eyeball was staring at the young man who had the lowest combat strength among the ten candidates.

The young man looked only 17 or 18 years old. He was skinny and stood less than 1.7 meters tall. Despite his tanned skin, he was not considered good-looking. There was a circle of black, complicated sigils on the left side of his chest which looked like a black tattoo.

There was a massive amount of black fog billowing out of the eye, forming a massive black silhouette before the young man. The black shadow looked like a crow spreading its wings, and there were 108 red pupils on the black silhouette's head like a sky full of stars.

"Young man, tell me your name." The black silhouette's head came less than a meter before the young man and asked for the young man's name. Its voice was overlapping; it sounded like more than 100 men and women talking at the same time.

The young man's shivering body surprisingly calmed down as he looked at the black silhouette's 108 pupils that looked like stars. He told his name without hesitation, "My… My name is Xiao Mo…"

When the Crow God asked for the young man's name, Yan Ping and the rest of the demigods knew very well that the Crow God had basically decided on the Crow Spirit.

However, Lu Dong and the rest were a little confused.

Among the ten candidates, the Crow God had gone for the one with the lowest combat strength. Furthermore, he went for the most inconspicuous person.

Almost everyone thought the young man who had just broken through to white flame-level recently was just a stand-in for the Crow Spirit candidate.

Even Xiao Mo himself thought the same too. However, never had he thought that the Crow God would select him right away.

The black silhouette which was the incarnation of Crow God asked in a deep voice, "Xiao Mo… Are you willing to be my Crow Spirit?" His voice remained overlapping.

"I do!" The young man nodded vigorously.

"The deal is done!"

As soon as the Crow God was done speaking, crimson beams of light shot out of the 108 pupils at the same time. It was as if a bloody sun was shining with an endless glow, causing everyone to shut their eyes.

The red glow only went off for a second. As soon as their vision recovered, they saw Xiao Mo hanging mid-air and the Crow God's black silhouette entering his body at a high speed by turning into a black fog and entering through his mouth and nose.

Xiao Mo's body hovered into the air without him controlling it. His flesh and bones were disintegrating. Subsequently, his body was reforming at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye.

However, the process was clearly an unpleasant one. While Xiao Mo's flesh was flying all over in the air, the remaining nine candidates were frowning slightly as they witnessed the horrible scene while hearing his devastating shriek.

…

In a droplet disguised beneath the Tranquil Ocean, Commander Feng Li put on a golden mask and ordered without hesitation upon seeing Xiao Mo being wrapped within the Crow God, "Let's go!"

As soon as the order was issued, Shen Yu and the other three demigods who wore their masks got out of the droplet space.

A thousand-meter high wave rumbled on the peaceful the Tranquil Ocean, advancing toward the airship.

Four white silhouettes were riding on top of the massive wave.

The four had a majestic aura, clearly exhibiting their demigod status. Furthermore, one of them even had the same combat strength as Yang Ping which was perfect-stage demigod-level.

The Crow Leader Yan Ping narrowed his eyes as he watched the wave coming. "Lu Dong, bring the nine candidates with you! Leave the imperial monsters behind!"

Lu Dong had no objection upon hearing the order. He was different from Lin Huang whereby he was purely an Imperial Censor, and his combat ability lagged far behind compared to his imperial monsters. Although he was a demigod, he might lose if he encountered an imperial-level who was experienced in combat.

"All candidates, follow me!" Lu Dong knew he would be a burden if he stayed, so he obeyed the order directly.

The nine of them stood up immediately. They did not even take the white robe lying on the ground and ran toward Lu Dong with their naked bodies.

They had rehearsed such a crisis multiple times before. They followed Lu Dong into the elevator without saying anything.

On the massive platform, only 13 demigods, two demigod-level imperial monsters and Xiao Mo, who hovered in the air taking in the Crow God's transformation above the altar, were left.

The giant wave collided with the giant airship's defenses almost at the same time that Lu Dong brought the nine candidates away in the elevator.

Shen Yu and the other three demigods attacked at the same time as the collision.

Shen Yu held a demigod battle saber and swung it across the sky. A crescent-shaped black glow charged out and collided with the defensive layer.

Li Qing held a blue sword weapon in his hand. A dazzling white glow shone when the tip of the sword struck the shield.

Meanwhile, the female demigod held a silver sword in her hand. The tip of the sword also smashed into the defenses as she swung it across, and a silver glow exploded like fireworks.

However, the one who had the most powerful combat strength was the tall and big fatty. Just like Yan Ping, he had perfect-stage demigod-level combat strength and he held a giant dark blue spear in his hand.

The giant spear was five meters long and the body was in a spiral form.

When the fatty laid his palms at the bottom of the spear handle, the giant spear shot out into the air. Everywhere the tip of the spear passed by became distorted, including the air.

Yan Ping and the other Purple Crow demigods had a dramatic change of expression when they saw the power coming from the spear.

"Is that a god relic?!"

Meanwhile, Lin Huang who was hiding in the dark was shocked. "Is that the Ba Huang spear?!"

The Ba Huang spear was the god relic spear that Lin Huang had auctioned off at the Wanbao Auction earlier which turned out to be a bought-in. Someone bought it with three God Figurines and two demigod soul crystals later on. Never had he thought it would end up with God Bless.

Soon, the Ba Huang spear tip hit the defensive shield formed by the four demigod airships.

An endless golden light exploded from the collision while strong winds spread from the center. A tsunami was set off on the peaceful Tranquil Ocean.

The four Midnight God airships went through a slight tremor as a result of the hit, and they even sank close to a meter lower. Finally, a spider web-like crack appeared on the defensive shield formed from the Divine Power coming from the Divine Stone above the airships.

Yan Ping and the rest of the Purple Crow demigods were frowning as they watched. They knew very well that the defenses would not last any longer.

"Such a tough tortoise shell!" The fatty smirked. He was a little worried that the defensive layer might not have any damages from the attack. If that was the case, they would have to spend a lot of time breaking the shield and might miss the opportunity to capture the Crow Spirit. Now, it seemed like the concern was unnecessary.

Soon, the fatty swung the spear for the second time, and the third time… After-shadows were drawn in the sky one after another.

Meanwhile, the two demigod imperial monsters above the airships and the other two in the ocean attempted to stop the fatty from breaking the defensive layer. However, they were hindered by the other three demigods.

The airships' defenses finally collapsed when the tip of the spear struck the same spot for the third time. It broke like a piece of glass, collapsing and fading away.

Finally, everything on the platform was clearly exposed to the outside world.

Lin Huang could finally see how the young man who was selected as the Crow Spirit looked like.

In the alternate dimension, he was clearly stunned when he saw the face of the young man who was hovering above the altar.

"Isn't that… Xiao Mo?!"

The person had been his roommate back at the Purple Crow training camp. Lin Huang almost forgot his name. Never had he thought he would see him again at such an occasion.

Xiao Mo had had few changes to his appearance. He was slightly taller now, but his skin remained tanned. What made Lin Huang recognize him right away was the bunch of complicated sigils on the left of his chest.

That was not some tattoo, but the mark of the Descendants of the Sin. Nobody would get a slave mark as a tattoo at their own will.

As Xiao Mo hovered above the altar, not only were his flesh and bones reforming, but even his combat strength was elevating at a terrifying speed.

He elevated a rank almost every few seconds.

White flame-level!

Crimson flame-level!

Blue flame-level!

…

In a short burst of time, his combat strength broke through to immortal-level directly.

At the same time, Yan Ping and the rest charged toward Shen Yu and the other three on the platform.

As soon as the defensive shield above the airship collapsed, the Purple Crow and God Bless began fighting. They wasted no time with words.

The Purple Crow Leader Yan Ping held a three-foot golden sword in his hand and went after the fatty who had the most powerful combat strength.

The sword in his hand was like a golden arrow burning in golden flame. It only took a second to arrive less than ten seconds before the fatty. Within no time, it was pointing between his brows.

The fatty grinned. The spear in his hand shrunk and turned into a sharp seven-foot spear. The tip of the spear turned into a sharp blade that was close to 30 centimeters long.

He looked at his opponent in a condescending way as he swung the spear like an agile dragon.

A dark-blue fire burned on the dark-blue spear, making it look like a meteor shooting toward the golden sword.

The two god relics collided in the next second.

As soon as the tips of the sword and the spear met, the two perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouses did not hold back as they inserted all their Divine Power into the god relics in their hands.

A golden sun formed at the point of the collision when the god relics and Divine Power clashed intensely.

Subsequently, the golden sun above the airship began to expand rapidly like a balloon as the duo inserted their Divine Power into the weapons.

The glaring golden glow began to spread all over. The terrifying impact of the duo's impact soon made everyone in the fight step back immediately.

Only two the Purple Crow demigods remained to hold the defense above the altar up, covering Xiao Mo and the altar within.

However, a white silhouette shot out of the ocean at a high speed that very instant. As opposed to the rest who retreated, the white silhouette was going after the altar.

The ten Purple Crow demigods reacted one after another. They attempted to stop the white silhouette, but it was terrifyingly quick. It dodged the attacks easily like a loach.

The white-robed man was the same as the rest of them in white robes. He wore a golden mask on his face and his right hand had a black glove over it.

He arrived at the altar within the span of a breath. Then, with his gloved hand, he pressed his right palm on the shield built by the two demigods.

The defenses broke almost immediately.

The pupils of the two Purple Crow demigods shrunk slightly. The glove was clearly a god relic!

The duo ground their teeth and attacked the man with the glove almost at the same time. Instantly, black and purple Divine Power charged out.

The man with the glove scoffed while his perfect-stage demigod-level aura exploded. He pointed two fingers outward and two black streaks flicked from his fingers like bullets. They broke through the two Divine Power attacks like a piece of cake.

Shock flashed through their eyes and they stepped back immediately.

The man with the glove did not go after them. Instead, he grabbed Xiao Mo's shoulder with his left hand and tossed him away with immense strength.

At the same time, a couple of the Purple Crow demigods who were far away arrived before him.

A couple of white silhouettes came out of the ocean all of a sudden. They were going after Xiao Mo who was falling although their combat strength was only on imperial-level.

A giant tentacle that was hundreds of meters long shot out of the ocean, entangling around Xiao Mo before the white silhouettes could get to him.

Meanwhile, more than 20 imperial-level purple gold-rank powerhouses came out of the ocean again. They were hacking at the tentacle by constructing a battle formation.

"Xiao Mo…" Lin Huang frowned slightly as he watched Xiao Mo becoming the target of the battle. He was hesitating if he should get involved in the fight.

After all, Xiao Mo would live a torturous life if he ended up with God Bless.

However, he would turn into the Crow God's shell completely if he stayed with the Purple Crow. He would also have his consciousness wiped away.

No matter which organization he ended up with, Xiao Mo's fate was set to be miserable.

Just when Lin Huang was hesitating, a crimson pupil on the Crow God's black silhouette lit up all of a sudden. A loud, overlapping voice drifted across the ocean. "Are you asking for death?!"

The Crow God was enraged!

The sound wave spread out hundreds of times faster than the speed of sound. Tens of God Bless imperial-level powerhouses in white robes had zero resistance to that and they exploded right away.

Even the tentacle of the monster that stretched above the ocean towards Xiao Mo turned into dust.

The demigod monster beneath the ocean let out a devastating shriek and burrowed deep in the ocean immediately.

All the demigods above the airship spat mouthfuls of blood out.

Even the two perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouses who were fighting held their breaths. The golden sun between their god relics that had been maintaining its balance shattered.

The duo stepped back immediately because they knew very well that the explosion caused by the collision should not be underestimated.

However, Feng Li, who was wearing the glove, did not leave the airship deck just yet. A ferocious gleam flashed through his eyes. He held his right fist with the glove tightly with Divine Power rushing into it. He was punching the Detective Eye.

"You're asking for death!"

A furious voice came from the Detective Eye at that moment.

The eyeball shifted its focus and glared at Feng Li.

A powerful spiritual suppression was released from the Detective Eye just then. Even Lin Huang, who was in the alternate dimension a couple of kilometers away, felt his heart sink.

Bearing the brunt, Feng Li froze completely as if he was entrapped in a spell. In reality, apart from him, nobody knew what had just happened.

He saw a real crimson eye through the Detective Eye. The second he saw the eye, his soul went through an intense tremor like an earthquake.

Fortunately, a golden glow came to suppress the tremor. His soul was stabilized and he narrowly escaped having his soul destroyed.

However, his eyes shattered instantly. While it was the price to pay for an ordinary person to look at a True God, it was also the lowest price one could pay.

Although he escaped death from the soul-type god relic in his soul which he prepared ahead, the power from the True God's eye struck the god relic, so it still rang intensely in his head. He lost all of his senses at the moment, and his Divine Power retreated back to his body.

He could not even feel that his eyes were now blinded.

Just when everyone was wondering what happened to Feng Li, a pitch-black arrow shot through the air.

The strike tore the air and nobody saw the arrow's flight trajectory. The arrow that came with black fog collided right into the Detective Eye.

There was no thud or collision noise.

When the black arrow hit the Detective Eye, it turned into a lump of black liquid that spread rapidly as if it was alive.

In the alternate dimension, Lin Huang raised his brow. He knew another party had attacked. It must be Hong Zhuang and Yang Ling if he was not mistaken. However, Lin Huang was unsure if they had any help.

"I can't believe they're using the Abyssal Demon Curse to contaminate a god item. Under normal circumstances, such a disposable curse arrow can only be used in battles in the other world. Also, it isn't something that's available in this world," said the stone tablet's voice calmly, "Seems like your friend who has been helping you to unlock storage equipment is familiar with the other world."

Just when Lin Huang was chatting with the stone tablet, the black silhouette, which the Crow God had taken the form of, was completely mad.

"Come out now, all of you bastards who are hiding!"

The voice diffused more than a hundred times faster than the speed of sound. Everyone who was hiding in the dark within 1,000 kilometers was forced out.

Even Lin Huang was squeezed out of the alternate dimension by a mighty force after sensing a tremor.

The Ninetails Lynx that was sitting on his shoulder looked solemn like it had never before as it watched the Crow God which had taken on the black silhouette form.

"What's wrong? I just want to watch." Lin Huang looked aggrieved when he saw many members from the Purple Crow and God Bless staring at him.

Lin Huang really did not want to stick his nose in the bickering the Purple Crow and God Bless were in.

He came here this time to see the fight between demigods. After all, it was hard for such a level of battle to come by. Apart from that, he was rather curious about what God Bless was trying to do. On the other hand, he wanted to know what Hong Zhuang was up to.

Never had he thought that he would be forced out of the alternate dimension by the Crow God's projection.

"Lin Xie?" Among the God Bless members, Li Qing and the rest soon recognized him.

The division that Li Qing was in had issued the order to capture Lin Xie. That was how they identified him as soon as they saw him.

Although not many demigods from the Purple Crow knew him, they had heard his name before. After all, he was the young supreme genius who ranked No. 1 on the Genius Union leaderboard for two years consecutively. Everyone more or less heard about him.

Lin Huang was calm despite realizing that he had been recognized. He waved while smiling. "I just happened to pass by, so I thought I'd stay to watch. Please proceed. Just pretend that I'm not here."

The demigods were rather speechless.

However, noticing that his combat strength was only on immortal-level and figuring that he was not a threat, they shifted their focus.

They clearly had a greater threat on the other side with ten demigods including Yang Ling and Hong Zhuang.

Even Lin Huang was a little surprised to see the ten demigods behind the duo.

"Smart Puppets? Interesting…" The stone tablet's voice came out of the blue. "I suppose this guy who helped you unlock those stuff is a traveler too?"

"How could you tell?" Lin Huang thought it was rather peculiar. "Also, what's a Smart Puppet? Are you talking about those demigods?"

"It's simple. What he's doing isn't something that someone is capable of doing in this world," the stone tablet explained, "The genetic technology in this world is advanced, but the artificial intelligence technology is almost non-existent. The modification he made to those demigod bodies can't be found in this world."

"Demigod bodies?" Lin Huang took a closer look but did not see anything off. "How come they don't look like dead bodies to me? They look quite real."

"They look real, but in reality, he used artificial intelligence to replace the vanished souls in these bodies. Only very few people in the great world can do this. Since he managed to come up with these products, it only proves that he's an expert in this field."

"So, how're these demigods different from dead puppets?" Lin Huang asked again.

"It's a major difference!" The stone tablet laughed. "Dead puppets only have the remnant of battle will whereby they depend mainly on their battle instincts or require a master to control them. Their abilities are far behind what they possessed when they were alive. However, these Smart Puppets that he made have bodies of a demigod with battle data installed. The puppets can perform calculations on the spot during the battle and the speed of their calculation surpasses the human brain by heaps. If I'm not mistaken, these ten puppets' abilities should be much more powerful than when they were still alive."

"Look, the puppets all have god relics in their hands. We can tell who's going to the biggest winner of this battle," the stone table spoke while smiling.

"But I think the Crow God's projection is scarier." In comparison, Lin Huang was more afraid of the Crow God's projection. He figured that the projection's capacity was on at least virtual god-level.

"Although the Crow God's projection is powerful, the medium, which is the Detective Eye, has been contaminated by the Demon Curse. When the medium is completely contaminated, that will be when the Crow God loses contact with this world. By then, the Crow God's projection will fade automatically." However, the stone tablet disagreed with the notion that the Crow God's projection was a threat.

"Lin Xie, you came after all." Yang Ling let out a soft sigh when he saw Lin Huang. "Must you interfere with this?"

"I said that I'm just here to watch. Just go ahead and ignore me. Just pretend that I'm not here." Lin Huang smiled while spreading his arms.

Standing aside while observing Lin Huang, Hong Zhuang asked all of a sudden, "Did we meet somewhere before?"

"The last time, I went looking for Yang Ling to unlock the stuff at the hotel. It was you who opened the door," Lin Huang replied naturally, "Don't you remember that?"

"That's not it. I mean before that. Did we meet somewhere else?" Hong Zhuang proceeded to ask.

"I don't think so. I'd definitely remember you if we had met before," Lin Huang denied directly. He did not want to have any association with Hong Zhuang at all.

Just when Hong Zhuang wanted to say something, she was interrupted by the Crow God's projection.

The 108 crimson pupils on the gigantic black projection stared at Hong Zhuang and the rest.

"I'll keep your dead bodies in one piece if you give me the anecdote!" The overlapping voice was as if 100 men and women were talking at the same time through everyone's ears.

"I'm sorry. I'd like to live, so I'll reject your offer." Yang Ling took a step back.

Lin Huang sensed no cultivation aura on Yang Ling, but he had no idea why he seemed like he was standing on the ground when in reality, he was standing in the air.

"Go to hell then!"

As soon as the Crow God's projection was done speaking, a black thread stretched from its projected body at a terrifying speed hundreds of times faster than the speed of sound. It pierced through Yang Ling's body in the next second.

The hit was so fleet that even Lin Huang did not manage to react in time. He saw Yang Ling's body being stabbed by a black thread and he was pitched high into the air.

"Yang Ling…" Lin Huang frowned but soon something shocking happened.

Yang Ling's body that was tossed into the air like a ragdoll disintegrated into cubes rapidly and soon vanished. However, countless cubes reformed next to Hong Zhuang in the next second. To Lin Huang's fascination, Yang Ling's body seemed completely unharmed.

"Crow God, you can't kill me with your projection alone." Yang Ling seemed like he was narrating a fact expressionlessly.

"Hmph!" Another black thread stretched out after the scoff, piercing through Yang Ling's body again.

As his body disintegrated into cubes, more black threads extended from the Crow God's projection to attack the thousands of cubes.

However, the cubes that were attacked merely broke into smaller cubes instead of being destroyed completely.

Just like that, the thousands of cubes broke into smaller cubes again and again. Eventually, they broke into millions of tiny cubes that were almost invisible to the naked eye. By then, the Crow God recalled the black threads grudgingly.

In the next second, Yang Ling's body consolidated next to Hong Zhuang again. This time, it took slightly longer than before.

"No wonder you're so arrogant before me. It seems that you've mastered the Rule Bending Power," the Crow God's projection spoke calmly. It clearly knew what Yang Ling was doing.

"You're worthy of being called the Crow God." Yang Ling grinned. "Let's make a deal."

Lim Huang was dumbstruck as he watched Yang Ling, who he thought had zero cultivation, remain unharmed after being attacked by the Crow God's projection twice.

He was even more shocked when he heard the conversation between the Crow God and Yang Ling.

"The Rule Bending Power? Isn't that something that can only be mastered by a True God? Could Yang Ling be a True God? Has he been hiding his aura? Is this why I can't sense it?"

"He didn't hide his aura. He really has zero cultivation." The stone tablet's voice soon came into Lin Huang's ears.

"Then, why did the Crow God say he mastered Rule Bending Power?"

Hearing the question, the stone tablet fell into a moment of silence before answering, "Maybe he used to be a True God or even a more powerful being."

The stone tablet's answer made Lin Huang stare at Yang Ling in awe.

…

At that moment, Yang Ling began talking to the Crow God. He showed no respect to the Crow God, using a tone that he usually spoke to the neighbors with.

"Let's make a deal. I'll remove the curse on your eye and let you complete the Crow Spirit transformation. The condition is that you'll give us the eye."

"Who do you think you are? It was you who cast the curse but you're using that against me now?" The Crow God's projection rejected the condition directly. He was clearly disgruntled judging by his tone.

Yang Ling fell into silence for a moment with his head down. He then lifted his head to look at the Crow God's projection. "I'll owe you a favor. I can do one thing for you when I get to the great world as long as it's something that doesn't cross the line."

Yang Ling's offer made the Crow God fall into silence. He seemed to be thinking about whether the deal was worthy or not.

He seemed to have come to a final decision a moment later.

"I decline. Although you might be a True God or even a more powerful existence before, you have zero cultivation now. It's simple to determine from your aura that you've been staying in this broken world for a long time, but you've remained cultivation-less. It proves that something is very wrong with your body or maybe something is wrong with your cultivation base.

"No matter what's wrong with your body, judging from your current condition, the probability of you getting back to your initial combat strength is almost zero. I'd accept the deal you made without hesitation if you were at your peak, but now, your favor means nothing to me."

"Hundred-eyed Dark Crow, think carefully. If you reject my suggestion now, you might not have the opportunity to come to this gravel world again in the future." Yang Ling called out the Crow God's tribe name directly. He clearly knew about the tribe very well.

"Are you threatening me now?" The Crow God knew that his projection would be destroyed as soon as the medium was completely contaminated. Furthermore, if Yang Ling obtained the medium, he would definitely disconnect the eye with the Crow God's consciousness. It would be almost impossible for the Crow God to project himself into the world in the future unless the people from Purple Crow managed to find another god item to connect him from the other realm.

"I'm just hoping that you can think this through." Yang Ling's tone remained calm.

"I've thought it through." The Crow God's projection looked ferocious. "All of you, go to hell!"

Hundreds of black threads shot out of the projection in a frenzy immediately. They were flying toward Lin Huang and Yang Ling.

Before Lin Huang could react, the Ninetails Lynx pulled him into the alternate dimension.

Two black threads shot like an arrow where Lin Huang and the Ninetails Lynx were initially standing almost the moment when the human and cat disappeared.

Lin Huang looked gloomy as he watched this in the alternate dimension. "Why did he attack me? I'm not in the same team as them!"

"Maybe he just did it for the convenience. Looking at the overall direction, we were in the same direction as Yang Ling and Hong Zhuang." Bloody that was in Lin Huang's sleeve explained, "Look, he didn't attack the other direction where God Bless was."

"Yang Ling and Hong Zhuang are such burdens." Lin Huang was not sure to laugh or cry when he realized the Crow God certainly did not attack the people from God Bless.

One must know that the people from God Bless initiated the fight. However, the Crow God ignored them completely. Yang Ling's words earlier clearly crossed the line and caused Lin Huang to get into trouble.

While Lin Huang managed to dodge the Crow God's attack, Yang Ling and the rest did not.

They seemed to have no plan of evading since the beginning. The ten demigods stepped forward to protect Yang Ling and Hong Zhuang behind them. They charged their Divine Power directly. Ten god relics lit up with the divine glow of various colors at the same time, going after the black threads. What ignited at the same time were the battle armors on them.

Lin Huang was completely shocked to witness that because he just realized that all ten demigods had perfect-stage demigod-level combat strength.

"Damn, Yang Ling is so rich! His ten perfect-stage demigod-level puppets have 20 god relics! He's indeed a whale!"

Naturally, Yang Ling did not hear Lin Huang teasing him in the alternate dimension.

The black threads soon collided with the god relics in the hands of the ten perfect-stage demigod-level puppets above the Tranquil Ocean.

The dark night sky seemed to have lit up with hundreds of mini-suns coming from the impact. The area within thousands of kilometers looked like it turned into day for a second.

The impact of the Divine Power spread out after the red glow came. The entire Tranquil Ocean seemed to have endless boiling waves rumbling.

Within 10,000 meters from the sea level, countless monsters were crushed directly from the tremor. Only a minority of them that had a combat strength above imperial-level were harmed but they survived as they ran for their lives deep into the sea.

Soon, the Tranquil Ocean was dyed red. The entire ocean seemed to have turned into a bloody sea in the blink of an eye.

Even the four demigod-level giant airships a couple of kilometers away began rocking as if they had been hit by an earthquake. The platform at the back of the giant airships seemed like it had been drowned in countless bloody waves like a waterfall. It turned into a swamp right after that.

The demigods from the Purple Crow and God Bless had to put their fight into a halt. They held up their own defenses to fight the impact of the Divine Power coming from the Crow God and Yang Ling.

"So, this is how a virtual god-level collision looks like!" Lin Huang could not help but exclaim as he watched the force. " How terrifying!"

"I'd like to see how many blows the Divine Power all of you have can take!" The Crow God's projection's voice soon spread out.

Lin Huang did not see what happened to the fight under the glaring red glow caused by the collision. However, judging from what the Crow God said, the latter did not get what he wanted from the first strike.

Hundreds of black threads shot out of the black silhouette. Not only were there more threads this time, but the attack speed was also much faster now.

However, the Crow God ignored Lin Huang and the Ninetails Lynx that were hiding in the alternate dimension this time. He clearly made Yang Ling and the rest of the team his main killing target.

The black threads danced around the ten demigods just when the Crow God was done speaking.

The Divine Power in the ten demigods' bodies went through a tremor again. They held their god relics and charged fearlessly.

The collision from the ten demigods and the Crow God's projection was like countless of nuclear bombs setting off consecutively above the Tranquil Ocean. It seemed as if massive, bloody suns lit up the entire ocean as if it was daytime.

Countless lives in the Tranquil Ocean were crushed from the impact, dying the entire ocean red.

The sea seemed to be like a washing machine that was set on turbo mode, only a hundred times faster. Endless giant waves rumbled and poured down like a waterfall.

Water vapor evaporated in the high temperature, causing the sea level of the Tranquil Ocean to drop at a worrying rate.

The fight between the Purple Crow and God Bless had since moved away from the area to tens of kilometers away.

Apart from Yang Ling and his team as well as the Crow God's projection, Lin Huang, Bloody, and the Ninetails Lynx in the alternate dimension and Xiao Mo whose combat strength remained elevating were the only ones left.

Although they were in the middle of the battle, the Crow God's projection did not stop the transformation process on Xiao Mo.

The black fog continued to penetrate Xiao Mo's mouth and nose. His combat strength aura had elevated all the way from white flame-level to imperial-level. However, the speed of his elevation had clearly slowed down. Nobody knew if it was caused by the Crow God's projection being distracted in the fight or Xiao Mo's elevation on imperial-level.

Within a mere few seconds, the Crow God's projection collided with the ten demigods more than a hundred times.

However, the Divine Power in the ten demigods' bodies was yet to be drained. Even Lin Huang thought it was rather odd. Theoretically, demigods could not generate Divine Power in their bodies. The Divine Power in their bodies would dwindle whenever they used it.

Naturally, the Crow God noticed that too, but he did not plan to stop attacking just yet.

"I didn't tell you earlier, but the Divine Power in these demigod puppets' bodies can't be drained. I want you to experience it yourself." Yang Ling's voice came behind the demigod puppets, "After all, you'll only believe it after experiencing it."

The Crow God's projection scoffed and he did not slow down on his attack at all.

"Do you know why the Divine Power in these puppets' bodies can't be drained?" Yang Ling's voice soon came again. "Because I installed the True God's Divine Fire in their bodies. The Divine Power in their bodies are bottomless, they can never finish it."

"You're lying. A demigod's body can't handle the True God's Divine Fire at all unless the True God gave it up willingly," the Crow God finally responded.

"What if I made the Divine Fire myself?" Yang Ling asked.

The Crow God fell into silence at that moment.

"I spent hundreds of years studying the Godhead and Divine Fire, so I've finally managed to come up with the Divine Tinder more than a hundred years later. After that, I spent decades figuring out a way to integrate the Divine Tinder. Unfortunately, I've not experienced a breakthrough in studying the Godhead. Otherwise, you would see more than just demigods today," Yang Ling explained while smiling.

"Give it up. The speed of the Divine Power supply in these puppets' bodies is comparable with a True God's. It's impossible for you to defeat them by draining the Divine Power in their bodies," Yang Ling proceeded to advise the Crow God, "The suggestion I gave still stands. As soon as you give us the eye, we'll remove the contamination immediately so that you can complete the Crow God Ceremony."

The Crow God turned his head to look at the Detective Eye, 80% of which had black goo dripping all over it. Only a small portion was untouched.

"You're running out of time." Yang Ling peeped at the direction of the Detective Eye and bent his head down to look at the time on his Emperor's Heart Ring. "Looking at the current progress, the eye will be completely contaminated within 30 seconds at the most. You won't be able to complete the transformation of your Crow Spirit. As soon as the eye is completely contaminated, you will lose contact with this world entirely and you'll disappear right away."

"Really?" The Crow God's projection laughed all of a sudden. His crimson eyes shifted away from Yang Ling and subsequently stared at Hong Zhuang. "I suppose this lady is very important to you, isn't she?"

"What are you trying to do?" Yang Ling frowned slightly.

"You're too amateur to be playing tricks with me." As soon as the Crow God's projection spoke, a black thread that was the width of a hair revealed itself on Hong Zhuang's neck. The black thread wound around her neck, sinking into her skin a little.

The Crow God had placed the black thread there secretly during the fight earlier. He hid its aura intentionally as well as its trace.

"Remove the contamination on the eye if you want this lady to live." The Crow God's projection chuckled cunningly.

"You're a True God and you're threatening me, an ordinary human with a lady. Do you think this is right?" Yang Ling taunted.

"Quit your nonsense. Do you want her to live or do you want her to die?" The black thread that was the width of a hair on Hong Zhuang's neck tightened slightly now.

"Release her. You have my word!" Yang Ling scowled and fell into silence for a moment. Eventually, he made up his mind.

"Don't give him what he wants!" Hong Zhuang shook her head at Yang Ling.

"You better be quiet, lady." The thread the Crow God had tied on Hong Zhuang's neck tightened even more now. Blood was flowing from the cut on Hong Zhuang's neck. The Crow God then looked at Yang Ling. "Remove the contamination! I'll release her as soon as you do that."

"I don't trust you. Release her first!"

"It's not your choice whether to trust me now." The Crow God's projection smiled. "This is the only option you have. I don't plan to give you another option."

"Alright then. I hope that you'll do as you promised." Yang Ling decided to compromise in the end.

A demigod puppet with a battle bow in his hand soon walked out among the ten puppets. Clearly, he was the one who had shot the arrow at the eye to contaminate it earlier.

He moved and appeared next to the eye above the airship in the next second. He touched the battle bow in his hand to the eye.

The black goo that occupied close to 80% of the eye began fading away and flowed towards the battle bow in the demigod's hand.

Lin Huang, who was in the alternate dimension, raised his brow as he watched that. He asked the Ninetails Lynx, "Can you cut his thread?"

"It'll take some effort but it's doable," the Ninetails Lynx confirmed.

"Then, cut the thread on Hong Zhuang's neck," Lin Huang ordered.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" This would mean we're involved in this fight." Bloody's voice came out of his sleeve.

"Don't worry. The Crow God has no time for us. Yang Ling won't give him the opportunity to do anything to us," Lin Huang assured with a smile.

In the next second, the little white cat disappeared from Lin Huang's shoulder.

Lin Huang saw the black thread on Hong Zhuang's neck being snipped off, then the little white cat returned to his shoulder.

Yang Ling was stunned for a second and reacted immediately. He controlled the demigod puppet to recall the absorption of the Demon Curse on the battle bow. As a result, the Demon Curse began to contaminate the eye again.

The Crow God's projection noticed something off right away. The 108 pupils stared at where Lin Huang and the Ninetails Lynx were hiding. Without a doubt, the Crow God was enraged.

Lin Huang saved Hong Zhuang not because he knew her and Yang Ling. He did it because he did not hope to see the Crow God complete the Crow God Ceremony which would remove Xiao Mo's consciousness and take over his body.

Moreover, Lin Huang thought that the Crow God threatening Yang Ling by taking Hong Zhuang as a hostage was shameless. He could not help himself but get involved in the fight.

He was not afraid of the Crow God's projection because it was limited to the eye whereby it could not leave the latter too far away. If he wanted to run, the Ninetails Lynx could always take him away.

Another reason was that the Crow God would be attacked by the enraged Yang Ling since Hong Zhuang was no longer a hostage. Furthermore, the eye would soon be completely contaminated. The Crow God had no time for Lin Huang at all.

As expected, the Crow God only glared at Lin Huang as he extended tens of black threads out, sweeping toward the demigod who held the battle bow. He wanted to take the battle bow in his hand to remove the curse cast on the eye.

Yang Ling noticed that and got help right away.

A couple of demigods attacked the Crow God's projection and Xiao Mo from a distance.

Feeling helpless, the Crow God could only spend some effort to build a defensive shield.

The war between the two parties began again.

Nobody knew what technique Yang Ling performed when he sent Hong Zhuang away by merely a wave of his hand. He was the only one left watching the battle.

This round of fighting was completely different from before. To protect Hong Zhuang earlier, the ten demigods stood guarded in front of her. Even if they attacked, they did so from a distance.

However, a couple of demigod puppets charged straight at the Crow God's projection and Xiao Mo as soon as the battle took place.

The Crow God's projection felt more pressure than before.

Infinite large, bloody suns lit up in the air when the demigods collided with the Crow God's projection.

The sky above the Tranquil Ocean and the water turned red. It looked like Doomsday was coming.

Circles of Divine Power swept in all directions in the form of endless wind while the entire Tranquil Ocean rumbled with waves.

"Thanks for helping me earlier." Yang Ling's voice transmission came into Lin Huang's ears all of a sudden while he was in the alternate dimension. He turned his head to look at Yang Ling immediately, and he saw the latter smiling at him while nodding.

"You can see me?" Just when Lin Huang asked that out loud, he recalled he was in the alternate dimension, so Yang Ling was unable to hear him.

However, Yang Ling soon replied through a voice transmission, "Not only do I see you, but I can also hear you."

"This Combat Soul of yours isn't too shabby," Yang Ling proceeded to say while peeping at the Ninetails Lynx on Lin Huang's shoulder.

"So, you're really a True God? Or you were a True God before?" Lin Huang asked immediately. Only a True God or powerhouses above the true god-level could see the Ninetails Lynx's alternate dimension.

"The Hundred-eyed Dark Crow's speculation is basically correct," Yang Ling agreed, "It's just that he underestimated my combat strength during my peak."

"Were you a Heavenly God?" Lin Huang asked immediately. Seeing Yang Ling grin without saying anything, he proceeded to ask, "Were you a Lord?!"

"It's all in the past now." Yang Ling shook his head without giving a final answer.

"So, you really have no cultivation now?" Lin Huang asked in confusion.

"I don't."

"Then, how did you resurrect your abilities and were able to see the alternate dimension?" Lin Huang was a little curious about that.

Yang Ling smiled at Lin Huang upon hearing that question. He only spoke after a while, "It's the remaining ability from my Goldfinger."

"A Goldfinger?!" Lin Huang's heart jolted when he heard that. He knew Yang Ling was hinting something in his quirky smile.

"Yes, a Goldfinger. Don't you have two with you?" Yang Ling said while smiling, "My homeboy from Earth…"

Lin Huang was completely shocked. He did not expect to be exposed. It seemed like his identity had been buried long ago.

"Don't worry. I've no ill intentions."

"How did you find out?"

"I knew that when I first saw you three years ago. I sensed the Goldfinger in your body. That's how I knew you're a traveler."

"Also, you showed flaws the moment you saw the football I made. You hid it well on the surface, but your heartbeat, your breath, the reaction of your pupils and the bioelectricity in your body told me that you knew what a football is. Apart from that, you told me that your name was Ye Xiu. I read the novel too, alright," Yang Ling explained while smiling.

"Three years ago…" Lin Huang frowned. He was using the identity as Lin Huang when he first met Yang Ling three years ago instead of his current identity as Lin Xie. He only assumed the new identity when he came to the core zone more than a year ago.

"Yes, Mr. Lin Huang," Yang Ling called out Lin Huang's real name while smiling.

"So, has my disguise been redundant to you?" Lin Huang was almost speechless.

"No matter what you disguise yourself as, your Goldfinger's aura won't change," Yang Ling said while smiling.

"Why didn't you expose me earlier? And why are you telling me all these now out of nowhere?"

"I didn't expose you because it was unnecessary. I have many clients who have multiple identities. You're not the only one. People disguise themselves because they don't want me to know who they really are, so why should I expose them?"

"I'm telling you all these now because there's no need to hide it any longer. If everything goes as planned, I'll be going to the great world really soon. We won't be seeing each other often anyway, so I thought I would be honest now. It's rare to meet a fellow traveler from Earth. It'll be more awkward to talk about this if we bumped into each other in the great world in the future."

Lin Huang felt really uncomfortable now. Yang Ling took the initiative to change the subject just when he had no idea how to proceed with the conversation.

"You've pretty much grown now. You won't take very long to get to the great world. Since we're from the same hometown, I'll give you a few pointers."

Lin Huang nodded while smiling.

"Firstly, never tell anyone what's the core ability of your Goldfinger. If you can, it's best that you don't reveal anything about your Goldfinger. Even your parents, siblings, partner and all other travelers! Especially not other travelers!"

Yang Ling continued speaking looking at Lin Huang's doubtful expression.

"Not all travelers are friendly to other travelers. Most of the travelers come from different worlds. There are very few travelers who come from the same planet as we do, and it's even rarer to meet another traveler on the same planet. Even if you met another traveler from Earth, you must have your guard up and not trust the person completely.

"There's this group of people among the travelers called the Raiders. They especially hunt travelers to take their Goldfingers. Such travelers are extremely dangerous. They've no morals at all and they're capable of doing anything at all for the sake of obtaining other Goldfingers.

"I was cheated by a powerful Raider before. That's how I ended up like this. He attacked me and took my Goldfinger away. I would've been dead if I didn't escape with my very last gush of a soul from self-explosion at the very critical moment.

"I thought I could start over again, but never had I thought that my cultivation base was destroyed because my soul remnant was severed. Moreover, I was left with less than 10% of ability in my Goldfinger. It's difficult for me to go down the cultivation path again, let alone obtain the combat strength I had back then."

"So, have you found the way to cultivate again?" Lin Huang could not help but ask because he heard Yang Ling mention that he would go to the great world soon.

"Pretty much." A slyness flashed through Yang Ling's eyes. "If I succeed…"

Above the Tranquil Ocean, the Crow God's projection and ten demigods clashed again and again. The entire ocean thundered.

The transformation the Crow God was performing on Xiao Mo did not stop just yet. His combat strength had entered imperial-level white gold-rank and was still elevating.

However, the Detective Eye above the altar was 95% covered in black goo. It would be completely contaminated soon.

Naturally, the Crow God noticed that as well, so he was panicking.

Lin Huang and Yang Ling, who were chatting a couple of kilometers away while watching the fight, felt something happening on the battlefield out of nowhere.

A terrifying red glow lit up the 108 pupils on the Crow God's projection as if a blood-colored laser was shining in the dark.

At that moment, the ten demigods stopped moving as if a spell was cast upon them.

A black thread turned into a long whip as it shot into the air. It lashed through a demigod's right arm in the blink of an eye, severing the muscular limb right away. Blood spurted out from the wound.

In the next second, the black thread wrapped around and grabbed the battle bow from the severed arm directly. It then pressed the battle bow onto the eye that was almost completely contaminated now.

As soon as the battle bow touched the layer of black goo, the sticky goo began to rush toward the battle bow as if it was alive.

The black goo that was covering the eye began fading slowly.

Subsequently, hundreds of black threads came out of the black silhouette which was the Crow God's projection in a frenzy. They were going after the ten demigods who were unable to move.

Noticing that the threads were going to pierce through the demigods' bodies, Yang Ling raised both of his arms suddenly and moved all ten fingers.

The ten demigods who were unable to move seemed to have their mobility recovered in flash. They activated the gold relic in their hands to strike the black threads.

Even the demigod whose arm was severed had his limb grow back soon. He held a golden arrow in his hand, tossing it out after covering the entire arrow with Divine Power.

A golden glow flew into the air. As the golden glow flashed, it pierced through the black thread that was wound around the battle bow.

The black thread was torn into a few parts as a result of the attack.

A silhouette flew across the sky at a high speed. He stretched his hand and picked up the battle bow to stand hundreds of meters away. It was the demigod whose arm had been severed earlier.

At the moment, the eye that was initially 95% contaminated was left with 80% corruption since the Crow God's projection used the battle bow to remove the curse.

Although the actions of the Crow God's projection earlier did not remove the eye's contamination entirely, it bought him some time.

A couple of seconds later, Xiao Mo's combat strength finally arrived at imperial-level purple gold-rank. He had reached the preliminary stage to qualify as the Crow God's vessel. The Crow God began inserting Divine Power into his body to transform him further. Consequently, his combat strength, body, and soul proceeded to heighten.

To a Crow God, a qualified vessel must have a minimum combat strength of imperial-level purple gold-rank. If the vessel was to be used for a long time, its body and soul must be strong enough to take in the draining of Divine Power. The more thorough the transformation of body and soul with Divine Power was, the longer the vessel could be used.

A perfect vessel that was transformed entirely with Divine Power could even last for more than 100 years.

The Crow God's Divine Power penetrated into Xiao Mo's body again and again. It was the beginning of the body transformation. Each and every cell in his body was destroyed at a high speed wherever the Divine Power passed by. Right after that, the Divine Power would work on the recovery. The cycle repeated over and over again, and the cells in his body would become stronger from the repeated cleansing.

However, Xiao Mo who was being transformed was feeling a pain that was tens of times more intense than before. Although a tsunami was rumbling on the Tranquil Ocean, Lin Huang could faintly hear his devastating shriek.

Lin Huang frowned slightly and looked toward Xiao Mo, hesitating if he should help.

Judging from the current situation, the Crow God was buying time in an attempt to finish Xiao Mo's transformation. As soon as Xiao Mo's transformation was completed, he would turn into the Crow God's projection's shell. By then, the Crow God's projection would not need to use the Detective Eye to maintain his existence. Even contaminating the eye completely would do nothing to him.

Therefore, Lin Huang knew very well that the Crow God would definitely attack him as long as he helped Xiao Mo. The Crow God might even give up on fighting Yang Ling's ten demigod puppets and come for him instead.

Although Lin Huang was very confident in his God Figurines, he had no faith in fighting a True God's will projection that was comparable with a Virtual God's.

During the few seconds Lin Huang hesitated, the contamination level of the eye above the altar went above 90% again. It would take ten seconds at the most to corrupt it completely.

Right at that moment, the battle took a turn again.

A golden beam shot through the sky like a meteor. It was going after the demigod puppet who was holding the battle bow.

The Crow God's projection knew he had help now. He attacked the ten demigods with more black threads now, none of them had managed to fight back.

The golden beam soon arrived like a flash and crashed hard into the muscular demigod who held the battle bow in his hand.

When the golden beam froze after the collision, Lin Huang managed to see who invaded the battlefield. It was the Purple Crow Leader, Yan Ping.

He was fighting a demigod who was exactly like him with a combat strength of perfect-stage demigod-level and holding a god relic in hand filled with Divine Power. They crashed.

The demigod blocked the tip of the sword that was pointing between his brows with the crescent-shaped battle bow.

A golden glow lit up in the air when the god relics collided.

It was initially just a golden glow that was smaller than the size of a thumb. It began expanding rapidly at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye like an expanding balloon.

A golden sun that was nothing less than a blood sun appeared out of nowhere within the span of a few breaths. It grabbed everyone's attention again.

The other demigods wanted to help, but they were stopped by the black tentacles. They could only watch the large, golden sun growing in the sky and subsequently exploded.

A silhouette shot out among the golden light. However, another silhouette passed through the exploded golden glow and went after the silhouette that shot out after turning into a golden flash.

Yang Ling appeared serious. Although his demigod puppet was no weaker than Yan Ping in all aspects, Yan Ping was a legit sword cultivator. A sword cultivator was best in close-range combat. Meanwhile, the demigod puppet that was attacked was an arrow cultivator when he had been alive. He was best in mid-range combat. He could not perform at his full ability in close-range combat.

Meanwhile, the other demigods were obstructed by the Crow God's projection at the moment so they could not help.

Lin Huang squinted slightly as he watched the demigod puppet who was going to killed by the golden glow's sword and have its battle bow taken away.

Just when Yan Ping was going to swing his sword, a silhouette came between the duo.

It was a little elephant whose body was less than two meters long!

Everyone was stunned to see the monster that invaded the battlefield out of nowhere.

Even Yan Ping stopped moving. However, his expression soon turned cold. He wielded his sword in an attempt to kill the little elephant before him.

The little elephant swung its trunk like a whip and collided with the golden sword glow.

What happened next shocked everyone.

An invincible force rushed toward the god sword relic in Yan Ping's hand. As it struck, the bones in his right arm that was holding the sword were broken immediately. Later on, a powerful impact spread through his body and he shot out without having the ability to control himself. He shot out tens of kilometers away within the span of a breath and fell into the Tranquil Ocean.

The little elephant that swung its trunk at the god relic flew back a few kilometers away. It stood still and shook its head. There was not even a cut on its trunk.

The Destructive Divine Mammoth's sudden appearance was beyond everyone's expectations.

What shocked everyone even more was that this little elephant that cannonballed the perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouse far away only had a combat strength of imperial-level purple gold-rank. Furthermore, it suffered no injury after colliding with a god relic head-on.

Apart from Yang Ling, nobody else could tell it was just a Combat Soul.

Many people shifted their focus onto Yang Ling; they thought it was him who released the summoning beast.

The Crow God's projection was stunned for a moment and turned his eyes on Lin Huang's direction. Rage filled his eyes. He knew it was Lin Huang who had done that because it was the Ninetails Lynx that sent the Destructive Divine Mammoth out of its alternate dimension. Clearly, it came from the same person who was Lin Huang hiding in the alternate dimension.

However, the Crow God's projection merely glared at Lin Huang and subsequently stretched many tentacles out that went after the demigod with a battle bow who had just stood still in the air.

At that moment, the Detective Eye above the altar was close to being 95% contaminated. Xiao Mo's transformation had still yet to be completed, and the Crow God was only left with ten seconds. He needed to seize all the time he was left with, so he had no time for Lin Huang at all.

Lin Huang dared to take the risk to stop the attack and buy Yang Ling some time since he knew that the Crow God's projection would not come for him.

He gave the Ninetails Lynx a signal as he watched the Crow God's projection go after the demigod with the battle bow again.

In the next second, the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth disappeared almost at the same time.

When the Destructive Divine Mammoth appeared again, it blocked the demigod right in front while the Ninetails Lynx returned to Lin Huang's shoulder again.

Lin Huang dared to fight the Crow God's projection this time because he was sure that the latter's attack could not break his God Figurine's defenses. He wanted to see if the Destructive Divine Mammoth had the ability to fight a real virtual god-level powerhouse head-on.

After all, Yan Ping, who had a god relic earlier, had an ability no less than a Virtual God's.

However, there were different levels of Virtual Gods. It was certain that the Crow God's projection was much more powerful than Yan Ping. Otherwise, it was impossible for him to suppress ten perfect-stage demigod-level puppets with god relics at the same time.

Seeing the Crow God's tentacles coming toward it, the Destructive Divine Mammoth dared not underestimate its opponent at all. It lifted its front feet high and stomped in the air.

An invisible force spread out like a ripple. As a result, everything it passed was destroyed and turned into dust.

Within a couple of kilometers of the Tranquil Ocean, the sea bed collapsed directly. A giant bowl-shaped sinkhole was formed, and its diameter was expanding continuously.

Tens of black tentacles shot out like arrows, colliding with the invisible force in the blink of an eye.

The tentacles were shredded at a high speed. However, there were black cracks in the invisible force at the same time and it seemed like the air was cracking.

It seemed like it was a tie among the duo, surprising Lin Huang as he watched.

"Not bad. This God Figurine's Combat Soul's ability is slightly more powerful than a Virtual God rank-2's. It's close to a Virtual God rank-3 standard now, but it's impressive that it manages to do this when it's still a child." The stone tablet's voice came into Lin Huang's ears all of a sudden.

"It's close to Virtual God rank-3 now? Then, how about the Crow God's projection? Which rank is he on? How about those demigod puppets with god relics?" Lin Huang asked immediately.

"The Crow God's projection is Virtual God rank-3. Those demigod puppets are comparable with Virtual God rank-1," the stone tablet answered immediately.

"So, they're two ranks away from each other? Theoretically, shouldn't the Crow God's projection be able to suppress the ten demigod puppets easily?" Lin Huang could not understand that.

"The Crow God can't use most of his abilities when he projects his will by crossing realms before he integrates with his vessel. Moreover, the Hundred-eyed Dark Crow isn't good at fighting physical monsters. Its physical attack technique is considered low among Protosses of the same combat strength. Furthermore, those demigods have god armor relics defending them. It's a limitation to the Crow God. It also causes him to be able to only perform 20 to 30% of his ability," the stone tablet gave a detailed explanation.

"I see." Lin Huang just realized that it was not the Crow God's projection that was weak, but his abilities were limited too.

"Judging by the current situation, this Destructive Divine Mammoth of yours is limiting him gravely. The Destructive Divine Mammoth happens to be best at long-distance combat and defense while its ability is nothing weaker than the Crow God's projection. If they were to fight head-on, the Crow God's projection might not have the upper hand," the stone tablet smiled while saying.

"I've always thought that my Combat Souls' ability is just slightly more powerful than demigods or maybe on par with perfect-stage demigod-levels." Lin Huang realized that he had been underestimating his God Figurines' abilities.

"How can it be? Your Combat Souls are all true spirit-level monsters. If you really want to measure them by rank, they're far ahead of mythical-levels. Even a mythical-level monster that has a combat strength of imperial-level purple gold-rank would have an ability comparable to Virtual God rank-1, let alone monsters of a higher rank," the stone tablet told another piece of common sense. "To a mythical-level monster, this is a huge divider. As soon as they arrive at this rank, their ability that's comparable with an ultimate evolution (legendary-level) will be boosted exponentially. There is no comparison between the two."

As Lin Huang and the stone tablet chatted, the battle turned intense like it never had before.

The Crow God's projection attempted to pass by the Destructive Divine Mammoth to attack the demigod holding the battle bow directly.

However, the Destructive Divine Mammoth did not back off at all. It would stop the Crow God as soon as he stretched his tentacles out.

The Crow God's projection was furious now. Seeing that the eye was going to be completely contaminated by the black goo, he finally could not help but use his trump card again.

A crimson glow shot out of the 108 pupils, freezing the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the demigods present. They could not move at all.

The only ones that remained unaffected were Lin Huang in the alternate dimension and Yang Ling who was watching on the side.

"This attack must be draining for him!" Lin Huang could not help but comment.

"This is his gifted ability. It's also one of the limited abilities he can use in the form of projection. However, he can only use this ability three times at the most when he's in projection form. By then, his projection will collapse entirely," the stone tablet explained.

"Three times only… No wonder he hasn't been using it."

After freezing all of his opponents, the Crow God's projection did not even bother to look at Lin Huang and Yang Ling. He stretched his tentacle towards the demigod who had the battle bow in his hand again, taking it away.

Before Yang Ling could control his demigod puppet again, the tentacle that grabbed the battle bow retreated rapidly. The Crow God's projection could not wait to remove the curse on the eye to buy himself some time.

However, Lin Huang signaled the Ninetails Lynx again at that moment.

The little white cat disappeared in the next second and appeared by the eye's side. The little white cat scratched the air as it watched the black tentacle advancing.

In the next second, the tentacle that was grabbing the battle bow was ripped. A white silhouette flashed in the air, and the battle bow was now in Lin Huang's hand who was in the alternate dimension. The little white cat returned to his shoulder once again.

The Crow God's projection glared at Lin Huang in the other dimension. His eyes were so ferocious that they seemed as if they were going to bleed.

However, he only glared at the eye's direction and looked away without thinking twice. He turned his body into a cloud of fog and went into the nostrils and mouth of Xiao Mo who had yet to complete the transformation.

At that second, only a thumb-sized area of the eye was uncontaminated. It would take less than three seconds for the eye to be completely corrupted.

A silhouette appeared behind Xiao Mo right just then. The silhouette held a golden talisman and pressed it to the back of Xiao Mo's head.

It was the leader of the God Bless mission this time, Feng Li!

As soon as the golden talisman stuck to the back of Xiao Mo's head, it turned into a golden glow and penetrated his head.

In the next second, a furious shriek came through the air. After having a small part of his body go into Xiao Mo's body, the Crow God's projection stopped moving. His 108 bloody pupils glared deadly at Feng Li.

"You're asking for death!"

Almost at the same time, tens of black tentacles flew out after Feng Li in an attempt to kill him.

However, Feng Li was smirking at the same time. "You're running out of time. We'll gladly accept your Crow Spirit."

A giant shield appeared before him as he spoke. It turned into an enormous metal wall dazzling with a golden glow, blocking the tentacles' attack.

Since the first attack failed, the Crow God attempted to attack again in his rage. However, his body began to turn into a fog that billowed out of control.

The crimson pupils were dimming one after another, and they soon turned black.

He looked up to see the eye above the altar being covered in the black curse completely. There were no gaps in between.

As soon as the eye was completely contaminated, it only took a couple of breaths for the Crow God's 108 crimson pupils to dim completely. His body that was turned into black fog faded rapidly and disappeared as his raging condemnation echoed.

As the Crow God's projection faded away, Feng Li pressed his hand to Xiao Mo's shoulder in an attempt to take him away. However, he sensed a silhouette flash by at a high speed.

In the next second, he felt his left arm that he stretched out go numb. He realized that the portion below his left elbow had been severed and blood was spurting out of the wound.

Almost at the same time, the Crow Spirit in his hand disappeared.

Feng Li was only stunned for a moment but he soon snapped back to his senses. Instantly, he knew who had done this to him.

"Lin Xie!"

He sensed everything within the range of his territory in an attempt to look for Lin Huang. However, a voice came behind him.

"Are you looking for me?"

Lin Huang appeared less than 20 meters behind Feng Li. He hovered above the rumbling Tranquil Ocean with a little white cat sitting on his shoulder. The little elephant that had fought head-on with the Crow God's projection earlier was on his left while the Crow Spirit version of Xiao Mo, whom he had taken away from Feng Li earlier, was on his right.

At the moment, Xiao Mo was unconscious while his body hovered in the air. Lin Huang held onto his shoulder to adjust his posture.

"Lin Xie, give me the Crow Spirit!" Feng Li did not attack right away. He was even a little terrified of the Ninetails Lynx that had severed his arm earlier.

He did not really care for the Destructive Divine Mammoth because he did not see it fighting the Crow God's projection head-on earlier, so he had no idea that this God Figurine's Combat Soul was as dangerous.

"I'm sorry, he belongs to me now." Lin Huang waved his hand and the Ninetails Lynx sent Xiao Mo into its alternate dimension.

"I'm telling to you to give him to me. Trust me. You don't want to mess with us." Feng Li's severed arm was regenerating at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye. However, his eyes that exploded from looking at the Crow God through the Detective Eye did not have any signs of regenerating. Under the golden mask, his eyes were hollow and bleeding.

"What? You don't even dare to say your organization's name?" Lin Huang did not care about the regeneration at all. "The Commander of God Bless's Division 3 branch, Mr. Feng Li."

Feng Li frowned under the golden mask. He did not expect his identity to be exposed in such detail. Not only did the person he was speaking to know about God Bless, but he also knew his position and name.

"You know too much." After a moment of silence, Feng Li lifted his head slightly while aiming for where Lin Huang was with his hollow eye sockets that were filled with blood.

In the next second, he pointed his fingers in a black god relic glove and launched his attack on Lin Huang.

He was charging with full Divine Power as the black force coming from his fingers shot out like bullets but tens of times faster.

The force that was almost 100 times faster than the speed of sound arrived before Lin Huang in the blink of an eye.

At the moment, the Destructive Divine Mammoth stomped in the air. An invisible force pushed out, annihilating the force coming from Feng Li like a rumbling wave.

The Tranquil Ocean below seemed to be hit by a meteorite whereby massive waves rumbled and tumbled like a waterfall.

When the water fell, the explosion coming from the collision of the force faster than the speed of sound echoed like a clap of thunder.

Feng Li's expression turned grim beneath his mask when his test attack was destroyed right away. Lin Huang's ability was beyond his expectations.

Meanwhile, Lin Huang who stood across him summoned his third God Figurine's Combat Soul, the Nightmare Tapir. He then gave his order, "Don't kill him. We'll see what to do after retrieving his memory."

As he issued the instruction, the Ninetails Lynx on his shoulder disappeared.

The Destructive Divine Mammoth took action as well, leaping and charging at Feng Li.

The Nightmare Tapir stayed by Lin Huang's side. He would only take care of the battle when Feng Li was crippled.

Although Feng Li was on perfect-stage demigod-level, he was still a demigod after all, so the Nightmare Tapir would be able to penetrate his soul and read his memory when he was beaten and exhausted.

The collaboration of the two God Figurine's Combat Souls made the defeat a piece of cake no matter how many god relics Feng Li had with him.

He completely became the two God Figurine's Combat Souls' toy.

It was a repeated game of the Ninetails Lynx scratching him while the Destructive Divine Mammoth whipped him with its trunk. They were having so much fun.

In less than three minutes, the Divine Power in Feng Li's body was completely drained. He could not even summon his god relic armor any longer.

Noticing that, Lin Huang stopped the duo from playing and got the Nightmare Tapir to take over.

The Nightmare Tapir extended its trunk and pressed it against Feng Li's head. Without any strength to fight back, he was dragged into dreamland.

In less than a minute, the Nightmare Tapir had retrieved everything that could be read in his memory. He then nodded at Lin Huang.

"Kill him." Lin Huang responded to the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth.

The Ninetails Lynx stretched its claws and severed Feng Li's head in one fell swoop.

Almost in the next second, the Destructive Divine Mammoth stomped and turned Feng Li into mush.

A few god relics that he had refined came out. There were a black glove, a battle armor, and a shield.

With a wave of his hand, Lin Huang put the three god relics that were now ownerless away. He also conveniently took the Emperor's Heart Ring on Feng Li's finger.

Yang Ling, who was watching from far away, said nothing. He did not even ask for the god relic battle bow from Lin Huang. Instead, he appeared directly before the Detective Eye that was completely contaminated above the altar.

"You'll take the person and I'll take the eye. Deal?"

"Sure." Lin Huang shrugged.

The people from the Purple Crow and God Bless were still fighting kilometers away. They did not notice that the battle on the main battlefield had ended and even the loots had been distributed.

Just when Yang Ling stretched his hand to retrieve the eye, he noticed a silhouette shoot out of the ocean into the air. The silhouette had a golden sword in its hand and was coming after him.

At the same time, ten silhouettes appeared before Yang Ling and charged at the incoming silhouette.

Within the short two to three minutes, the Purple Crow Leader Yan Ping was killed by the ten demigods and died on the spot.

Yang Ling then retrieved the eye while watching a demigod puppet pilferage for loot on Yan Ping.

At the moment, Lin Huang flashed and appeared on the airship platform.

A couple of demigod puppets immediately blocked him before Yang Ling with their guard up when they looked at Lin Huang.

"Step aside. He's my friend," Yang Ling ordered, so the demigods obeyed.

"Do you have anyone to recommend me for unlocking services in the future?" Lin Huang asked while smiling.

"I do know a girl who has a great character and skill. I can send you her contact. Just tell her that I gave you her contact, but don't look for her if you're unlocking storage equipment from other worlds. She can't do it," Yang Ling said with a smile, "I'll send you my number in the great world as well. I can only contact you with the communication device from the great world."

"I have one more question." Lin Huang nodded as he listened but he could not help but raise a doubt, "Do you really have feelings for Hong Zhuang? Or were you just acting?"

"You can consider it real." Yang Ling fell into silence for a moment before giving his answer. "I really like her, but I know she has no feelings for me."

"Perhaps I shouldn't talk behind people's back, but Hong Zhuang isn't as simple as you think. You'd better watch out if you plan to spend a long time with her." After some hesitation, Lin Huang could not help but warn Yang Ling.

However, Yang Ling smiled when he heard that. "She's actually a very simple lady. You guys only see what's on the outside."

Lin Huang raised his brow when he heard his response, but he did not bother arguing.

The duo chatted for a while before summoning a dimensional portal and stepping into it one after another.

Just a giant airship platform and a bloody Tranquil Ocean which sea level had dropped by 1,000 meters remained.

After a long time, a monster's head popped out of the Tranquil Ocean below the airship platform all of a sudden. It stared toward the direction where the duo disappeared.

The monster that looked like a sea snake was Lu Dong's demigod-level imperial monster. Its body was severely lacerated but a bloody light flashed through its four pupils. It flew towards the airship.

A moment later, Lu Dong opened the airship door as he sensed the imperial monster's aura that survived. He let it into the airship.

"Ah Hai, you're still alive. That's great!" Lu Dong was excited. He previously sensed that three of his four imperial monsters had lost contact. Never had he thought that the Sea Demon who had lost contact a long time ago would appear all of a sudden.

Lu Dong hugged the Sea Demon's head with a thrill. At that moment, a bloody glow flashed in the Sea Demon's four pupils again. A gush of black fog came out of its body, entering Lu Dong's mouth and nose quietly.

In the span of a couple of breaths, a red glow flashed through Lu Dong's eyes. He let go off the Sea Demon's limp carcass while his face looked ferocious. "I, the Majesty, will remember the both of you. You wasted my massive amount of Divine Power and forced me to use a demigod who has no elevation potential to be my vessel!"

Lin Huang returned to Wanbao City and checked into a hotel. Only then, he got the Ninetails Lynx to release Xiao Mo from its alternate dimension. However, Xiao Mo was still unconscious.

Although his combat strength remained on imperial-level purple gold-rank, his aura was close to demigod-level. Fortunately, his aura did not extend very far, so only people within 100 meters could sense it. As a result, he did not cause chaos.

Looking at Xiao Mo who was lying on the couch, Lin Huang summoned the Nightmare Tapir again and got him to transfer the information he had retrieved from Feng Li's head to Bloody.

A moment later, Lin Huang asked when Bloody was done arranging the memories, "Is his consciousness still there? Or has it been replaced by the Crow God?"

"Looking at Feng Li's memory, the talisman he used on this young man was a disposable soul-type god relic whereby it can block the user's soul for a short period of time. This god relic must've blocked the outside of his soul. That's why the Crow God's projection did not take over his body completely. After all, the god relic held up a defense which even the Crow God's projection's ability could not penetrate within a short period of time. That was why he was so mad in the end."

"So, why is he still unconscious?" Lin Huang asked rather confusedly.

"Feng Li activated a double shield to make the capture easier. Not only does it block the Crow God's projection from taking over the body, but it also locked the young man's consciousness in the soul space," Bloody explained, "However, this disposable god relic will only work for a maximum of 24 hours. Even if it's not being attacked, it will break on its own in 24 hours. This young man should wake up automatically by then."

Lin Huang was relieved to hear the answer. He was still a little worried that the Crow God might have done something else to Xiao Mo.

"Is there anything useful in Feng Li's memory? Is there anything about Chan Dou?" Lin Huang pried again.

"There's nothing about Chan Dou. We know about the capture more than he did. He only knows that it was done by people in the Division 1 branch," Bloody proceeded to say, "There's nothing much that's useful. The core information about Division 1 branch is blocked by some unique seal. It's a technique of at least virtual god-level. Even the Nightmare Tapir can't break it.

"Nevertheless, the mission this time is quite informative. Feng Li and the rest wanted the Detective Eye for their Master God who's like the Crow God whereby they need a representative for the former. This young man became their second target because they think he must be special since he's been chosen by the Crow God. He can be the Master God's representative candidate too.

"We also learned about the eye's function. This thing isn't only a communication tool but also a temporary teleportation tool. The eye allows us to communicate with powerhouses in the great world which crosses realms. The powerhouses from the great world can even create a projection of their will and stay here temporarily through the eye.

"The higher the combat strength of the projection of their will, the more sacrifice it'll take to maintain the opening of the eye and the shorter it can stay. Therefore, most powerhouses will keep the combat strength of the projection of their will at beginner-stage virtual god-level which is Virtual God ranks-1 to 3. Keeping it at Virtual God rank-3 drains four times more energy than Virtual God rank-1. However, if one were to project mid-stage virtual god-level which is above Virtual God rank-4, it would drain at least ten times more than onVirtual God rank-3. High-level virtual god-level which is Virtual God ranks-7 to 9 will drain even more energy — at least ten times more than Virtual God rank-6.

"Also, as soon as a projection of their will enters the eye, the combat strength can't be changed. Changing the combat strength will only cause a disruption in the energy wave, causing the temporary tunnel to collapse. Therefore, one can only perform the combat strength adjustment before putting a projection of their will through the eye."

"I see. I thought the Crow God's projection's combat strength is only Virtual God rank-3 because his combat strength is low." Lin Huang just realized that they managed to beat the Crow God's projection over and over again because he did not even show his real ability.

"Apart from that, the temporary tunnel the eye builds can teleport items both ways, even living things. It's possible as long as the energy wave of the items or living things that are being teleported don't exceed the tunnel's load limit," Bloody continued, "In other words, Yang Ling can go to the great world through the eye as long as he manages to build the tunnel."

"It can be used as a dimensional portal as well?!" Lin Huang's eyes lit up when he heard that revelation.

After they were done talking about the eye, Bloody proceeded to give a short description of the rest of the useful information and shared the memory that it had categorized with Lin Huang directly.

Lin Huang looked through the memory in his head. After a short discussion with Bloody, he then put aside the matter about God Bless.

He used his Divine Telekinesis to carry Xiao Mo and put him in one of the guest rooms. Then, he returned to the living room and began looking through the loot he gained this time.

First was the four god relics — a black glove, a battle armor, a shield, and a battle bow.

Apart from the battle bow that came from Yang Ling which he had shamelessly taken, the other three came from God Bless's Division 3 branch Commander, Feng Li.

However, Lin Huang deserved Yang Ling's battle bow. If he had not extended help twice, Hong Zhuang would have definitely died while Yang Ling might not have been able to obtain the eye. It was him who helped during the critical times and turned the tables around. Yang Ling clearly gave him the god relic battle bow to reward his assistance.

Trading a god relic for an eye that he desired, Yang Ling was not considered to have lost anything in this deal.

Apart from the four god relics, Lin Huang also got a demigod-level golden mask which he had grabbed from Feng Li's face. As soon as one put on the mask, it could block the user's aura completely and even prevent a demigod-level from detecting it. It was a magnificent item.

As for Feng Li's Emperor's Heart Ring, although Lin Huang had yet to open it, there were many useful stuff in there according to Feng Li's memory. There were at least two god relics and more than ten demigod relics.

After all, he was the Commander in God Bless's Division 3 branch so he would have much more inheritance compared to the ordinary demigods. What he possessed was comparable with a prominent family's inheritance through generations.

Apart from the loot he got from Feng Li, he had the storage equipment that he had asked Yang Ling to unlock earlier. Among the over 280,000 storage equipment that could be unlocked, over 50,000 of them had nothing useful in them since it had been too long. Lin Huang gave the remaining demigod relics, ancient-level relic equipment, and materials to the Warlord to make and modify his mechanical army.

Among the over 220,000 pieces of storage equipment, Lin Huang found over 100,000 demigod relics and equipment, minerals, and spirit stones of many varieties, elixirs, elixir materials, equipment materials, various methods, a massive amount of miscellaneous items that could not be identified, and currencies from mini worlds and some from the great world.

Yang Ling even helped Lin Huang transfer the accounts that had stored information and currencies into a great world storage ring. Apart from the sea of stored information from various worlds, Lin Huang also obtained over 80 million Divine Stones in total. They were worth eight trillion Life Crystals in a gravel world. Those excluded the currencies from up to a hundred mini-worlds. After all, they came from hundreds of thousands of supreme geniuses and were sufficient to purchase up to a hundred expert-grade god relics.

Among the loot, the methods were the ones that Lin Huang had the most interest in. Supreme geniuses from all major organizations cultivated the most prominent methods in the cultivation systems of their worlds.

There were tens of thousands of methods in the storage equipment and stored information. There were up to 1,000 sword skills alone whereby each of them was above legendary-level. More than 100 pseudo-god-level sword skills and seven god-level sword skills were also among the sword skills he obtained. They greatly enriched Lin Huang's sword skill inventory.

Wanbao City was chilly in the middle of the night.

It was June and it was early in the summer in Wanbao City. It was almost 27 degrees Celsius during the day but the temperature dropped to 20 degrees at night. Nonetheless, it was a comfortable kind of coolness for most people.

In a hotel room, the balcony door that was facing the living room was completely open, so the breeze blew in with fresh air.

The light in the living room was still turned on. A young man with short, puffy hair in a white printed t-shirt and thin beige linen pants sat on the couch barefooted while crossing his legs.

He seemed to have just taken a shower as his hair was still damp. A pair of bright, black eyes peered out from under the few strands of wet hair. A square screen was reflected in the eyes at the moment.

There was a little white cat sleeping on the young man's shoulder. Only half of his back was leaning on the couch while his body was leaning forward slightly as he looked down at the projected page on his Emperor's Heart Ring.

There was a monster that looked like a young sharp-toothed tiger sleeping on the couch on his left. With a pillow under its head, its trunk leaned on the young man's thigh.

Naturally, the young man was Lin Huang. However, he did not disguise as Lin Xie at the moment; he was in his own skin now.

He would usually sleep in the room after he was done practicing his sword skills and had taken a shower. However, it was past 12.30 a.m. now and he was still reading the news on the living room couch. There was no other reason why he was doing that. The 24-hour period of Xiao Mo being unconscious was coming to an end and he would awake anytime soon.

He had the Nightmare Tapir and the Ninetails Lynx with him mainly to defend Xiao Mo just in case his consciousness was replaced by the Crow God.

Lin Huang smirked all of a sudden when it was 12.42 a.m. He sensed Xiao Mo's finger moving a little in the living room within the range of his territory.

A moment later, Xiao Mo opened his eyes slowly.

The surroundings changed from blurry to clear as he looked around in confusion.

"Where is this place? Aren't I being transformed by the Crow God?" Xiao Mo soon recognized that he was in a hotel room. Moreover, it looked like an expensive, luxurious hotel and he guessed that he was not in the master bedroom.

'Could the transformation be completed and I'm officially the Crow God's Crow Spirit now?' The thought flashed in Xiao Mo's head after he sensed that his body had improved many times while his combat strength had elevated to perfect-stage imperial-level purple gold-rank. However, he dismissed the thought a moment later because he did not sense the slightest hint of a Crow God's will remnant in his body. He looked horrified. "Could the final integration have failed?!"

He shot to his feet immediately. He just realized that he was wearing beige pajamas and had a significant change in his height and body size.

He took a step and arrived before the full-sized mirror to see a completely different self.

The young man in the mirror was approximately 1.85 meters tall with a slender body. Although he was still a little skinny, he could clearly see the lean muscles on his arms.

The biggest change was on his face. His old face that was once so ordinary that one would not notice him among a crowd had sharp features now. It complemented his rather tanned skin and he now looked like a tough, mature man. He even had stubble growing on his cheeks and above his lips.

Xiao Mo touched his own face in excitement. "Is this me? Man, I'm so good-looking now!"

Looking at the muscles on his arms, he could not help but pull his pajamas up. He soon saw eight packs bulging in the mirror.

"Is this really me?" Xiao Mo thought it was a little unbelievable. All of a sudden, he seemed to have recalled something. He pulled his pants down even further while flushing a little. When he looked down between his legs, he could not help but exclaim, "Gee, it's huge!"

Xiao Mo, who was a little upset because of the failed integration with the Crow God, soon became happy again after seeing that his body had undergone a significant change.

"Delighted, are we?" A voice came to Xiao Mo's ears all of a sudden as he was drowning in joy.

He turned his head immediately to see a young man in slippers looking at him while leaning against the cabinet at the door.

He had his guard up as soon as he saw the person. However, his expression subsequently changed to one of surprise. He recognized Lin Huang immediately even though three years had passed.

"Lin Huang?!"

"It seems like you still remember me, little guy." Lin Huang smiled while nodding.

"Aren't you dead?" Xiao Mo soon snapped back to his senses and could not help but take a step back. He looked terrified as he stared at Lin Huang. "You're Lin Huang's ghost…"

Lin Huang could not help but chuckle out loud. He did not expect Xiao Mo to have such a reaction.

"If I'm a ghost, would I have a shadow?"

Xiao Mo held his head down immediately and looked at the ground. He noticed Lin Huang's shadow.

"There's a shadow! So, you're really not a ghost?" Although he saw the shadow, Xiao Mo was still unsure.

"You're on imperial-level now. Although you still have no Life Palace yet, you should have Territory sense now. Sense with your Territory, then you'll know whether I'm a human or a ghost," Lin Huang continued.

Xiao Mo got familiarized with his body and soon expanded the range of his territory. He sensed Lin Huang and the two God Figurine's Combat Souls.

He then widened his eyes as he looked at Lin Huang. "You're really still alive?!"

"I didn't die. I faked my death so that I could leave the Purple Crow," Lin Huang confirmed while smiling.

Xiao Mo walked to him slowly but he still had disbelief written all over his face.

Lin Huang knew he was unsure, so he stretched his hand. "You'll know whether I'm alive by shaking my hand."

Xiao Mo walked to Lin Huang hesitantly. He stretched his hand out slowly, scared and ready to bolt anytime.

As Lin Huang held his hand, he felt how real and warm his palm was. He was very relieved.

"So, do you believe me now?" Lin Huang let go of his hand and asked while smiling.

Xiao Mo then nodded.

"I know you have many questions. Let's talk in the living room." Lin Huang turned around and brought Xiao Mo to the living room.

Xiao Mo looked around anxiously when he arrived in the living room. "Where's this place?"

"It's the hotel that I'm staying at." Lin Huang gave a short explanation.

"Where are the rest of them from the Purple Crow? Where's Master Crow God?" Xiao Mo knew he and Lin Huang were the only ones in the hotel room.

"The Purple Crow's Crow Ceremony failed and the Crow God's will projection collapsed. Crow Leader Yan Ping is dead. I suppose the rest of them have returned to the Purple Crow headquarters," Lin Huang explained, "I'll tell you more about the details of what exactly happened later."

Xiao Mo was overwhelmed with anxiety when he heard what Lin Huang said. He had never thought the Crow Leader would be dead or that the Crow God's will projection would have collapsed.

"You've been unconscious for a day. Let's get some food. We'll talk later." Lin Huang brought Xiao Mo to the couch.

It was almost 1 a.m. and all the food delivery services were basically closed. Lin Huang took out the instant food the hotel had prepared in the refrigerator and heated it up. He got Xiao Mo a drink too.

Lin Huang only asked when Xiao Mo was done eating, "Do you feel anything off in your body?"

"The Crow God transformation is pretty successful to me. My height and body have undergone a major change. My body and soul have elevated so much that it's unbelievable. Even my combat strength has attained perfect-stage imperial-level purple gold-rank now. I feel like I can even fight a demigod!" Xiao Mo was excited as he talked about this after he was fed.

"Do you feel any Crow God's will remnant in your body?" Lin Huang picked up the cup and drank the tea while asking casually.

"No, that's what I find strange. According to what the Crow Leader told me, the Crow God's will remnant should be integrated with my consciousness when the integration is done. However, I don't feel any Crow God's will remnant in my body, not even a tiny bit," Xiao Mo said while frowning, "You told me that the Crow God Ceremony failed. Did the integration fail because the Crow God's will remnant isn't compatible with my body?"

'Seems like the Crow God's will remnant is really dead…' Lin Huang thought to himself. Then, he explained to Xiao Mo, hiding the truth, "Yan Ping lied to you. To the Purple Crow, the Crow Spirit's existence is just to be the Crow God's vessel. He transformed your body so that you can take in the Crow God's will remnant. As soon as the transformation is completed, the Crow God's will be integrated into your body. Meanwhile, your consciousness will be wiped away and your body will be taken over. Your body will be his temporary shell. There's no such thing as sharing your consciousness with him."

What Lin Huang said was completely the opposite of what Xiao Mo had been told earlier. He had been taught by the Purple Crow all this while that being the Crow Spirit and sharing his body with the Crow God was the highest honor. Never had he thought this would be the truth about being a Crow Spirit.

"The Crow God Ceremony failed not because you aren't compatible with the Crow God, but because the eye that he used to project his will was contaminated. The teleportation tunnel was cut, so his will projection collapsed automatically."

"I was worried that a portion of his will remnant might have been left in your body and he would take over your body whenever he can. It seems like he completely disappeared before he could do anything to you."

"Are you telling the truth?" Hearing what Lin Huang said, Xiao Mo looked at him solemnly.

"You can spend some time verifying it if you don't believe me." Lin Huang arched his brow. "The upper echelon of the Purple Crow and many other underground organizations know about the Crow Spirit. This isn't a secret at all. Also, the Purple Crow isn't the only one among the underground organizations that are doing this. I heard the Saints also perform a similar vessel ceremony too."

Xiao Mo stared at Lin Huang's eyes to see if he was lying. However, he soon realized that what he said was most probably the truth.

"I have a question. Why am I in your hotel room?" Xiao Mo finally asked the enigma that had been bothering him since the beginning.

"The people from God Bless wanted to take you away when the Crow God's projection disappeared. I took you away from them," Lin Huang said and he proceeded to tell him what happened earlier.

Xiao Mo was in disbelief when he heard that. "So, they wanted to take me as their vessel too?"

"That's my speculation, but only people from God Bless's headquarters in Division 1 will know what the exact use is." Lin Huang nodded.

"Can you tell me more about this God Bless?" Xiao Mo asked.

Lin Huang did not hide anything and told him everything he knew about God Bless, including their plan to take the eye and Xiao Mo. He also told him about them blending in other organizations, capturing Chan Dou and so on…

After Xiao Mo listened, he thought the Purple Crow was nothing compared to God Bless.

"This organization is so scary! They've got the ability to plot all these and blend in secretly. I suspect they're also in the Purple Crow's upper echelon. Otherwise, it's impossible for them to have known the exact coordinates of the Crow God Ceremony."

"Speaking of the Purple Crow, you definitely can't go back judging by your current situation," Lin Huang reminded, "I advise you not to return. Although the eye has been taken away, the Purple Crow might have some other backup communication tool. If you go back, you might face the Crow God Ceremony for the second time. By then, you would have your consciousness wiped completely and you'll become the Crow God's vessel."

Xiao Mo fell into silence again. He only lifted his head to look at Lin Huang. "But where can I go if I don't return to the Purple Crow?"

Now that Lin Huang thought about it, he remembered that Xiao Mo was not only an orphan, but he was also a Descendant of the Sin. None of the union organizations would accept a sinner from the Descendants of the Sin. Xiao Mo could only join other underground organization if he did not return to the Purple Crow. Furthermore, he would be homeless if he did not join any underground organizations.

If Xiao Mo was still on white flame-level like he was before, he could do no harm to other people if he was left alone. However, he now had the ability close to a demigod's and he had the potential to elevate to Virtual God. He could join any underground organizations he liked. By then, he might be a larger threat to this gravel world.

Lin Huang made up his mind after some pondering. "Why don't you stay with me? You can be my bodyguard for the time being. Later on, we'll find an organization of our own and I'll ask some trustable friends of mine to join."

Lin Huang had discussed establishing an organization with Bloody before. It was Bloody's idea. This was especially because fighting organizations like God Bless alone would be impossible. Moreover, no matter how powerful he was, his ability was limited. It would be better to start a team and get everyone to perform what they were best at.

As a God himself, even Mr. Fu could not fight the Union Government which was a big organization. If he had founded an organization of his own back then, he would not be in the rut that he was in right now. The people from God Bless might not dare to attack him through the Union Government.

Mr. Fu's situation was the reason why Lin Huang was determined to establish his very own organization.

Xiao Mo's eyes lit up when he heard that Lin Huang wanted to establish his own organization and even invited him. Indeed, he dared not go back to the Purple Crow after learning the truth about the Crow Spirit. Facing a bunch of strangers by joining other underground organizations would only make him uneasy.

Meanwhile, Lin Huang was someone that he was familiar with. He had even saved him before. To him, joining Lin Huang's organization gave him a sense of relief more than joining other organizations.

"I'll stay if it's no trouble for you."

"It's just one more mouth to feed," Lin Huang smiled as he said. After all, he had the money to feed one more person.

After confirming where Xiao Mo would go, the duo began talking about their experiences throughout these years.

Lin Huang could tell that Xiao Mo's life was a tough one.

After Lin Huang faked his death, Xiao Mo was treated the same old way whereby he was bullied almost every day in the Purple Crow training camp. However, he did not allow that to continue. He fought back again and again and stood up over and over again. Though slow, he toughened up firmly.

After he graduated from the training camp, he had been placed in an awkward position. His teammates would put him on the bench time and time again. However, he did not give up just yet. He spent more time practicing battle skills when he had insufficient cultivation resources. Slowly and surely, he finally proved himself in the Purple Crow.

Since he elevated to transcendent-level, his sinner's nature was activated. He obtained a memory inheritance of his bloodline. He had also activated his gifted superhuman strength and powerful defensive ability. In a short span of time, he managed to elevate his ability to supreme genius, hence he was selected as a Crow Spirit candidate.

Meanwhile, Lin Huang told him about some minor events. Even so, Xiao Mo indulged in his stories, envious of his experiences.

Just like that, the two old roommates talked until the next morning.

It was the beginning of summer and the sun rose in the east of Wanbao City before 6 a.m.

Watching the sky turn bright outside the window, Lin Huang and Xiao Mo realized that it was already morning.

"Let's take a walk outside and have breakfast," Lin Huang suggested after looking at the time and realizing it was not even 6 a.m. and since both of them were not sleepy at all. "There's this breakfast place nearby that's run by a couple. They have really good fried buns and fried dumplings that are absolutely delicious and really popular. There'll be people queuing past 7 a.m. every day. They begin the preparations at 6 a.m. Let's wash up and it'll open when we arrive."

Naturally, Xiao Mo had no objection to that. He hardly had the opportunity to go out. As a Purple Crow member, he would basically stay in when he had no mission. He would focus on the mission whenever he was out, so he had no time to enjoy the view outside at all. Now that his identity was different and it was his first time in Wanbao City, it was only natural for him to be so excited with all the fresh and new sights.

After quickly washing up, Lin Huang brought along the Nightmare Tapir, the Ninetails Lynx, and Bloody when they headed out.

Many cultivators brought their pets out in Wanbao City. Most of them were not Imperial Censors; they merely spent money to buy pets that had already been tamed. The two God Figurine's Combat Souls that Lin Huang brought along did not catch any attention. However, Nightmare Tapir's rather unique appearance would attract some occasional stare.

The breakfast place that Lin Huang talked about was less than a kilometer from the hotel that he was staying at. They arrived in a couple of minutes as they conversed along the way.

The couple had just opened the store. Even the pots had just been put on the stove. They had worked out their specific responsibilities. One was filled the buns while the other wrapped the dumplings.

Lin Huang picked an al-fresco table casually outside the store and sat down. He and Xiao Mo were their first customers.

"Why are you so early today, young sir?" greeted the lady boss while smiling. Lin Huang was clearly a regular here.

"Oh yeah, we woke up early today." Lin Huang smiled and nodded.

"You brought a friend today." The lady boss peeped at Xiao Mo. She smiled happily when she noticed that it was a handsome man.

"That's right. I told him that you guys have delicious fried buns and fried dumplings, so I brought him here."

"You guys are too early today. You might need to wait for a while," said the boss, feeling a little bad.

"Don't worry about it. We're not in a rush."

Lin Huang chatted with the couple for a while after he ordered. Then, they began cooking.

Xiao Mo lowered his voice and asked while feeling a little confused, "The boss and lady boss are ordinary people, am I right? Do you usually talk to them like this?"

"More or less. They usually have many customers. It's rare for us to talk so much today. We usually only make small talk," Lin Huang answered, "Is there anything wrong?"

Xiao Mo fell into silence for a moment before speaking again, "We basically don't talk to ordinary people."

Lin Huang recalled that they did indeed teach the members of the Purple Crow training camp that they should keep their distance and not communicate as much as possible.

"The Purple Crow limits the members' contact with the outside world except when they're on a mission. It's mainly to prevent the members from being influenced by the outside world to have their perceptions changed. Now, what you need most is to change your perception. You don't have to tie yourself down with the Purple Crow's values."

"But most of the information you get from talking to them is largely useless." Xiao Mo habitually analyzed and categorized the information from the conversation following the Purple Crow standard.

"If people only speak 100% useful information with nothing unnecessary, how boring would it be?" Lin Huang said while smiling, "The useless information makes the conversation colorful and warm. It makes people's relationships rich and interesting."

Xiao Mo was confused about what Lin Huang said. "How is that interesting to you?"

"You'll be living and working with other people from now on. Don't decline communication. If you don't know what to say, then listen to what they've got to say. It's good to be a listener. Slowly, you'll learn the fun in communicating." Lin Huang patted Xiao Mo's shoulder.

The lady boss served them three plates of fried buns and two plates of fried dumplings while chuckling as the duo chatted. She then brought them two bowls of porridge.

The serving was not considered large with ten pieces per portion.

The fried dumpling was crispy while the fried bun was filled with juicy soup. Lin Huang, the Nightmare Tapir, and Bloody preferred the fried buns but Xiao Mo and the Ninetails Lynx preferred the crispy fried dumplings.

Lin Huang only ate half the portion of the fried buns and left the rest for Xiao Mo, Bloody, and the two God Figurine's Combat Souls.

Xiao Mo had four servings of fried dumplings alone and was a little embarrassed when he was done.

Seeing his expression, the lady boss said while smiling, "You're still growing, young man. It's normal to eat a lot, so don't be embarrassed."

"The lady boss is right," Lin Huang teased with a grin.

After they were done with breakfast and had paid, Lin Huang brought Xiao Mo to the park nearby.

It was almost 6.40 a.m. at that moment. There were some aunties and uncles exercising at the park.

Lin Huang ambled down the little path with Xiao Mo toward the park.

Xiao Mo thought that the weird exercise the aunties and uncles were executing was rather new to him.

Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction upon noticing his curious expression.

He strolled in the park with Xiao Mo. Soon, there were more and more people in the park. Xiao Mo began to feel uncomfortable as he was still not used to crowded places.

They walked around until approximately 7.30 a.m. before returning to the hotel.

Lin Huang asked Xiao Mo when they returned to the hotel room, "How do you feel after that stroll in the park?"

"I felt uncomfortable, especially when it's so crowded, but there're some things that are pretty interesting," Xiao Mo answered.

Lin Huang was basically satisfied with his answer. He was a little worried that Xiao Mo might not have the interest to blend into normal life. Now, to his relief, it seemed like he was not as close-minded as he thought he would be.

"I'll begin my closed-door cultivation from today onwards. It might last for more than a month. Within this one month or so, I've got two missions for you. I hope that you can complete them.

"As the first mission, I'll give you a brand new method. I hope that you can build a whole new cultivation system in your body with this method. This method can help you break through from imperial-level purple gold-rank to virtual god-level. My request is that you cultivate this brand new cultivation system with this method as much as you can until you reach holy fire-level."

Xiao Mo was rather anxious to hear the mission. He thought it would be difficult since he spent three years to break through from iron-level to white flame-level.

Naturally, Lin Huang noticed his concern and added immediately, "You already possess a powerful cultivation base now. You should be quick in building a new system. Don't worry too much about your progress. You can ask Bloody if there's anything that you don't understand. I'll leave it to accompany you."

Lin Huang shook his left hand as he spoke, then Bloody came out of his sleeve.

Xiao Mo was astonished to find out that Lin Huang had a summoning beast hidden in his sleeve all this time.

Lin Huang proceeded to speak after giving a simple introduction on Bloody, "The second mission is to go to the park that I brought you to earlier every day. You'll have to spend at least an hour there. Also, you'll need to talk to at least three people every time, even if it's just one sentence. You can go there anytime between seven in the morning to seven at night, but you must spend an hour there. If you don't do it, you'll have to spend double the duration on the next day and double the number of people that you talk to. Bloody will monitor your progress during that period. This is a basic lesson for you to learn to communicate with your future partners. I hope that you'll take this seriously."

Xiao Mo looked even more nervous now after hearing the second mission. He thought this mission was even more difficult than the first one.

Of the two missions Lin Huang assigned to Xiao Mo, the first one might have been very difficult for ordinary people, but Lin Huang figured it should be easy for him.

Although he was assigned to cultivate a different cultivation system, to an imperial-level powerhouse, it was easy to elevate to transcendent-level. The difficult thing was to break through transcendent-level. Getting him to cultivate a brand new cultivation system was a practice for him to master his power again. After all, he did not get to his current combat strength by himself. He needed a certain time to familiarize with his power.

As for the second mission, Lin Huang noticed through their conversation that most of Xiao Mo's values influenced by the Purple Crow. The one that influenced him the most was interacting with people.

If Xiao Mo were to maintain the old habits he had when he was with the Purple Crow, it would be a disadvantage no matter whether it was to him as a person or to the organization Lin Huang would be establishing in the future.

Therefore, Bloody suggested Lin Huang do this. He could get Xiao Mo to talk to harmless, ordinary people to give him a brand new view to learn about this world and break the strange values the Purple Crow had instilled in him.

The reason why Bloody suggested that was because it had actually gotten the Nightmare Tapir to read Xiao Mo's memory secretly. It had done so earlier to take precaution against this unknown little guy who might be dangerous. After learning about Xiao Mo, Bloody realized that this kid had a naive nature because he had been living in a terrible environment which affected him.

However, Bloody hid the fact that it had checked on Xiao Mo earlier from Lin Huang.

The ancient cultivation method Lin Huang gave Xiao Mo was called the Unrivalled Combat God. It was a combat cultivation method which happened to be compatible with Xiao Bo's body. Moreover, there was a combat skill set called Unrivalled in it.

Apart from this method, Lin Huang also picked thousands of close-range combat skills in his head and shared them with Xiao Mo.

"You'll be focusing on the Unrivaled Combat God throughout this month. Of all the combat skills, just focus on Unrivaled. The remaining battle skills are mainly for your reference. You can learn them if you come across any that you're interested in, but know what to prioritize."

After Lin Huang was done making the arrangements, he left Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx behind while he got to a cultivation room to focus on his closed-door cultivation.

He had gotten the last three God Figurines much earlier and even completed the integration.

However, considering that the visualization would take a long time, he had been putting visualizing the last three God Figurines into True Spirits aside.

He finally had some time to do this.

The first among the three God Figurines was the Coffin Carrier.

This monster was entirely red with bulky muscles all over. Its body looked like a skinned bullfrog that had just been scooped out of a spicy hot pot. It looked slightly humanoid but its head appeared like a combination of a dog and a bull. It had sharp fangs and two buffalo-like horns on its head. Its feet had hooves but its hands had sharp claws like a devil.

It had two thick, black chains behind its shoulders, and a black coffin was tied at the very end of the chain. The coffin was clearly heavy since its back was hunching a little from the weight.

The monster was a fallen Abyssal Protoss. Even the stone tablet was a little surprised when it saw this monster manage to form into a God Figurine. It was the stone tablet's first time seeing a dead Abyssal Protoss being consolidated into a God Figurine.

The stone tablet had explained the True Spirit's choice to Lin Huang earlier.

He decided to follow the stone tablet's suggestion which was to visualize this Coffin Carrier as a Death Butterfly.

The Death Butterfly mastered the Yin Yang Gate. Only such a True Spirit could travel freely within the material and spirit realms when it was on true god-level.

Although its beginning combat strength was not considered powerful compared to other True Spirits, it had great potential for growth. According to the stone tablet, it was one that was worth training among the True Spirits that mastered the Death Rule.

After finding the Death Butterfly in the True Spirit Guide, Lin Huang crushed an Epiphany Card and soon fell into visualization mode.

Lin Huang finally visualized the Death Butterfly successfully after 13 restless days. By then, he had officially consolidated his eighth God Figurine.

After a day of rest and adjusting himself, Lin Huang went into the second round of visualization.

The God Figurine took on the form of a lady.

The lady wore a thin purple dress that was almost semi-transparent while hovering in the air barefooted. Her jade-like skin that was vaguely exposed underneath the thin, purple dress made her seem like she had a great figure. However, she had long, black hair that touched her waist but no face or features. She was horrifying to look at.

Her long, black hair that looked like countless little snakes with their own consciousness were writhing in the air. They were moving without any wind and they looked gravely menacing.

This monster was called the Hair Demon which was an evil spirit among Protosses and mainly mastered the Sealing Rule.

According to the stone tablet, the monster that had the highest compatibility was the Shackle Serpent. It was a formidable sealing-type of True Spirit. Legend had it that the ancestor of the Medusa Tribe, who had the most powerful sealing ability among the Protoss, obtained the ability from a Shackle Serpent.

Soon, Lin Huang found the Shackle Serpent in the True Spirit Guide. He crushed an Epiphany Card and went into visualization mode immediately.

The visualization went on for a total of 12 days before it was completed.

After a day of rest, Lin Huang looked at the last God Figurine in his body.

This God Figurine looked like a toy doll. It had short limbs and its face looked like a clown with makeup on. Its tummy was made of a mechanical clock. Not only the hour hand, but the minute hand, the second hand, and the timescale that could be seen clearly, and even the big and small gear wheels within were also clear.

It was a Time Spirit, a unique species among the Protoss with a limited number. This monster mastered the Time Rule and it would control the flow of time in a specific area and even stop time.

The True Spirit Lin Huang wanted to visualize through this Time Spirit was called the Creation Clock.

Legend had it that such a Creation Clock was the world's stopwatch. By changing the hour hand on the clock, It could control the life and death of all creation. Such a True Spirit could even control the speed of time.

The Creation Clock was on the first page of the True Spirit Guide. Lin Huang had seen this True Spirit information more than once when he flipped through the guide. Now, he finally had the chance to officially visualize it.

As he crushed another Epiphany Card, Lin Huang soon went into visualization mode.

The visualization of the third True Spirit lasted for a total of 18 days. It was the True Spirit that took the longest time to complete the visualization among the ten True Spirits that he possessed.

Lin Huang let out a long sigh of relief when he saw the tenth God Figurine's Combat Soul that had finally consolidated into a True Spirit.

However, the consolidation of ten God Figurine's Combat Souls was not the end.

Lin Huang took out a sea of soul crystals and began feeding his last three God Figurine's Combat Souls. He spent almost half a day to finally feed them until they reached imperial-level white gold-rank.

Since he was unsure if the remaining soul crystals could elevate an imperial-level white gold-rank Combat Soul to imperial-level purple gold-rank, he put aside the elevation of Death Butterfly that was poor in battles compared to the rest.

He took out the last two demigod-level soul crystals he had and fed the Shackle Serpent and the Creation Clock respectively. The duo then elevated to imperial-level purple gold-rank.

Subsequently, Lin Huang fed the remaining soul crystals to the Death Butterfly. When the sky was turning dark, the Death Butterfly finally elevated to imperial-level purple gold-rank after digesting a massive amount of soul crystals. At the moment, less than 1,000 soul crystals were left in Lin Huang's storage space.

At that point, all ten of his God Figurine's Combat Souls had elevated to imperial-level purple gold-rank while he had finally arrived on perfect-stage immortal-level rank-10.

It was the first day since Lin Huang went into closed-door cultivation 45 days ago.

Xiao Mo was reading the Unrivalled Combat God in his head. The method was a completely new cultivation system. After flipping through it roughly, he realized it should be an ancient cultivation method. According to Lin Huang, this method should allow him to cultivate all the way to virtual god-level.

With excitement and anxiety thrumming in him, he began the level-1 of the Unrivalled Combat God's cultivation.

This method was special whereby the first three levels were about integrating the power into his body, strengthening his flesh, organs, and bones to its maximum capacity for a human. On level-4, the method would begin using the sea of power to break through his body limit. If that was successful, it would mean that he would get to holy fire-level and become transcendent.

Xiao Mo cultivated level-1 of the Unrivalled Combat God following the Life Power in his body. It was much more successful than he imagined. Under normal circumstances, not many people could complete the level-1 full rotation in the first cultivation. However, he spent less than three hours completing one full rotation.

It was just a trickle in the beginning and it accumulated into an energy stream when the first rotation was done. A complete circle was formed. Just like that, he built the foundation of the level-1 energy like a piece of cake. Even he found it a little unbelievable.

After he completed level-1's cultivation, Xiao Mo did not begin level-2 just yet. Instead, he proceeded to rotate level-1, adding more energy from his Life Wheel into this new energy circle.

The stream was growing while the speed of the flow was accelerating. Xiao Mo was performing the rotation with his energy over and over again at an accelerating speed.

The next morning, he shortened the rotation time to within a minute. The initial energy flow was so powerful that it was now a massive surging river.

"I'm pretty much done with the level-1 cultivation for now." Xiao Mo pulled his senses out of his body and realized that it was the next morning now.

Bloody's voice came loud and clear at the moment. "It's almost seven now. Although Master said you can pick any time within 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. to complete your mission of interacting with people for an hour, I personally suggest you go there after breakfast."

"Would there be any difference if I go at a different time?" Xiao Mo asked rather confusedly.

"Morning is usually the new beginning of a day. After a good night's sleep, people have the best energy in the morning and they're happiest in the morning too. Therefore, that's the time most people are friendliest to others," Bloody explained while smiling.

Xiao Mo thought to himself and realized he did have the best mood after getting out of bed in the morning. "It seems like it."

"Go wash up now. We'll take a walk in the park after breakfast. After strolling for an hour, you'll return to cultivate with an ease of mind."

Although Xiao Mo was unwilling to go to the park, he nodded anyway. He got up and washed up in the bathroom. It was almost 7 a.m. when he was done.

He then went out with Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx.

Bloody transformed itself into a little cat and sat on Xiao Mo's shoulder just like the Ninetails Lynx always did. Meanwhile, the Ninetails Lynx walked on its own, refusing to interact with anyone else except Lin Huang.

Xiao Mo had no idea what to eat, so he went to the fried bun store Lin Huang brought him to yesterday. It turned out there was already a queue there. Just when he was going to leave after seeing the fully seated tables and the crowd at the queue, the lady boss saw him and called out to him, "Young sir, you're here!"

Xiao Mo stood where he was feeling awkward, but he nodded at the lady boss.

"You're not late today. There are only two people queuing before you," the lady boss updated while smiling. "Just give me a moment. It'll be your turn very soon."

Xiao Mo nodded, feeling helpless, and he queued behind a man and a woman.

Soon, it was his turn. He ordered two servings of fried dumplings for himself and two servings of fried buns and fried dumplings for Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx.

However, he realized there was no vacant seat when he turned around after he placed his order. He stood where he was, clueless about what to do.

At that moment, Bloody hopped off his shoulder and jumped onto a seat that had just been vacated.

However, there was a girl sitting at the table.

Xiao Mo had never shared a table with any strangers before. He was stunned to see what Bloody did. Bloody's voice came to his ears at that moment. "Sit here. We can only share tables now. There'll be more people later if you don't take this seat now. It's still early now, so we can leave as soon as we're done eating."

Xiao Mo walked to the seat Bloody reserved without having a choice.

Meanwhile, the Ninetails Lynx hopped onto the bench and glanced at the girl across it. It did not go to the table.

The girl, who was eating a fried bun, asked in excitement when she saw Xiao Mo with two cats sitting across her, "Such beautiful cats! Are they yours?"

Xiao Mo felt troubled when the girl talked to him. He wanted to prevent such a situation, which was the reason why he was unwilling to share the table with a stranger.

Just when he was going to ignore the girl's question, Bloody's voice came to his ears again. "Don't reject interaction. I'll teach you if you really don't know what to say. I'll say it and you'll repeat after me."

Xiao Mo looked at Bloody and nodded lightly.

He spoke a moment later, "No, they aren't mine. They belong to my friend."

"Oh, really? Can I touch them?" The girl asked in excitement.

Xiao Mo looked at Bloody before answering, "You can touch the one on the table. The one on the bench bites."

The girl began caressing Bloody after getting his permission. Bloody went along with it while squatting on the table, not dodging at all. It considered sacrificing itself to solve Xiao Mo's communication problem.

Soon, the lady boss came with a few plates of fried dumplings and buns.

"Isn't the young sir joining you today?"

Xiao Mo peeped at Bloody again and answered, "He's been busy recently."

"Oh, enjoy your meal then." The lady boss nodded while smiling. She then turned around to go on with her work.

Seeing the lady boss serve six plates of fried buns and dumplings, the girl across looked surprised. "Can you eat so much?"

"The both of them will help," Xiao Mo answered.

While the girl across was still in surprise, Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx soon finished a whole serving. They were no slower than Xiao Mo.

The girl across was shocked when she watched the two cats finishing two plates of fried buns and dumplings on their own. "These two cats have such big appetites!"

There was a long queue at the breakfast store when they were about to leave. Xiao Mo paid the bill quickly and walked to the park.

Fortunately, to his relief, there were lesser people at the park. Soon, he was surrounded by a bunch of students who were on their way to school. They were obviously attracted to the two cats.

Before the students came around, the Ninetails Lynx took a step out and disappeared. It was tens of meters away when it appeared again.

"Brother, this cat is so cute. Is this yours?"

"Brother, may I touch it?"

…

Xiao Mo had no idea what to do at the moment. He glanced at Bloody immediately, hoping to get help. However, Bloody's voice came to his ears. "This is the park. You'll have to depend on yourself from now on. I can only give you one advice — don't reject interaction."

His face turned gloomy but he did not choose to run away in the end. Instead, he answered in a shy manner, "Y-You can touch it. It's my friend's cat."

Xiao Mo let out a long sigh of relief after he watched the little kids leaving happily. However, he suddenly realized that interacting with strangers was not as difficult as he imagined.

"You've completed the mission of speaking to three people today. All you have to do now is to stay here for an hour," Bloody reminded out of the blue.

Xiao Mo's face turned morose again.

Xiao Mo's Unrivalled Combat God cultivation went unusually well beyond his imagination.

In merely five days, he completed level-3 of cultivating. He built three energy circles in his body and spent three days to complete level-4. Then, he built a bigger circle in his body that connected the three smaller circles together without any bottleneck at all. He also completed the one-month mission Lin Huang assigned him, which was breaking through to mortal transformation-level (holy fire-level) successfully.

After that, he spent approximately ten days completing level-5 and level-6 cultivation. He had arrived at perfect-stage mortal transformation-level.

Since then, his cultivation speed had finally slowed down. He spent a full week to break through whereby he got to level-7 of the Unrivalled Combat God while his combat strength had elevated to the ascendance-level (immortal-level).

Even though he slowed down, he only spent a total of 25 days to get from having no cultivation to ascendance-level now which was on par with immortal-level.

What Xiao Mo had no idea about was that Fu Minghan and Qi Hao were the fastest people who cultivated the ancient method a few months ago.

One of them spent 23 days while another spent 27 days to get to mortal transformation-level.

Meanwhile, Xiao Mo only took eight days to break through to mortal transformation-level.

Cultivating the Unrivalled Combat God did not give Xiao Mo any pressure at all. Instead, he gained a lot more confidence from it.

Bloody was satisfied with his progress at the park too.

Although Xiao Mo still did not like crowded places, he began to get used to making small talk with strangers throughout the past 20 days or so. Furthermore, since he had to stay there for an hour, he began to observe the people's daily lives at the park when he had nothing to do.

Exercising, playing chess, drinking tea, dancing, singing…

Although he could not understand most of the things as they seemed like a waste of life to him, he began finding the fun in it.

He even tried to participate in a minority of activities after Bloody encouraged him.

After getting used to it, he heard many stories of other familiars from some talkative aunties and uncles. It was something that he had never heard before and he found it fresh.

Early in the morning, Xiao Mo saw an old man with gray hair and a beard walking toward him not long after he arrived at the park following breakfast.

The old man looked slightly skinny and was approximately 1.8 meters tall. He walked toward them in a pair of mossy green shoes.

The Ninetails Lynx that walked in front stopped all of a sudden while glaring deadly at the old man that was walking toward them.

Soon, Xiao Mo stood still on the bridge. He instinctively sensed a threat from the person, so his heart was racing.

On the other hand, Bloody sensed nothing, perhaps because of its low combat strength.

The old man walked slowly to Xiao Mo and asked while smiling, "Kid, do you know Lin Xie?"

Bloody's guard shot up right away when it heard that.

Aside, the Ninetails Lynx was in a position to attack anytime.

Xiao Mo's eyes became sharp now since he knew about Lin Huang's other identity.

"Don't worry. I've no ill intentions. I just need to ask Lin Xie something."

"I'm sorry. You've got the wrong guy," Xiao Mo answered with a stony face following Bloody's voice transmission, "I don't know any Lin Xie."

"How about… Lin Huang?" asked the old man without giving up.

Even Bloody's pupils shrunk upon hearing Lin Huang's name.

The person clearly came prepared. He had even done a background check on Lin Huang and found out his real identity.

"I don't know him. I've never heard of that name." Bloody got Xiao Mo to decline directly.

"Alright then." The old man nodded while feeling a little disappointed. "Sorry that I behaved absurdly."

The old man stopped his questions as soon as he was done speaking. He walked past Xiao Mo and shuffled away like a normal person.

Xiao Mo only let out a long sigh of relief when the person left his field of vision.

"I think that guy's at least a demigod. He might even be on perfect-stage demigod-level."

"He's here for Master, but he doesn't look like he has ill intentions for now."

"How are you sure that he has no such intentions?" Xiao Mo could not help but probe.

"Do you think a person who manages to find out who Master really is wouldn't find out who checked in to our hotel room?" Bloody asked him back, "He gave up noticing that we have our guard up. He didn't expose our lie. He's actually proving his pure intentions."

"So, do we tell him the truth?"

"No need. He'll definitely come back if there's something urgent. If not, we can wait until Master comes out of his closed-door cultivation."

Bloody did not take that meager episode to its heart.

Xiao Mo stayed at the park for an hour like he usually did. He talked to a few people and returned to the hotel after he was done with his mission. Then, he began cultivating again.

To Bloody's surprise, the old man with gray hair and the beard checked into the suite next door with another middle-aged man in the afternoon. It felt helpless about their actions.

Fortunately, the two demigods did not do anything apart from checking in next door. The most they would do was to greet them when they bumped into each other. They stopped asking about Lin Huang.

Time flew by. Xiao Mo spent 17 days to break through two levels in the method and arrived on level-9 of the Unrivalled Combat God. His combat strength had reached peak-stage ascendance-level which was on par with immortal-level rank-9.

On the fourth day when Xiao Mo broke through to level-9 of the Unrivalled Combat God, Lin Huang finally returned to the hotel when the sky was turning dark.

A white silhouette flashed before his eyes when he opened the door. The Ninetails Lynx was then sitting on his shoulder.

As he was cultivating, Xiao Mo stopped what he was doing and looked at Lin Huang.

"You've cultivated to level-9 of the Unrivalled Combat God?!" Lin Huang was in slight disbelief upon sensing Xiao Mo's aura.

"He performed well at the park too. He completed his mission every day without slacking off and missing anything," Bloody added. It was still in its cat form at the moment. It hopped off from the coffee table and walked toward Lin Huang.

"But there are two strange men looking for you during this period. I've no idea what they're up to. Both of them are demigods and they've been staying next door for close to 20 days. They didn't do anything, so I don't think they come with ill intentions."

As soon as Bloody was done speaking, the doorbell rang all of a sudden.

Lin Huang sensed clearly with his Territory skill that there were two men standing at the door at the moment. One was tall and strong while the other was skinny. The latter was the one who rang the doorbell.

Lin Huang turned around immediately and opened the door.

The old man was stunned when he saw Lin Huang in his own skin. He then asked in a testing manner, "Are you Lin Huang?"

"That's right. Are you looking for me?" Lin Huang raised his brow as he looked at the duo.

Lin Huang connected the dots as soon as he saw the two strangers standing at the door. The duo should be the two people Bloody had just mentioned.

He observed the duo without saying anything.

The old man with gray hair and a beard standing before him was the one who had rung the doorbell. He looked like he was in his early 60's. Despite his gaunt figure, he was in high spirits.

There was a muscular hunk behind him on the right who looked like he was in his 40's. He was approximately 1.9 meters tall with a muscular body and he had stubble on his face. He was taking a careful look at Lin Huang when the latter was studying him too. The man was judging him.

"Come on in." Sensing no ill intentions from these two, Lin Huang daringly invited them into the room. "May I get you a drink?"

"Tea will be good." The old man glanced around and sat down on the couch. The muscular hunk sat quietly by his side, without speaking a word since the beginning. However, he glanced at Lin Huang, Xiao Mo, and the Ninetails Lynx.

Soon, Lin Huang served the tea.

The muscular hunk took the teacup and placed it on the coffee table. He clearly had no intention to drink it. The old man, on the other hand, was at ease. He took a sip of the tea right as soon as he accepted it.

"Is there anything that I can help you with?" Lin Huang asked casually after the old man drank the tea.

The old man glanced at Xiao Mo as he put the teacup down. "Young sir, can we have some privacy?"

Xiao Mo looked at Lin Huang who nodded at him. Xiao Mo put on his earphones and turned on the music on his Emperor's Heart Ring. He spun around and walked to the balcony, closing the glass door.

The old man then began talking about his intention to visit gradually.

"My name is Huang Tianpu. This is Huang Tufu. We're both from Dynasty. We're visiting you today to inquire about something. We also have a favor to ask."

Lin Huang jolted when he heard the duo's name as he had heard of them before.

Dynasty's First Grand Duke, Huang Tianpu who was also the current leader of Dynasty. Not only did he handle everything at Dynasty's headquarters in Division 1, but he was also the current supreme leader in Dynasty who was on par with the Union Government president.

Meanwhile, the muscular hunk next to him was Huang Tufu. He was the Third Grand Duke of Dynasty, the current leader of the Dynasty branch in Division 3 and he managed all of Dynasty's matters in Division 3. Throughout the decades, he made the Dynasty branch the most powerful underground organization in Division 3. He was the one who created the rivalry with the Union Government branch in Division 3.

The duo were the legendary underground bosses!

Hearing the duo's identity, Lin Huang's first thought was that they must have found out he killed the Duke and Prince of Dynasty. However, what Huang Tianpu said later on made him realize that it was not the case.

He suddenly realized that the duo might be here for his participation in the Royal Trials earlier.

"Ask whatever you have in mind, Old Man Huang. I'll answer you as best as I can."

"Then, I won't beat around the bush." Huang Tianpu nodded while smiling. "Did you participate in the Royal Trials earlier?"

Lin Huang fell into a moment of silence upon hearing that question. He thought about it carefully. Since they were here for him, they must have found out about it in their own way. It would be futile for him to hide the truth, so he admitted with a nod instantly, "Indeed, I did."

"I think you passed the assessment in the end, didn't you?" Huang Tianpu proceeded to ask.

"That I did," Lin Huang confirmed.

"Allow me to ask you this — did you obtain Royal Authorization in the end?"

"I got a Rank-A if I recall correctly," Lin Huang thought about it and answered.

Since he had been busy after the Royal Trials, he immediately set aside the fact that he obtained Royal Authorization. He did not even look at the Royal Market once.

Now that Huang Tianpu brought it up, he just recalled that he had many points that he had yet to redeem.

"Rank-A?!" Shock flashed through the eyes of both Huang Tianpu and Huang Tufu, who was sitting aside.

"Are you sure you got a Rank-A?" Huang Tufu could not help but finally question.

"Yes." Lin Huang nodded.

"Kid, could you show us your trial token please?" On the other hand, Huang Tianpu did not raise any doubt. Instead, he asked to see the trial token.

Lin Huang nodded and took the trial token out. The trial token was registered under his name, so it would be futile for Huang Tianfu to snatch it away unless he killed Lin Huang. However, if the owner of the trial token died, the accumulated points in the trial token would be wiped away and the initial authorization rank would be downgraded automatically too.

After producing the trial token, Lin Huang noticed that it seemed to be different from before.

The original trial token had been golden with the word 'royal' imprinted in the middle and was filled with complicated sigils all over.

However, although the token was still golden in color, the word 'emperor' was imprinted in the middle now. Furthermore, the back of the token, which was initially filled with sigils, had a capital 'A' in the middle now.

Lin Huang did not notice when the token transformed as such.

When Huang Tianpu took the token and saw the letter at the back, his hands began shaking. "It's true!"

"He really has Rank-A authorization." Even Huang Tufu, who had been cold, turned emotional when he saw that.

Huang Tianpu then returned the token with both hands after the both of them gave a detailed observation on it.

Lin Huang picked it up casually and tossed it back into his storage space. When they noticed that, the duo had an odd expression on their faces.

However, Huang Tianpu soon spoke again, "Kid, what do you think of Dynasty?"

'Are they trying to get me to join them?' Lin Huang thought to himself when he heard the question.

He did not find it odd as soon as he recalled the result he had obtained in the Royal Trials. After all, he achieved what nobody in Dynasty had in over 5 centuries — passing the trials. It made sense if they wanted to get him to join them.

Lin Huang answered after a moment of silence, "Dynasty is very powerful. Its branch alone is the most powerful underground organization in Division 3 at the moment. It's on par with the Union Government branch in Division 3. Dynasty's overall ability ranks at the top in the entire continent too. Among all of the underground organizations, Dynasty's combined ability ranks No. 3, so it's undoubtedly the underground giant. Moreover, the First to the Third Grand Dukes are the top powerhouses in the gravel world. If I'm not mistaken, apart from the three of you, Dynasty has at least ten demigods or even more.

"To be honest, I admire the fact that you guys could gather so many powerhouses and develop the organization to what it is today. However, I don't admire the way and style of how you guys do things. Therefore, I'm sorry that I've no plans to join Dynasty." He rejected their invitation before they could even extend a formal invitation.

"Kid, we're not here to invite you to join Dynasty." Huang Tianpu shook his head with a grin "We're here today hoping that you would be the second Emperor of Dynasty!"

"Emperor?" It was Lin Huang's first time hearing that term. However, he could tell it was a high position.

"Emperor is the highest title we have in Dynasty. It's not just a title, but the Emperor is a leader who has the real power, possessing the highest authority to control the entire Dynasty. Including the First to Third Grand Dukes like us, all the Dukes, Princes, and Dynasty members, we must all listen to the Emperor," Huang Tianpu explained in detail.

"I don't understand this. Why are you guys getting yourself a superior? Aren't you just giving yourself a hard time?" Lin Huang raised his doubt as soon as he was done listening. "Without the Emperor, isn't it great for the First to the Third Grand Dukes in reign?"

Huang Tianpu shook his head and forced a smile when he heard that. "This has something to do with the rules that were passed down from Royal during the establishment of Dynasty.

"My master, who is the founder of Dynasty, Mr. Huang Tianyu, was Dynasty's very first Emperor. He founded Dynasty back then in an attempt to build a tremendous empire like the Union Government. He came up with the title 'Emperor' because it's the equivalent of the ruler of a kingdom who possesses the highest authority.

"My master was Royalty. He needed a massive amount of resources to build Dynasty, so he signed an agreement with Royal to make Dynasty the affiliate organization under the latter. Because of the identity as an affiliate organization, Dynasty developed quickly and very soon rose in this gravel world. It never stopped growing.

"However, there's a problem in the agreement. It clearly states that only Dynasty members have the right to inherit the Emperor title."

"Since Master passed away, none of our Dynasty members are eligible to inherit the title. Royal contacted us and gave us two options.

"The first option is to detach from Royal to become an independent organization. If we choose that, we won't be getting any resource support from Royal from that day onwards while all the ruins won't be opened to us. Furthermore, Dynasty must pay the compensation for all the expenses Royal has spent on building and training us for the past 5 centuries. The annual compensation will be 50% of our annual income.

"The second option is to continue being Royal's affiliate organization. Since we don't have an Emperor, we're only assigned the lowest supply of resources from them. We'd also only be given the lowest authorization for all the ruins. There's also a request. We'll need to find a Royalty to be the new Emperor within 3 centuries. As soon as the Emperor goes on duty, all the resources will be recovered following the Emperor's privileges in Royal.

"However, if we can't find a new Emperor within 3 centuries, Royal will send their people to take over the affiliate organizations. By then, the entire organization will belong to Royal, including the members and items. Everything would become Royal's private property.

"We heard about that through some intel. As soon as we become their private property, it'd be equivalent to losing our human rights. We'd be no different from being a slave. Moreover, it would mean losing the potential to elevate on certain levels for demigods. There's a high possibility that they might be given the slave imprint and sold to powerhouses in the great world."

Lin Huang understood why they looked for him right after hearing Huang Tianpu's detailed explanation.

"So, you guys went for the second option?"

Huang Tianpu nodded while forcing a smile. "It would've been stupid to choose the first option back then. We had gotten used to having Royal supporting us, it was hard to imagine what would happen to us without their support. Furthermore, we were very confident that we could train a Royalty within these 3 centuries."

"However, never had we thought that we wouldn't have even trained a single Royalty when the 3-century deadline is coming to an end. Even Huang Wuji, who we rooted for, was sent out on the second day of the trial."

"How long more to the 3-century deadline?" Lin Huang could not help but ask.

"In 11 more years, but the Royal Trials will only happen in 100 years. We've lost our only hope."

"Since there are still 11 years, why don't you just leave Dynasty? If you leave now, I don't think they'd come after all of you one after another in 11 years?" Lin Huang asked.

"We can't do that. As soon as we joined Dynasty, our names were on the register of the Royal affiliate organization. Since Master died, Royal automatically recorded all the new Dynasty members' details. As long as our names are on the list, the people from Royal will definitely find us. It's futile for us to hide anywhere in the world.

"There's only one way to leave Dynasty, which is to get the Emperor to remove the members from the list with his Royal Authorization."

"What if you dissolve Dynasty directly?" Lin Huang suggested.

"There's no way to do that," Huang Tianpu shook his head feeling helpless, "Dynasty is Royal's affiliate organization, so Royal has the ownership. As long as Royal disagrees with that, we can't be dissolved. To dissolve an affiliate organization, the affiliate organization's Emperor must send an application into Royal's headquarters."

"So, you guys have locked yourself in a dead-end." Lin Huang was rather puzzled to hear that.

"We only have one solution now, which is to find a new Emperor."

"I've got a question." Lin Huang thought about it before speaking again, "Are you guys sure that the first Emperor is dead?"

Huang Tianpu nodded almost without thinking. "We've confirmed it. Master went to the great world a few years after breaking through to virtual god-level 3 centuries ago. Royal announced his death less than 10 years following his departure."

"Didn't you guys see the body?"

"There was no body but it shouldn't be fake news," Huang Tianpu explained, "The Royal identity token is locked with the particular person. It will only be unlocked when the person dies. As soon as the token is unlocked, Royal would have their record down automatically."

"Do you guys have no other candidates apart from me?" Lin Huang asked rather helplessly.

"No. From what we know, you're the second person who has obtained the Royal Authorization throughout 5 centuries apart from Master. It was the first time Royal contacted us to tell us about you passing the Royal Trials."

"What if I reject this offer?" Lin Huang asked raising his brow, "Are you guys going to kidnap me? And force me to take the position?"

"I would love to do that," Huang Tufu mumbled softly.

"If you reject us, we'll stay by your side until you agree." Huang Tianpu smiled lightly. "We'll follow you no matter where you go, including the bathroom, the shower, when you go to sleep… We'll guard you by your side all the time to show our sincerity."

"Aren't you being a gangster now?" Lin Huang became speechless right away.

Huang Tianpu became serious after cracking the joke. "We really have no other option. If you don't like our way and style of doing things, we can implement a reformation in the entire organization. Although it's quite impossible that we could be as clean as the Union Government or the Hunter Association, it shouldn't be a problem to be as neutral as the Heretics. We promise to cooperate with you with all our might, transforming Dynasty into a brand new organization."

Lin Huang was really moved hearing what Huang Tianpu said. He had been wanting to establish his own organization for some time now. Although Dynasty, who sent themselves to his doorstep, was different from what he expected, joining them would be a shortcut to fight God Bless. Furthermore, with his identity as a Royalty, it was pretty impossible for Dynasty to turn their backs on him.

To establish an organization that truly belonged to him, he could do so by building a core circle within Dynasty. When the circle developed, it would not be too late for him to part independently from Dynasty. Moreover, he could use Dynasty's resources and the people's relationship to develop his core circle.

"Since you're so sincere, I shan't hide this from you. I'm planning to visit the great world after breaking through to imperial-level. If it's soon, I might leave this year. I'll leave next year if I take a longer time. Therefore, your Emperor will soon be going away if you get me to be your Emperor," Lin Huang shared his plan honestly.

"Don't worry about it. As long as the Emperor is still alive, it won't affect us whether you're in this gravel world or not. Furthermore, you can assign a representative before you leave and give a portion of your authority to the representative. By then, just get the representative to handle matters that involve authority. About going to the great world, I'll bring a few demigods to go with you for safety purposes." Huang Tianpu seemed to have considered everything in Lin Huang's shoes.

"If that's the case, I agree to be your Emperor." Lin Huang finally acquiesced. "I'm a lazy person, so I won't interfere much with your management. However, I'll monitor you guys since you agreed to a reformation. I hope to see the results."

"Just trust us with the management, but you're welcome to monitor us." Huang Tianpu finally flashed a smile of relief on his face. Even Huang Tufu, who was sitting aside, was greatly relieved to hear Lin Huang agree.

"Master Emperor, would you prefer a grand or a low-key appointment ceremony?" Huang Tianpu changed how he addressed Lin Huang as soon as he agreed to be the Emperor.

"Low-key, I guess. Only Dynasty has to know about it. There's no need to let the world know."

"It's already the 26th of July today. Should we fix it on 1st August? It happens to be an auspicious day." Huang Tianpu even determined the date.

"So soon?" Lin Huang was not prepared at all.

"Since you want a low-key one, we don't have to inform the world. We'll only have to decorate Dynasty a little. It won't take long," Huang Tianpu said delightedly, "There's nothing that you need to prepare. We'll prepare everything for you. If you have guests you'd like to invite, just tell us their names and contact details. We'll get people to pick them up when they arrive in Division 1. You don't have to stay in this hotel. You can do whatever you want and go wherever you want. Just send me your coordinates a day ahead. I'll pick you up by then."

"Sure, arrange everything for me then." Hearing Huang Tianpu's arrangement, Lin Huang could not help but secretly exclaim to himself how meticulous this person was. He did not miss anything in his arrangements and was an all-rounded, talented manager.

"Master Emperor, I shan't stay any longer. I'll leave now to make the arrangements." Huang Tianpu stood up after he was done speaking. He then turned his head to say to Huang Tufu next to him, "You'll stay in the room next to Master Emperor. Stay with him to assure his safety within these few days."

"Master Emperor, just do what you like and pretend he's not there. He'll only follow you when you go out. He won't disturb you other than that unless you ask him to."

"There's no need for that. Just go ahead with your own thing. Since I've agreed, I definitely won't run away." Lin Huang shook his head kindly.

"It's my honor to protect you, Master Emperor." Huang Tufu agreed to the mission.

Lin Huang stopped rejecting him since he said that.

Soon, Huang Tianpu summoned a dimensional portal and left. Meanwhile, Huang Tufu did not stay in Lin Huang's room and returned to the room next door.

Seeing the duo leave, Xiao Mo then returned from the balcony to the living room and asked about the duo rather curiously.

The conversation with Huang Tianpu was better than what Lin Huang expected. Clearly, Dynasty had no other choice than begging him, an outsider, and even agreed to implement reformation.

To Lin Huang, taking over Dynasty would actually do more merit than harm.

Although he knew very well that the agreement he had with Huang Tianpu was promising, a reformation of Dynasty would not happen overnight. He might even experience many obstacles along the way. However, as long as he had his identity as a Royalty, most people in Dynasty would not turn their backs on him.

He could use Dynasty's power to fight God Bless and conveniently build an organization that belonged to him.

After Huang Tianpu left, Lin Huang visited the Wanbao Auction and the black market in Sweep City disguised as Lin Xie. He counted the elevation materials that he had gotten them to collect for the past two months or so.

There were quite a number of materials that were enough to elevate five imperial monsters. They were enough to elevate Grimace, Bloody Robe, the Eclipse Boa, the Death Knight, and the Fallen Knight. He was only lacking a few materials to elevate Bing Wang and the Witch.

Figuring that the Emperor installation ceremony would be happening soon, Lin Huang put aside elevating Grimace and the rest. After all, he would need at least ten days to elevate his imperial monsters while the installation ceremony would happen in a few days.

Throughout the few days, Lin Huang had nothing else to do. He stayed in the hotel room to practice his sword skills.

Huang Tufu was a Sword Dao expert as well and he had also reached level-6 Sword Dao. Initially, he thought it was impossible for Lin Huang to have a deep comprehension of Sword Dao given that he was rather young. He thought he could seize the opportunity to dole out advice on Sword Dao in order to have a close relationship with the soon-to-be Emperor.

Never had he thought that he would be shocked to see Lin Huang practicing his sword skills for the first time. This soon-to-be Emperor was only 19 years old and his combat strength was only on immortal-level, but his comprehension of Sword Dao was no lower than his. He stopped underestimating him and began discussing Sword Dao with Lin Huang like he was talking to someone of his own level. He even took to practicing with him by suppressing his combat strength.

Meanwhile, Xiao Mo had been sitting in his room with his legs crossed these few days to practice the Unrivalled Combat God. He did not find it boring at all.

Three days soon flew by.

Huang Tianpu returned early in the morning on the 30th of July.

The hard rock in his throat disappeared when he saw Lin Huang. He had been a little worried that Lin Huang might back out in these few days.

"We've done with the preparation. All we have to do now is to wait for the installation ceremony tomorrow. Don't you want to invite your friends to watch?" he asked since he had not received Lin Huang's guest list these few days.

"No need. Let's go."

Although the siblings Yi Zheng and Yi Yeyu were currently in Division 3, Lin Huang thought there was no need to invite them. After all, he would be an underground organization boss soon while the Yi siblings were born into the Union Government's military department with a clean record. If they were to work in the military, witnessing the installation ceremony of Dynasty's Emperor might stain a black ink in their clean records.

Meanwhile, Leng Yuexin and Li Lang were offsprings of notable families. They had no interest in underground organizations, so Lin Huang did not bother to inform them.

He only brought along Xiao Mo and stepped into the demigod-level long-distance dimensional portal together with Huang Tianpu and Huang Tufu.

When he snapped back to his senses, Lin Huang realized he was in a luxurious palace.

Looking at the palace that was even more sophisticated than those in the movies, the first thought that popped into his head was, 'How much did they spend building this?!'

Lin Huang was not the only one who was astounded. Next to him, Xiao Mo was in complete shock. It was the first time in his life seeing such a grandiose building.

"The first Emperor designed this. We've done almost nothing to it ever since I moved in."

"Master Emperor, your palace is the one in the east." Huang Tianpu pushed open a window with a smile and pointed at an even more majestic palace hundreds of meters away. "That's the Emperor's Palace. It's a legit god relic."

"That's crazy luxurious!" Lin Huang could not help but exclaim out loud as he looked at the tall palace that was close to 50 meters away.

On the other hand, Xiao Mo was so dumbfounded that he could not speak.

"Unless there's a special occasion, the Emperor's Palace is usually closed. Only the Emperor can access it," continued Huang Tianpu, "Let's take a look."

Huang Tianpu opened the palace doors as he spoke while escorting Lin Huang and Xiao Mo into the Emperor's Palace.

There were two imperial-level purple gold-rank guards standing at the palace entrance.

The duo bowed courteously when they saw Huang Tianpu. "First Grand Duke, Your Highness!" They then secretly observed Lin Huang, clearly very curious about this newly appointed Emperor.

Lin Huang glanced at the two guards too. They had a solid aura. He figured they might have powerful abilities when they fought people of the same combat strength.

"There were usually no guards before this because there was no Emperor while the Emperor's Palace is a god relic itself," Huang Tianpu said honestly.

"In reality, there's no need for guards." Lin Huang nodded while smiling.

"They look like guards since they're asked to stand at the entrance, but their real responsibly is to take care of the Emperor's needs. Just tell them whatever you need and they'll arrange for you. They'll inform me if there are things that they can't do and I'll handle it."

"Can we go into the palace now?" Lin Huang asked since he saw the door being closed.

"Yes, this god relic has a weapon spirit. The palace doors will open automatically as soon as you take your Royal Token out," Huang Tianpu acknowledged, "The main control of the Emperor's Palace is on the throne in the palace. You'll have to spend some time registering your identity."

Lin Huang took the Royal Token out after he heard that. As told, the door opened automatically right away.

Huang Tianpu stood still at the entrance for a while and only followed behind them after Lin Huang and Xiao Mo entered.

Gazing around, Lin Huang felt that the interior of this palace was many times bigger than what he saw outside.

He saw almost neither the end of the building when he looked left and right nor the ceiling above his head. All he could see was a dark sky and countless stars.

It gave Lin Huang the feeling that it was not a palace, but more like a micro world.

"Master traded this Emperor's Palace at the Royal Market. I heard he integrated many Space Rule pieces into this. It's a relic close to true god-level. This space is almost endless when talking about its capacity," Huang Tianpu explained with a proud grin upon noticing Lin Huang looking around.

Lin Huang's eyes lit up when he heard the explanation.

A relic that could integrate rule pieces indeed was a relic close to true god-level.

Lin Huang walked ahead and soon saw the throne Huang Tianpu was talking about. It was located on a pure golden platform.

There was a staircase covered in a red carpet leading to the platform. There were a total of 36 steps on the stairs.

The entire platform was close to 20 meters long, and five to six meters in length and width.

The throne was placed in the middle of the platform, over a meter away from the highest step. The throne was completely golden while the surface of the chair was so huge that even a three-meter tall muscular hunk would not feel suffocated sitting on it. The back of the chair was almost three meters tall and the sigils all over it formed a unique pattern.

There was a sunken decorative wall behind the throne. It was approximately ten meters tall like a city wall. The sunken wall was in an arc shape surrounding the throne while the rest of the wall stretched all the way to the end of the platform.

Lin Huang walked all the way up the stairs to the platform. He sat on the throne as if he belonged there. "This throne is pretty majestic but it's a little too big."

"You can change the size of the throne. This size is suitable for the ceremony tomorrow. Master Emperor, you can adjust the size as you wish after that."

Lin Huang nodded and inserted his consciousness into the throne for the palace to recognize him.

After confirming Lin Huang's identity as a Royalty, the weapon spirit of the Emperor's Palace did not repel him at all. Instead, it took the initiative to register him and completed it in less than three minutes.

Due to the restriction of authority, Lin Huang did not get Xiao Hei to seal the Emperor's Palace into a card yet because as soon as the palace was sealed into a card, he would be not able to summon it.

Huang Tianpu only spoke after noticing that Lin Huang had completed the recognition process. "Master Emperor, there's something that I'm not sure if I should inform you about in advance."

"Although we didn't invite any other organizations out there for the Emperor installation ceremony tomorrow, there'll still be some media representatives coming."

"So, the news of me being Emperor will still be known to the outside world?" Lin Huang's frown deepened when he heard this.

"If you really don't want to expose your identity, you can put on a mask to hide your face. We will keep your identity a secret."

"You're only telling me this now on purpose so that I'll agree to take the position, am I right?" Lin Huang asked Huang Tianpu while stared at him.

"I did it because it's the last resort. I'm willing to accept the punishment if you're going to punish me, Master Emperor." Huang Tianpu looked down immediately.

"Forget about the punishment. I hope such a thing won't happen in the future." Lin Huang waved and only spoke again after a moment of thought, "There's no need for a disguise. It's only a matter of time that my identity will be exposed. Me revealing my identity myself is better than being exposed. At least, I'm in control."

"Your sister…?" Huang Tianpu started.

"Bring me to her. We'll bring her to Division 1."

At White Capital in Division 7, an old man and a young man appeared at the Martial Hunter College's entrance.

The young man had black, short hair and bright eyes. He wore a white t-shirt on top with blue and white jeans. He was dressed very casually. There was a little white cat sitting on the left of his shoulder.

Meanwhile, the old man next to him wore a gray Chinese suit and a pair of black canvas shoes on his feet. He was skinny, he looked like a powerful Taoist devotee.

The duo who looked like grandfather and grandson only lingered at the Martial Hunter College entrance for a moment. They turned around and left.

"She's not at school." Lin Huang did not sense the Witch, and he did not find Lin Xin with his Divine Telekinesis either.

It was the end of July and it was summer break at the Martial Hunter College. Lin Huang did not find it surprising that Lin Xin was not there.

Beside him, Huang Tianpu did not seem to find it strange either.

Lin Huang called Lin Xin's number and she picked up the video call immediately.

Lin Huang noticed the mud specks on her face as soon as the call connected. Her hair was a little messy and she seemed clumsy too. He could not help but frown but he soon realized it was a jungle behind her.

"Where are you now?"

"The Fiendish Swamp Jungle."

"Why are you there?" Lin Huang's eyebrows knotted even more now.

He was familiar with the Fiendish Swamp Jungle. It was a moderate danger zone. Not only were there immortal-level monsters, but there were also many poisonous monsters too.

"It's the school holidays now, so I got myself a mission." Lin Xin's voice was getting softer. She knew Lin Huang would react like this if he found out that she went to the Fiendish Swamp Jungle.

"Where's the Little Witch?" he asked again.

"At the hotel."

As soon as Lin Xin spoke, a shadow appeared like a black fog all of a sudden. Soon, the Witch's head solidified and hovered next to Lin Xin's head. "I'm here."

"Why are you doing this, Little Witch? You promised not to come!" Lin Xin was surprised to see the Witch and she soon began to complain.

"Good job!" Lin Huang, on the other hand, gave a completely different comment.

"You guys wait where you are. Don't move around. I'm coming over."

"Ah? Are you back in Division 7, brother?" Lin Xin panicked at that moment.

"I'm at the Martial Hunter College entrance." Lin Huang shifted the camera a little and showed the entrance behind him.

"I haven't completed my mission. Don't come. I'll return in a few days after I've completed my mission. You can stay in White Capital City."

"I've something to do tomorrow. I'm coming to you now." Lin Huang hung up the phone right away.

Lin Xin looked gloomy as she watched the video turn black. "Why is this happening to me? I haven't done my mission. If I give up now, it'll affect my mission completion rate."

"Why don't I help you before Master comes?" the Witch suggested.

"No, I don't believe I can't even catch one Black Swamp Frog by myself!" Lin Xin did not want to give up just yet.

Over ten minutes later, Lin Huang appeared before Lin Xin.

She was hovering above a swamp at that moment, less than ten minutes away from the ground. She looked even slovenlier than she did in the video call earlier.

Although she was mad when she saw Lin Huang, she did not stop hunting.

"So, you're hunting for the Black Swamp Frog?" Lin Huang finally realized what she was doing after observing her for a moment.

Lin Xin glared at Lin Huang, clearly upset that he had interrupted her mission.

"Do you want me to help?" Huang Tianpu turned his head and asked Lin Huang.

"No, let her do it." Lin Huang shook his head and said to Lin Xin, "There are three difficult points about capturing the Black Swamp Frog.

"The first one, Black Swamp Frog usually lives with the Fiendish Swamp Alligator. You could be attacked by a Fiendish Swamp Alligator easily when you're catching a Black Swamp Frog."

From the mud on her body, he knew Lin Xin had experienced that.

"The second one is that the Black Swamp Frog has the ability to disguise. It's hard to be seen with the naked eye as long as it's completely still.

"The third one is that the Black Swamp Frog has explosive reflexes. It can easily escape when you catch it with normal techniques. Furthermore, it has an explosive speed for short distances. It's much more powerful than monsters and people of the same level when it comes to this.

"The first point is still manageable, but it's tough for you to catch them if you don't overcome the other two points."

Lin Huang did not help her. Instead, he analyzed the difficult details about capturing the Black Swamp Frog.

Lin Xin was stunned when she heard him. She began mumbling the second and third point Lin Huang told her, "Hard to be seen with the naked eye, explosive reflexes…"

"If it's hard to be seen with the naked eye, I can use another sensing technique. If it has explosive reflexes, I'll have to figure it's movement trajectory!" Lin Xin soon found the solution.

She hovered mid-air and closed her eyes slowly. She spread her senses wide and soon sensed the swamp below her feet. Although she could only sense a rough outline of it, she was very happy to be able to do that.

In reality, almost all transcendence-levels possessed a sensing ability. However, people who had no telekinesis would hardly use it because looking with one's eyes was much more effective than using the blurry sensing ability.

However, Lin Xin did not need a clear picture. All she needed was to discern the Black Swamp Frog and mud apart.

Under the sense, life energy would be detected as white fire spots which were completely different from the dark-green swamp.

Soon, Lin Xin sensed the Black Swamp Frogs' coordinates just a couple of meters away.

"There are so many of them!" Through her sensing ability, she sensed many Black Swamp Frogs around her.

When she opened her eyes, she targeted a Black Swamp Frog's coordinates and swung her sword without hesitation toward it.

As a black silhouette came from thin air, Lin Xin's sword landed onto nothing.

"You must think carefully about how to defeat your opponent that has better speed and reflexes than you do." Lin Huang did not give her a straightforward answer. Instead, he guided Lin Xin to figure out how to do it herself.

She soon had her answer.

She targeted another Black Swamp Frog but did not attack just yet. Instead, she held her sword while waiting for the sure-hit opportunity.

All of a sudden, she stomped and a wave shot toward the Black Swamp Frog. The moment the Black Swamp Frog appeared, a silver glow flashed through the air. The creature that had just revealed itself was sliced into half.

Lin Xin was filled with joy since her single hit killed the Black Swamp Frog.

"Alright, you've completed your mission. Can we leave now?" Lin Huang walked to her while grinning proudly.

"I have to kill ten of them." Lin Xin looked bitter when she heard the word 'mission'.

"So, that was only your first?" Lin Huang could not help but raise his brow when he saw Lin Xin's expression. He figured that she must have gotten nothing for the past few days.

Lin Xin said while flushing, "I'll be done in a minute."

"It's already done." As soon as Lin Huang was done speaking, a telekinesis thread skewered ten Black Swamp Frogs like a stick of candied fruit and was presented before Lin Xin.

"I'll catch one for you when we get back. You can practice all you want by then."

It was hot at the end of summer in July in Emperor City. The temperature almost always maintained above 35 degrees Celsius.

However, hundreds of thousands of people were coming to this foothold that was not a popular summer resort.

Those people were not tourists but Dynasty members from all divisions.

Naturally, the hundreds of thousands of people from Dynasty gathering at the Emperor City in Division 1 attracted attention from other organizations. Many people were discussing it on all the forums.

"What's Dynasty been doing recently? Why are so many of them returning to Dynasty's headquarters in Division 1 all of a sudden?"

"That's right. All the hotels in Emperor City have been fully booked these few days. Many of them have booked their rooms until the 1st of August."

"It's been hundreds of years since Dynasty last had such a huge event. Why exactly are they doing this time?"

"Are they at war with some organization?"

A minority of them heard the news. "I heard the Emperor is born."

However, most people thought it was fake. There were even people who retaliated against the news with their own reasons.

"The Royal Trials happen every century and it's open for a month each time. Following the opening date which was on the 5th of May, the Royal Trials ended on the 5th of June which was two months ago. The First Prince, Huang Wuji, whom Dynasty was rooting for, was disqualified at the beginning of May and he returned to Dynasty. This isn't a secret to most organizations.

"Furthermore, even if other Princes passed the trial, Dynasty would've announced it in a grand celebration when the trial ended in June. Dynasty has always been high-key. If they have indeed chosen an Emperor, how is it possible that they were so quiet for the past two months and only enthrone their Emperor now?"

Soon, the very true and similar exposès drowned in all sorts of fake news after some heated discussions.

As the fiery discussions went on, time flew by and the 1st of August finally came.

Early in the morning, people crowded the massive square at Dynasty's headquarters.

Everyone was very curious about this newly appointed Emperor since Huang Tianpu and the rest did not reveal anything about Lin Huang to their members.

Apart from a minority of people from Dynasty's headquarters who knew about Lin Huang's identity, the rest did not even have any idea whether this newly appointed Emperor was a man or a woman.

Naturally, apart from the curiosity they had about the newly appointed Emperor, many people came for a more realistic reason. They wanted to know what benefits this newly appointed Emperor would bring to Dynasty.

Basically, Dynasty's upper echelon knew that an Emperor must be a Royalty. The arrival of the newly appointed Emperor would definitely bring benefits for Dynasty.

Since the first Emperor died, Dynasty had been receiving the lowest benefit available from Royal for the past hundreds of years. It was almost equivalent to the minimum living security on Earth. Having a newly appointed Emperor would definitely improve that by heaps. Their minimum could be boosted up to the equivalent to a social security standard.

The installation would take place at 10 a.m. However, almost all the Dynasty members arrived even before it was 9 a.m.

The people were chatting to their own cliques at the square as they waited for the ceremony to begin.

At 9.30 a.m., airships were ascending above Dynasty's headquarters one after another as the people beneath exclaimed in astonishment.

A dozen demigod-level airships which were tens of thousands meters long each flew in the air, covering the sun.

Many media representatives snapped photos of the scene immediately.

As the 12 airships ascended one after another, a larger pitch-black airship ascended. The jaws of countless people dropped when the airship appeared.

It was at least 50,000 meters long and was almost on par with a massive city on Earth.

Most people from Dynasty had heard of this airship, but almost all of them were seeing it for the first time.

"It's the legendary Star Titan!"

"The Star Titan! One of the three god-level airships in the entire continent! I can't believe we're seeing it today!"

"I think this airship is deemed as the most supreme treasure in the entire world. I heard its main cannon can kill a Virtual God in one blow!"

Everyone's eyeballs were drawn to this massive airship. The Star Titan was Dynasty's most supreme treasure they had in store.

There were only a total of three airships of the same level in the entire continent.

As the Star Titan ascended slowly, it hovered with the 12 demigod-level battleships in the air. Thousands of cannons stretched out in combat mode.

Even countless media representative was stirred. It was the Star Titan's first appearance in public for hundreds of years.

Many organization members who were watching outside the square just realized that something significant was really happening in Dynasty when they saw the Star Titan.

As the Star Titan ascended into the air, four Midnight God motherships among the 12 demigod-level airships formed a giant round platform with a diameter that exceeded 24 kilometers.

Meanwhile, the remaining airships retreated a few kilometers away from the Midnight God motherships. They surrounded the platform from eight different directions and extended up to 1,000 of cannons. They were in combat mode just like the Star Titan.

A voice came out of the Star Titan out of the blue when the airships were in position. "All Dynasty members, you can begin boarding the platform now! Members who are not transcendence-levels, please stand in the middle of the square and wait for the airship to pick you up. Please don't board just yet, our dear media friends. You'll only come up to the airship platform after the Dynasty members are done with their registration."

Up to 1,000 transcendence-level members boarded the airship platform that had docked as soon as the voice rang out.

Meanwhile, the remaining hundreds of thousands of regular members stood in the middle of the square and waited for their pick-up patiently.

A moment later, a halo blossomed from the Star Titan and covered everything standing in the middle of the square. Subsequently, lights bathed everyone within the halo-like searchlights. The people ascended into the sky under the lights.

In less than five seconds, everyone on the square was sucked into the Star Titan.

A while later, another halo shone from the Star Titan and glistened on the platform formed by the four Midnight God motherships. Lights illuminated the area again while the people landed in the middle of the platform one after another.

Many of them looked excited when they landed on the platform.

"I can't believe I took a ride in the Star Titan!"

"It's the first time in my life I've ever ridden on a god-level airship. I'm over the moon!"

"You should be. This might be the one and only time you can do this in your entire life after all."

"The most climatic one second in my life. I don't think there's anything that can top that!"

…

"Dukes of all branches in each division, get your branch members to queue according to their safety zone codes and branch codes."

After the Star Titan gave the new order, everyone on the platform began searching for their own troops. They soon gathered into a square formation under the Dukes' arrangement.

As things were getting busy on the platform, four demigod-level palaces ascended into the air slowly. They hovered in a line between the Star Titan and the 12 demigod-level airships. There was a three-kilometer-wide gap in the middle.

After the four demigod-level palaces were in position, the even more majestic Emperor Palace then ascended into the air slowly and landed between the space that was emptied by the four demigod-level palaces.

Many Dynasty members were emotional to witness the majestic Emperor Palace hovering midair. They were even more emotional than when they saw the Star Titan earlier.

By then, all the media representatives finally confirmed that the Emperor was really born this time!

Although the Emperor's Palace was not as massive as the giant Star Titan airship, it attracted even more attention as soon as it appeared.

Besides the Dynasty members, almost every other organization knew that the Emperor's Palace represented the Emperor himself. Under normal circumstances, the palace gates were hardly opened. Even the three Grand Dukes such as Huang Tianpu and Huang Tufu dared not simply step in. The Emperor was the only one who could pass the recognition and control it.

At the moment, the Emperor's Palace was hovering midair. Clearly, someone was controlling it and the people could guess who.

"It seems like the Emperor has really been born. Otherwise, the Emperor's Palace wouldn't have such a huge event."

"They brought out the Star Titan and the Emperor's Palace. The Emperor's birth is the only explanation for such a huge event."

"Who will be the newly appointed Emperor? Could it be Huang Wuji? Or maybe the other Princes passed the Royal Trials!"

Attendees from all the organizations were discussing among themselves.

The appearance of the Emperor's Palace made many organizations that had doubts over why Dynasty had such fanfare out of nowhere realize what was really going on — the Emperor was born!

Countless eyes were staring at the Emperor's Palace gates in anticipation to see who exactly the Emperor was.

Everyone knew that Dynasty's newly appointed Emperor was right behind the gates at that very moment.

Meanwhile, Lin Huang who was in the Emperor's Palace had changed into a yellow robe with lively golden dragon patterns embroidered on it.

This robe had not been tailored in a rush within these few days. Instead, it was made of the battle armor god relic that the first Emperor had left behind.

Apart from defensive abilities, the battle armor god relic had a unique decorative function which was to change the attire to whatever style one wished. It could even be separated into a different top and bottom.

After the recognition process was completed, Lin Huang could not activate the defense system since he had no Divine Power. However, the battle armor's decorative function could be activated by inserting Life Power.

Naturally, it was not him who came up with the design of the yellow robe. It was Huang Tianpu and the rest who had commissioned a master designer to create it. Lin Huang then activated the god relic according to the design on the drawing.

On the platform, hundreds of thousands of people soon formed a neat square formation under the monitoring of each division's person-in-charge. They stood on both sides of the Emperor's Palace, leaving a berth that was close to 100 meters wide.

By then only were the media representatives allowed in. All of the media representatives were cultivators instead of commoners.

Although they were cultivators, most of them had only heard of Dynasty, the top underground organization. They had never interacted with Dynasty members before. Most cultivators in their right mind would stay as far away as they could when they bumped into underground organization members, let alone Dynasty that was such a ruthless organization. Most people had only heard of them but not seen them.

Therefore, most of them were very curious about this top underground organization.

A couple of media representatives were live streaming. The audiences would be looking at where the camera was pointing.

Many audiences were stunned to see the neat formation. If not for the fact that they were not garbed in military uniforms, many of them would have mistaken the Union Government as performing a parade.

Many of them secretly exclaimed how disciplined the underground organization was.

The media representatives soon began reporting, providing the people who were seeing Dynasty for the first time with a better understanding.

Everyone was impressed by the appearance of the 12 demigod-level airships, a giant god-level Star Titan airship, four demigod-level palaces, and a god-level Emperor's Palace.

Many audiences who had little understanding of Dynasty were thrilled to see the newly appointed Emperor after hearing the media representatives' explanation and seeing the grandeur of the parade.

Not that they liked the newly appointed Emperor who had yet to show himself, most of them were just purely curious. They wanted to see how this legendary underground boss looked like.

Soon, it was 10 a.m.

The installation ceremony finally began officially.

A white glow shot out of the Star Titan and a majestic silhouette landed slowly.

Many Dynasty members felt emotional when they saw the silhouette. All of them recognized the person as soon as he appeared.

As the silhouette stood still in the middle of the airship platform and the Star Titan's glow went away, the majestic silhouette's thick voice soon spread.

"Yours humbly, I'm Dynasty's Third Grand Duke, Huang Tufu! Representing the three Grand Dukes, I'd like to welcome all Dynasty compatriots here! Welcome, all media friends, for supporting us too.

"I'm sure many of you are familiar with my name but I'm not the highlight of today. It's someone else. Before welcoming the main character of the day, I'd like to take some time to say this.

"It's been 659 years since our first Emperor, Master Huang Tianyu, founded Dynasty. However, Dynasty has been dormant since Master Tianyu departed to the great world more than 300 years ago. I hereby announce that our dormant days are officially over from now on! The reason being, we have a new Emperor!"

As Huang Tufu said that, the hundreds of thousands of Dynasty members on the platform shouted while raising their arms, "The Emperor is invincible. Long live the Emperor!"

"Now, let's open the stage to our main character of the day!" Huang Tufu declared loudly, "Our Emperor!"

"The Emperor is invincible, long live the Emperor…"

As the Dynasty members screamed the slogans repeatedly, the gates of the Emperor's Palace finally opened slowly. Everyone shifted their focus to the gates.

Three silhouettes who walked out; one walked ahead while the other two followed behind.

The leading young man wore a yellow robe with dragon patterns. He looked very young and handsome.

Meanwhile, the men in yellow vests flanked behind him on his left and right.

On the left was an old man with gray hair and a beard. He was skinny but exuded tremendous power. On his right was a middle-aged man with a sound aura. One could tell that he had been pretty good-looking when he was young, but he looked elegant now.

Naturally, the leader among the three was the newly appointed Emperor, Lin Huang. The other two were Dynasty's First Grand Duke, Huang Tianpu, and Second Grand Duke, Huang Wunan.

Many of the audience members were stunned when they saw Lin Huang because he was using his own face, so he obviously looked below 20 years old.

The first thought that flashed in most people's minds when they saw Lin Huang was, 'Isn't he too young?!'

Even the countless audiences who were watching the livestream could not help but tease.

"I thought it's the underground boss's installation? Did the little kid next door go to the wrong set?!"

"So, anyone who is good-looking can be the Emperor of Dynasty?"

"I must say, this newly appointment Emperor has impressive looks that nobody can beat. With his face alone, I think he can rub the faces of all the other organizations' leaders in the entire continent into the ground.

"The other organizations' leaders are uncles and aunties. Some are even grandpas and grandmas. Dynasty has finally started a whole new genre. I like this! I hope other organizations will promote this genre too."

"I've got a sudden urge to join Dynasty. Man, what should I do?"

"I share the same sentiment as the commenter above."

"+100 million to the commenter above!"

"With my heartthrob looks, I think I can be the Emperor of Dynasty too. If I can't be the Emperor, I should be able to be crowned as Deputy Emperor…"

"F*ck off to the commenter above!"

"F*ck off +100 million!"

"F*ck off +1 billion!"

"F*ck off +10 billion!"

…

Lin Xin and Xiao Mo sat in the pilot's cabin of the giant Star Titan airship and watched everything that was going on down there through a screen.

If one were to ask where was the safest place in the entire Emperor City at the moment, apart from the Emperor's Palace, it was in the giant Star Titan airship.

Lin Huang did not get Lin Xin to accompany him to the Emperor Enthronement mainly because there would be media representatives. If Lin Xin showed herself, she would definitely appear in photos and even appeared in the live streams. By then, she might become the target of some jokers from the Union Government.

Dynasty was an underground organization giant. As the underground boss, Lin Huang would definitely attract hatred from the Union Government members who were Dynasty's rivals.

After all, there were many keyboard warriors on the Internet. They could say whatever they wanted on the Heart Network since it was impossible for Dynasty to kill them. the Emperor of Dynasty was an important person after all, and it would make big news if they managed to dig his ugly past up. If nobody managed to find any, it was only a matter of time for them to make one up. It was just something that people did to make themselves happy and famous, so why not?

Meanwhile, Lin Huang did not want Xiao Mo to reveal himself because of the Purple Crow. Xiao Mo used to be a Crow Spirit. Although he experienced a major change in appearance, there was a high probability that the people from the Purple Crow might recognize him.

Lin Huang was fearless of the Purple Crow. After all, he had fought the Crow God's projection before. He just thought it would be too troublesome. He was too lazy to handle that, so the less trouble, the better.

Lin Xin and Xiao Mo had their eyes locked on the screen before them. They watched Lin Huang and the two Grand Dukes walk out of the gates of the Emperor's Palace and stood on the platform at the entrance. The Emperor's Palace then descended slowly and landed firmly on the airship platform.

The hundreds of thousands of people present looked at the young silhouette standing on the platform, not for any other reason, but because he was the newly appointment Emperor!

It was Lin Huang's first time having so many people watching him. He was secretly a little nervous. However, he gave nothing away on his face and hid his emotions well. Moreover, he soon adjusted his breathing and calmed himself down. Apart from the two Grand Dukes around him, nobody else noticed anything off.

Seeing Lin Huang's face, everyone who was watching was shocked by how young Lin Huang was. He obviously looked below 20 years old.

Many Dynasty members were also shocked since they knew how Dynasty's Princes looked like. However, this newly appointed Emperor was none of the Princes they knew.

Nonetheless, Huang Tianpu and Huang Wunan standing beside Lin Huang were proof. Many of them suppressed the doubts they had. This newly appointed Emperor clearly had the support of the three Grand Dukes. Furthermore, it was impossible for the three Grand Dukes to support a newly appointed Emperor for no reason.

As Lin Huang stood still on the platform, he glimpsed at the people who stood in the first two rows. He saw more than 15 demigods (apart from the Third Grand Duke) and at least 100 imperial-level Dynasty Dukes in one glance alone. There were at least 1,000 people on immortal-level and more than 10,000 people on holy fire-level.

Dynasty was really a terrifyingly powerful organization!

As Lin Huang glanced at the people from Dynasty, Huang Wunan, who stood on his right, spoke, "There's no other reason why we're gathered here today than celebrating this major event! Let's witness the birth of our new Emperor together!"

The people from Dynasty began exclaiming in one accord as soon as he was done speaking, "The Emperor is invincible. Long live the Emperor!"

Huang Tianpu only signaled them to quieten down after the people chanted for a while.

Soon, everyone from Dynasty went silent and Huang Tianpu began speaking, "Without further ado, the coronation of the Emperor has officially begun!"

After saying that, Huang Tianpu took out a golden crown that he had prepared ahead from his storage space.

The crown did not look sophisticated. Instead, it was rather crude. It looked like it was made of vines, the ends of which were made of mini sharp blades.

The Emperor's Crown was not an ordinary crown but a god relic. To be exact, it was a soul-type defense god relic. It could defend a massive number of soul-type attacks and weaken the intensity of soul-type attacks.

Just like the royal robe and the giant Star Titan airship, the first Emperor Huang Tianyu had traded this the Emperor's Crown at the Royal Market.

Huang Tianpu held the Emperor's Crown in both hands as he turned around and walked to Lin Huang. Then, he put it on Lin Huang's head in all seriousness.

Though crude, the Emperor's Crown did not look absurd on Lin Huang's head at that moment. It even complemented the yellow robe on his body.

After putting the crown on Lin Huang, Huang Tianpu returned to his left.

Meanwhile, Huang Wunan, who was on Lin Huang's right, held a short saber with a scabbard with both his hands. He stepped forward and held the saber over Lin Huang's head while the latter was down on one knee.

The short saber was approximately a foot and eight inches long. It was completely black with 12 vertical golden dragon patterns carved on it. The scabbard, however, was the complete opposite. It was golden with huge black dragon patterns carved on both sides.

Lin Huang stretched both arms and took over the short saber together with the scabbard. Huang Wunan then returned to where he was.

The saber was called the Emperor's Saber. Although it was also a god relic, it was more of a decorative item than a practical one.

The first Emperor Huang Tianyu had only traded this at the Royal Market back then just because it looked appealing. He thought it would look great hanging on his waist as an accessory. In reality, he was not a saber cultivator but a combat cultivator. The short saber became an accessory ever since he purchased it. It almost never got out of the scabbard, let alone harm anyone.

Lin Huang was a sword cultivator. Moreover, he already had a god battle sword relic. He would not be using it even if he elevated to virtual god-level.

However, looking at the items left behind by the previous Emperor, Lin Huang could tell that Huang Tianyu was definitely a master at showing off.

One with a crown on his head, a yellow robe with dragon patterns and a short saber with dragon patterns on his waist.

Lin Huang faintly felt like he was the king of all generations with all the get-up.

After hanging the Emperor's Saber on the right side of his waist, he lifted his head up again and glanced at the people.

This time, Lin Huang's imposing manner was completely different from before.

Many people could clearly sense that his combat strength was only on immortal-level. However, looking at him fully equipped, they felt like they were watching a mighty Emperor who had been sent down to the world.

Lin Xin's eyes lit up as she watched Lin Huang through the screen in the Star Titan. "Brother is so handsome!"

Even Xiao Mo, who was sitting aside, nodded too. "He looks so cool!"

Following the schedule Huang Tianpu had given him earlier, Lin Huang knew it was his turn to speak after he was fully equipped.

He looked at the people beneath him and his voice vibrated from his chest. It soon spread through the venue.

"Welcome, everyone. My name is Lin Huang."

"From today and from this moment onward, I'm officially the Emperor of Dynasty!"

The birth of the Emperor of Dynasty soon created a stir among the cultivation world.

Dynasty, which had had no Emperor for the past 300 years, had progressed to the top three underground organizations. Now that they had an Emperor, one could imagine how prosperous would Dynasty's future be.

Lin Huang's name became the headlines of all the cultivation media on the day itself.

The photos of him with the yellow robe, the crown on his head and a short saber hanging from his waist spread through Divisions 1 to 12 in less than half a day. More than 90% of the people in the cultivation world had seen his face by now.

On that day, the top three topics on all the forums were related to Lin Huang.

The topic that was the most popular was the same question — who was Lin Huang?!

A young man whom nobody had heard of was crowned the Emperor of Dynasty and became a legendary underground boss all of a sudden. Countless people were curious. Who exactly was this young man?

A minority of them even wanted to study if they could copy and apply this young man's way of succeeding to themselves.

Who was Lin Huang?

Not only everyone wanted to know the answer to this question. The next second when Lin Huang announced his name in the livestreams, the intel units of all the organizations began their frantic search, browsing for every information that was related to his name.

From Divisions 1 to 3, many organizations in the three core zones found up to 1,000 pieces of information about Lin Huang within the core zones. They then spent a whole day comparing notes but found out that none of the faces matched Lin Huang's.

On the next day, the range of the search expanded. It spread to Divisions 4, 5… to Division 12.

The data of more and more people who had the same name as Lin Huang were collected by all organizations.

As all the organizations were busy searching Lin Huang's identity, some friends who knew him saw the related news one after another.

Even if they did not see the livestreams, they would see his name and face plastered all over the place on that day. It was hard to miss.

Almost everyone who knew Lin Huang was shocked to see the news. They doubted if the media had made a mistake. However, seeing that many other media were spreading the same news and that the videos were going viral online, they finally confirmed the authenticity of the news.

Just when the installation ceremony ended, Lin Huang saw a couple of missed calls on his communication page.

It was from the siblings Yi Zheng and Yi Yeyu, and Li Lang and Leng Yuexin.

He was going to call them since he had the time now, but his Emperor's Heart Ring vibrated suddenly. It was his master who was calling this time, so he picked the video call up right away.

In the video call, Mr. Fu was relaxing on a beach chair while squinting. He asked right away when Lin Huang picked up the call, "My disciple, is Dynasty giving you a hard time?"

"No, they even gave me a bunch of god relics," Lin Huang said while smiling and shaking his head. "But I can't use them just yet."

"This Emperor thing, you can tell me if you're doing this against your will." A ferocious gleam flashed through Mr. Fu's eyes.

"I'm doing it pretty willingly. If I can be honest, we're just using each other. They need me to be their Emperor to solve a crisis while I need their power to achieve a goal." Lin Huang was alone in the Emperor Palace, so he was not afraid that others would overhear what he was saying.

"Solve a crisis?" Mr. Fu was skeptical.

"Master, you remember that I told you about secretly participating in the Royal Trials a few months back, don't you? In reality, Dynasty is just an affiliate organization of Royal from the great world," Lin Huang told him the story of Dynasty and Royal.

Mr. Fu only spoke slowly after a moment of silence, "So, there's a big, great world out there…"

"With the identity as a Royalty, they daren't do anything to me even if I disagree to be their Emperor, let alone now that I'm crowned their Emperor."

"Your identity is indeed shocking to them. It's brilliant to have an organization to depend on, but beware, don't let Dynasty mess you up," Mr. Fu advised in relief.

"Master, now that I have the ability to protect myself, can you tell me about what happened to the Virtual Gods of this world?"

Mr. Fu lifted his head and glanced at Lin Huang upon hearing the question. "Seems like you've found out about something."

"I only know apart from you, there are many people who've elevated to Virtual Gods through the integration of Godhead. That's all I know." Lin Huang nodded.

"Since you asked, I'll tell you everything today." Mr. Fu sat up from the beach chair and crossed his legs before speaking again slowly, "Indeed, I'm not the only Virtual God in this world. I'm just the last Virtual God on the surface.

"Through the past 800 years since the new era began, the change of the cultivation system has boosted hundredfolds of cultivators compared to our time back then.

"The increased number of cultivators also increased the exploration of the ruins by heaps. A sea of resources was excavated, including war remnants, God's corpses, Godheads, god relics and even a small amount of true god-level items from the ancient times.

"Since the new cultivation system caused no one to be able to kill virtual god-level monsters with their imperial-level combat strength throughout centuries, many people began looking for ways to break through. Integrating Godheads was one of them.

"Since the first person found out that integrating Godheads could elevate them to Virtual God, Godheads became a hot item. Countless people followed suit but only a minority of them succeeded while most people died from the explosion. After thousands of people experimented it by themselves, everyone realized that there were many issues with elevating to Virtual God via the integration of the Godhead.

"First of all, which is the most unacceptable reason, would be that one's combat strength wouldn't be able to elevate if they achieved virtual god-level via integration of the Godhead. No matter how high the compatibility of the Godhead was with the person, it wasn't a Godhead that one consolidated by themselves after all.

"The second one would be the compatibility of the Godhead with the integrator. Not all Godheads can be integrated, so it's easy for one to die from an explosion during the integration with poor compatibility.

"Thirdly, the grade of the Godhead affects the success of integration. A Godhead has a total of nine grades from grade-1 to grade-9. Grade-1 has the highest success rate of integration. The higher the Godhead's grade, the lower the success rate. Due to one's body and intensity of the soul, the success rate of integration above grade-3 is almost zero. Even very few people have succeeded in integrating with a grade-3 Godhead. From what I know, all the integrators who used Godheads above grade-3 died of self-explosion; none of them survived.

"The fourth would be the will remnant of the Godhead. Many Godheads would have the will remnant of the original owner. Such a Godhead is extremely dangerous. As long as the integration is completed, there's a high chance that the will remnant might take over the body. However, such a will remnant would usually lie in hibernation mode before it's activated, so there's no way of detecting its existence.

"The fifth would be the mutation from a monster's Godhead. Since many Godhead sources can't be identified, some people integrate a monster's Godhead unintentionally as they have a very similar aura to a human's Godhead. A monster's Godhead usually has low compatibility with humans whereby it always ends up in death from self-explosion. However, there were a few successful cases. However, all of them had mutations without any exceptions. All the integrators' bodies would turn into beasts on a certain level. It would even affect one's soul slowly, causing the integrators to lose their human nature gradually.

"The sixth issue would be that as soon as the foreign integration of the Godhead is successful, there's no way of removing it or replacing it with another Godhead.

"Because of all these disadvantages, the integration of the Godhead to get to virtual god-level only blew up for a while and people soon stopped trying. However, many organizations got quite a substantial reward for this experiment when they made over 20 virtual god-level powerhouses."

"Only over 20 people succeeded out of the thousands of people who tried?" Lin Huang raised his brow when he heard that revelation. The success rate was incredibly low.

"Apart from the integration of the Godhead, some organizations found another way to make Virtual Gods. They interacted with True Gods from another world and got the True God to send his will to modify potential cultivators with Divine Power. They would elevate the cultivator's combat strength to perfect-stage imperial-level purple gold-rank directly and modify their bodies and souls so that they could take in the Divine Power. They would then break through by cultivating with god-level methods.

"This is just like how Saints and the Purple Crow do it! But it then became a technique for True Gods to obtain a puppet.

"No matter what, there are around 30 people who have reached virtual god-level with all sorts of techniques. However, their combat strength basically stayed within Virtual God rank-3. They're just kids to me."

"The new era that you guys are currently in is so much more fortunate than our time. During the old era, cultivators had to figure things out blindly on their own. Aside from killing monsters to elevate, only the elite class of society had the opportunity to get their hands on the most basic methods.

"I was in great luck back then. Due to my extraordinary talent, I was recruited into a special unit when I joined the army and I was taught the Army Attack Tactics. That was how I set foot on the cultivation path. However, most people had no such opportunity during my time.

"Methods were only promoted widely over 1,000 years since the old era began. Due to more and more sects and increasing competition of sources, many sects changed the disciple model they had because of the increasing need for new blood. They began releasing their very own sect cultivation methods for beginners within the range of their territory, taking young people who passed the requirements into their sect. However, although the methods from the ancient ruins were simple, there were certain requirements which are high.

"Even though the catastrophe that happened over eight centuries ago was the peak of the old era, the number of cultivators was just 1% among the ordinary people. There were much fewer cultivators and even fewer peak-stage powerhouses in the past compared to now.

"This has also caused the exploration efficiency in all the sites to be much lower than before and there are few resources that can be gained. Moreover, there was no ruins back then. It was a by-product of the opening of Virtual Eye.

"The old era existed for over 5,500 years and only less than 30 Virtual Gods were born. Almost half of them entered the ruins after breaking through to Virtual God and they never came back. I was the leader of a major organization back then and in 1,000 years, I cultivated all the way to Virtual God rank-6, but I couldn't find a descendant that I'm satisfied with. I encountered little Mo Kui later on and didn't make it to the ruins.

"Your senior brother, Mo Kui, was gifted. He spent less than 200 years cultivating from an ordinary person to virtual god-level. I spent about 15 times longer to become a Virtual God compared to him. Later on, he spent less than 50 years getting to Virtual God rank-6. Fortunately, I learned quite some stuff from training him. I'd elevated to Virtual God rank-8 when he got to Virtual God rank-6. Otherwise, he almost surpassed me.

"Many Virtual Gods went to the ruins in order to break through further. Your senior brother was tempted to go as well when he had just broken through to virtual god-level. I told him that he could only go if he surpassed my combat strength. He began cultivating diligently, but in the end, he didn't surpass my combat strength.

"Back then, nobody knew that Godheads which were left behind by ancient powerhouses could be integrated. Even if they had known, nobody would have performed the integration. Although many people powerhouses failed the Godhead consolidation and were downgraded to demigods, the chances of breaking through to virtual god-level was not as slim as it is now.

"Furthermore, since half of the Virtual Gods have gotten to the ruins, only very few local Virtual Gods were left. Only 13 Virtual Gods participated in the war over 800 years ago, including your senior brother and I. And among the 13 Virtual Gods who participated in the war, I was the only one who survived," Mr. Fu shed the story of the past slowly.

That also made Lin Huang understand how a virtual god-level God's Servant and a few virtual god-level God's Subordinates managed to turn the entire world upside down with merely a drop of True God's blood in their body.

The old era that Mr. Fu had been in should not have developed to its peak. The most it did was to develop to early middle-stage. Moreover, half of the top powerhouses were away, causing their battle power to dwindle. The catastrophe over 800 years ago coincidentally happened when the world was at its weakest. In turn, many cultivators to die while the cultivation system that the era had just built not long ago collapsed completely.

Lin Huang asked about some details after Mr. Fu finished with his story. He thought of God Bless all of a sudden and could not help but ask, "Master, have you heard of God Bless?"

"I've heard of it a long time ago. There was indeed such an organization when we were just building the three core zones. I didn't hear about them later on. I think maybe they were dismissed a long time ago. Why do you ask?"

"God Bless isn't dismissed," Lin Huang told Mr. Fu the information that he heard, "I suspect that they used the Union Government's name to attack you guys in the ruins."

"If it's really as you said, and the Union Government really has been penetrated, it's really possible that they did it. No wonder the two Virtual Gods who fought us had an unfamiliar aura. I had no idea who they were at all."

"Two Virtual Gods attacked you back then?!" Lin Huang was stunned to hear that revelation. He remembered Liu Ming telling him that Mr. Fu had been attacked by a few demigods.

"Do you think that demigods have the ability to harm me? No matter what, my combat strength is on Virtual God rank-8 after all. Even though I've lost everything now, I'd at least maintain a Virtual God rank-6 standard. If I didn't have to seal that God's Servant back then, almost draining all of my Divine Power, I would've killed the two Virtual Gods who attacked me sneakily as easy as pie!

"I told Liu Ming I was attacked by demigods because you guys didn't know there are other Virtual Gods in this world at all. It was unnecessary to tell you guys that."

"In this world, don't even mention demigods, but I'm not even afraid of those people who've elevated to Virtual God using a Godhead. The most they can get is just Virtual God rank-3. What I'm afraid of are the Saint's god and the Crow God of the Purple Crow's True God substitutes. The reason is that their substitutes could grow to Virtual God rank-6 or even higher."

"Don't worry about the Crow God. The Crow God Ceremony which happened earlier failed. Someone took the eye and the Crow Spirit away. Nobody knows when the Crow God's will come again," Lin Huang said while smiling.

"Where did you hear about this? From Dynasty?" Mr. Fu was rather surprised.

"I was there when it happened. I took the Crow Spirit but someone else took the eye." Lin Huang smirked.

Mr. Fu was rendered speechless. He did not expect his disciple to turn out so extraordinary.

"I'll use Dynasty's intel system to check on God Bless. Dynasty has two Virtual Gods, which are a secret, so you don't have to worry about me."

After he was done chatting with Mr. Fu, Lin Huang contacted Yi Yeyu and his other old friends. He also contacted Tan Lang and his other acquaintances at the Heaven Alliance from back then.

They were surprised by Lin Huang's new identity. However, they were just merely surprised. They did not comment on anything in the union organization's shoes. Instead, they just teased him, calling him the underground boss, and asked about the reason for his new identity later on.

Lin Huang only gave them a simple explanation. He did not mention Royal and only said that the Royal Trials was Dynasty's special assessment to choose their Emperor. He passed the trial and became the Emperor which was out of everyone's expectations.

After all, Royal was a secret that only Dynasty's upper echelon knew about. Learning about that was not beneficial to Yi Zheng and the rest. If he told them and they spilled the beans accidentally, Dynasty might come after them.

After chatting with his old friends, Lin Huang found out that Huang Tianpu had been waiting outside the Emperor's Palace without even realizing it.

He sat back onto the throne and waved as the doors of the Emperor's Palace opened and Huang Tianpu walked in slowly.

Huang Tianpu walked to Lin Huang slowly.

"Master Emperor, about Royal's affiliation…"

"Alright, I'll activate the authorization now," Lin Huang responded.

Ever since the first Emperor died, Dynasty had always been in inactive mode on Royal's affiliation list.

He took out the Royal Token and clicked on the affiliates' page. When he found Dynasty on the page, Lin Huang clicked on the 'activate' button.

"Are you sure you want to activate the grade-1 organization No. D000857142? After it's activated, the organization will become your affiliate automatically."

"Yes!" Lin Huang clicked on the button right away.

"Grade-1 organization No. D000857142 — Dynasty has been activated. Congratulations, member Lin Huang, you've obtained an affiliate — Dynasty. You can learn more about the affiliate by clicking into the affiliate option on your personal page."

Just when Lin Huang was done with that, a notification popped up on Huang Tianpu's Emperor's Heart Ring all of a sudden.

He opened it immediately to see a notification from Royal.

"Grade-1 organization No. D000857142 — Dynasty, your affiliate, now belongs to Rank-A member Lin Huang!

"Congratulations, Dynasty! Your affiliate's authority level has been advanced from Rank-C to Rank-A!"

Almost at the same time, the same notification was sent to Lin Huang's Emperor's Heart Ring too.

He could not help but arch his brow when he skimmed through the message. "Oh, wow! I can't believe it's connected to my Emperor's Heart Ring!"

In reality, all of Dynasty's upper echelon received the same notification at the same time when both of them did.

Not only was the affiliate's authorization activated, but it was also boosted from Rank-C to Rank-A, much to the relief of Huang Tianpu and the other demigods. Apart from the three Grand Dukes who knew about Lin Huang's authorization rank, the rest of the upper echelon were excited to see the boost of an affiliate's authorization.

"Thank you, Master Emperor, for solving Dynasty's burning crisis!" Huang Tianpu thanked him immediately.

"Dynasty is my affiliate now. I won't shortchange you guys of a single credit point in regards to the benefits you deserve. However, I hope that you guys can give all of your efforts. Don't do anything that I don't want you to do behind my back." Lin Huang gave Huang Tianpu an earful again.

Huang Tianpu nodded all the way and left after that short speech. After he left, Lin Huang tapped on the token to project his personal page.

"Member: Lin Huang

"Gender: Male

"Age: 18 (turning 19 after the 8th of August)

"Authorization: Rank-A

"Qualification Assessment: Grade-A

"Combat Strength: Immortal-level Rank-10 (candidate's cultivation system's standard)

"Personal Trading Points: 1,632,831

"Affiliate Organization: Dynasty (Grade-1)

"Remarks: You accumulated more than a million points in the Rank-D Royal Trials and attained a perfect qualification in the assessment. You're given Rank-A Royalty authorization!"

The information on the personal page was simple. Lin Huang only glanced through it roughly and clicked the affiliate option open. Another page popped up.

"Dynasty (Owner: Lin Huang)

"Organization Grade: Grade-1

"Organization Authorization: Rank-A

"Member List: Huang Baiyu, Huang Haoyang, Huang Tianpu, Huang Wunan, Huang Tufu…"

Lin Huang studied the details immediately when he saw the organization grade. "The organization grade is only grade-1? How does the grading system work?"

"Organization Grades

"Grade-0: No Virtual God.

"Grade-1: Has one or more Virtual Gods and less than 100 Virtual Gods.

"Grade-2: Has one or more True Gods. If there's no True God, grade-2 is assigned if there are more than 100 Virtual Gods.

"Grade-3: Has one or more Heavenly God. If there's no Heavenly God, grade-3 is assigned if there are more than 100 True Gods.

"Grade-4: Has one or more half-step Lords and above 20 Heavenly Gods."

"Grade-5: Has one or more Lords."

Lin Huang was speechless after reading it. "Alright then, so there are no grade-2 organizations in this world at all at the moment if they grade it like that."

"Huang Baiyu, Huang Haoyang?" Lin Huang proceeded to read. He was surprised to see the first and the second names on the list, but he soon found out who the duo was. "I guess this list goes by one's combat strength."

Although he heard Huang Tianpu mention Dynasty having two Virtual Gods, he did not specify their names. Now, it seemed like the duo was Huang Baiyu and Huang Haoyang who were on the list.

Lin Huang began reading the duo's personal details immediately.

"Huang Baiyu (Real Name: Bai Yu)

"Gender: Male

"Age: 721

"Qualification Assessment: Grade-B

"Combat Strength" Virtual God-level (rank-3)

"Organization: Dynasty (Grade-1)

"Personal Trading Points: 3,581

"Biography (click here for details)"

…

"Huang Haoyang (Real Name: Zhou Haoyang)

"Gender: Male

"Age: 811

"Qualification Assessment: Grade-C

"Combat Strength" Virtual God-level (rank-2)

"Organization: Dynasty (Grade-1)

"Personal Trading Points: 2,317

"Biography (click here for details)"

…

"They're really on virtual god-level!" Lin Huang confirmed his speculation when he saw the duo's combat strength. However, he was confused. "Why do they have trading points as well?"

He clicked on the points and saw the explanation.

"The owner of the organization will obtain commission points from points affiliate members have obtained in missions or hunts in the trial zones.

"Condition for commission: 5% for Rank-D members; 10% for Rank-C members; 20% for Rank-B members; 30 for Rank-A members (The commission comes from extra points and doesn't affect the affiliate members' points)

"Remarks: The points affiliate members have obtained can only be used to trade in the affiliate market and not in the Royal Market. The reward points the organization owner obtained won't be restricted to the source of the points. The points can be used in the Royal Market."

Lin Huang's eyes lit up when he read the conditions. "Not only will I be able to earn points, but I can also get my organization members to earn points for me too! Although the most I can get from each of them is 30%, it'll be a lot when hundreds of thousands of them add up together. If that's the case, wouldn't it be better if I have more organizations under me?"

"If I'm not mistaken, Royal should have a limit on the number of member affiliate organizations." Bloody stretched its head slowly to peek out of Lin Huang's sleeve.

Lin Huang nodded and went back to his personal page. Then, he began reading the restrictions.

Soon, he found the description of the affiliate organization.

"Number of affiliates allowed for Rank-D members: 1; Number of affiliates allowed for Rank-C members: 3; Number of affiliates allowed for Rank-B members: 10; Number of affiliates allowed for Rank-A members: 30.

"As expected, there's a limit on the number. That's why the Royalties prefer to train affiliate organizations of a higher rank. The higher the rank of the affiliate, the more points they can earn."

After reading the description of the affiliate, Lin Huang began reading other restrictions that applied to him.

"Royalties of different authority levels are allowed to enter the trial zones as follows:

"Rank-D members: Permission to enter any grade-0 trial zones, 100 grade-1 trial zones, and 10 grade-2 trial zones.

"Rank-C members: Permission to enter any grade-0 and grade-1 trial zones, and 50 grade-2 trial zones.

"Rank-B members: Permission to enter any grade-0 to grade-2 trial zones, and 30 grade-3 trial zones.

"Rank-A members: Permission to enter any grade-0 to grade-3 trial zones, 30 grade-4 trial zones, 10 grade-5 trial zones, and 10 great world trial zones."

…

"Royalties of affiliate organizations of different authority levels are allowed to open the trial zones as follows:

"Rank-D members: Permission to open 20 grade-0 trial zones and 5 grade-1 trial zones.

"Rank-C members: Permission to open 50 grade-0 trial zones, 15 grade-1 trial zones, and 3 grade-2 trial zones.

"Rank-B members: Permission to open 100 grade-0 trial zones, 30 grade-1 trial zones, 10 grade-2 trial zones, and 3 grade-3 trial zones.

"Rank-A members: Permission to open any grade-0 trial zones, 80 grade-1 trial zones, 20 grade-2 trial zones, 10 grade-3 trial zones, 3 grade-4 trial zones, 1 grade-5 trial zone, and 1 great world trial zone."

"The so-called Royal trial zone is what we usually call the ruins and war sites. Looking at the trial zones they own, this organization is terrifyingly massive. No wonder Dynasty developed so rapidly!" Lin Huang finally found out the root reason of how Dynasty managed to rise to become an underground organization giant after reading the information.

The first Emperor Huang Tianyu had Rank-C authority which meant that Dynasty could open 50 grade-0 trial zones, 15 grade-1 trial zones, and three grade-2 trial zones. During his time, the Union Government had just been founded for less than three centuries while many other organizations had just started. The number of trial zones might exceed the number of ruins and sites that were opened by all the organizations added up in the entire gravel world back then.

"If Huang Tianyu stayed put 300 years ago to develop Dynasty obediently instead of getting himself killed in the great world, Dynasty might've replaced the Union Government and become the No. 1 organization in the entire world."

Now that Lin Huang had become the Emperor, the benefits that he brought Dynasty was tens of times more compared to during Huang Tianyu's reign. He could open any grade-0 trial zone. In addition to that, the number of trial zones he could open was way more than all the ruins and sites that were now open in the entire gravel world.

He could open 80 grade-1 trial zones while there were only ten grade-6 forbidden areas in the entire world which were on the same level as a grade-1 trial zone. Meanwhile, the 20 grade-2 trial zones that he could open were comparable with grade-7 forbidden areas in the gravel world. There were merely four grade-7 forbidden areas known to the public at the moment.

"You'll gain more benefits as a Royalty. The number of trial zones that you're permitted to enter has exceeded the number of trial zones you can open by heaps." Bloody also saw the content projected by Lin Huang's identity token.

After spending some time studying his authority, Lin Huang then tapped open the affiliate organization option and began browsing through the member list.

He was not kidding when he said he wanted to lead a reformation in Dynasty earlier. The details of each members' lives on the list provided by Royal were out of his expectations. He could learn everything about everyone, including what they had done each year. The list even contained details of when they wet their bed, when they had intercourse for the first time, how many girlfriends they had in the past… Everything was recorded in detail.

Lin Huang was wondering how they recorded such odd information when he first read it. Later on, the stone tablet reminded him and made him realize that there were some detective god items with terrifying capacities.

Looking at the list, Lin Huang did not just find out who the other organization's spies were easily, but he even found out who lost their humanity completely and did some inhumane things.

As Lin Huang and Bloody were arranging the information of the Dynasty members, a bruised corpse was staring at the Heart Network headlines in a dark room far away in Division 2. His face turned gravely ferocious when he saw Lin Huang's young face.

"Lin Huang, I've finally found you! So, you've been hiding in Division 1! I'll go to Division 1 now. I'll find you, capture you alive and slice every inch of your skin with a knife. I'll chop off your limbs and marinade them. After I'm done with the physical torture, I'll take your soul out and torture it every day."

The bruised corpse stood up after he smashed the coffee table before him to dust. He was over three meters tall and the aura from him was so powerful that it was terrifying.

A middle-aged man in a black suit who was dressed as a housekeeper saw everything happening in the room through a transparent one-way glass outside. He called a number after opening the communication page on his Emperor's Heart Ring. "Grandmistress, he saw Lin Huang's news."

"Hold him down. I'll be right there." A lady's voice came from the other side of the communication device.

"Let me go, housekeeper. I'm going Division 1 to look for Lin Huang!" The corpse punched the glass as he knew that the housekeeper was just behind the glass.

"Young master, please be patient. Grandmistress will be right here." The expression on the housekeeper's face was calm. He did not seem worried that the person would break the glass at all.

"Let me go!" The bruised corpse banged on the one-way glass even harder now as ripples spread like water on the surface of the glass.

"Young master, there's no rush. Grandmistress will be right here. You can tell her that you're going to Division 1."

"I'll tell you one more time, housekeeper. Let me go!" The bruised corpse stopped banging temporarily while his bloody eyes glared dangerously at the housekeeper on the other side of the glass.

Although the housekeeper knew he could not see him, he could not help but take a step back. "Young master, you know I can't do that."

"Then, I'll kill you! I've despised you since the beginning!" The corpse punched the glass frantically again and again.

Within a moment, he released up to 1,000 blows. The continuous punches on the glass made the surface ripple like ocean waves.

It was not the effect of the glass. Although the glass was extracted from a demigod-level monster, the restrictive layer covering the glass was what made the glass highly defensive. It was the grandmistress who had set it up herself.

The housekeeper frowned slightly as he watched the layers of waves undulate on the surface of the glass. The strength of the bruised corpse went beyond his expectations.

In the span of a few breaths, the bruised corpse punched the glass up to ten thousand times. The waves on the defense layer were getting more and more frequent. Suddenly, a soft crack echoed.

A tiny fissure appeared on the one-way transparent glass.

The bruised corpse paused what he saw that and he let out a ferocious grin toward the housekeeper on the other side. He then continued to strike.

A lady's voice came out of thin air as spider web-like cracks appeared on the glass. A purple silhouette appeared next to the housekeeper silently.

"Shan Er, you've disobeyed me again!"

"Mother…" The bruised corpse stopped moving and hitting the transparent glass.

At the moment, the door opened slowly while a lady in lilac walked in.

The lady looked like she was in her early 30's and she carried the immature vibe of a young girl. The door closed automatically as soon as she stepped in.

The bruised corpse seemed fearful when he looked at the lady. He hesitated for a moment and mustered his courage to speak, "Mother, you promised that you'll release me to take revenge on Lin Huang when I've integrated with this spirit's body. Now that I've perfectly integrated this body and found where Lin Huang is, I must go to Division 1 to take my revenge!"

"Shan Er, I did promise you that." The lady in lilac sat down at the couch and patted the seat next to her, gesturing to her son to sit.

The bruised corpse took a step out and soon reached the couch. He sat on the couch and turned his head to look at the lady in lilac, waiting for her response.

"But the situation is different now compared to the past," the lady continued to speak, "Lin Huang was nobody back then. Even if he was talented and gifted, he couldn't do anything significant alone.

"But now he's the Emperor of Dynasty. He's an underground boss that many respect. He has two god items which are the Emperor's Palace and the Star Titan as well as two Virtual Gods who are secretly protecting him. Killing him is as difficult as reaching for the stars.

"Moreover, the mission in Division 3 earlier failed. Now, the Purple Crow is looking for me because of God Bless. It's not the time to be stirring things up and gain another powerful enemy."

"God Bless isn't afraid of Dynasty and the Purple Crow anyway. What can they do even if the two organizations are to team up?!" The bruised corpse was still reluctant to give in.

"The Purple Crow and Dynasty aren't as simple as they look. The Purple Crow has its Crow God. Although the Crow God is just a True God, he has the Hundred-eyed Dark Crow tribe supporting him. The organization behind Dynasty is even more complicated. They have Royal, the top organization in the great world, supporting them. Even Master God is afraid of them."

"So, Mother, are you saying I can't take revenge on Lin Huang who killed me and my daughter, Lily?" The bruised corpse balled his fists.

"I'm just asking you to be patient for now. When Master God returns later, that will be the time God Bless rules the world! By then, no matter whether it's the Purple Crow, Dynasty or even the Hunter Association and the Union Government, they will just be meat on our chopping board!"

"Mother, I was being reckless." The corpse calmed down after listening.

After they chatted for a while, the lady in lilac set up the restrictions in the room again before leaving.

She closed the door and walked to the window. She looked at her son through the glass with a cold expression. "Monitor him. Let me know immediately as soon as he loses control."

"Yes." The housekeeper nodded with a calm face on.

The bruised corpse sat on the couch while looking at the floor with his head down in silence. After the lady in lilac left a long time later, a ferocious gleam flashed through his eyes.

…

"Looking at the personal information details, there are a total of 11 people who are spies from other organizations. Two of them came from God Bless.

"A total of 23 of them lost their humanity. They killed and carried out massacres for fun. These 23 people are extremely sick with severe tendencies against humanity. Even their mindset has derailed from an ordinary human's mindset. Rules and punishments alone can't fix them.

"Following the Union Government's criminal standards, there are 12,583 people who have committed two or more felonies. Although they're more or less sick, they're still treatable. I personally suggest rehabilitating them with rules, punishment, and rewards.

"There are 21,418 people who have committed a felony once. Most of them are fine while a majority of them regretted what they did.

"The rest are just people with tiny issues, including some mutants who are pretty much alright. We can train these bunch of people right away."

"Categorize the list for me. You might be working a lot in the next few days to come up with rules and regulations as well as a reward and punishment system for Dynasty." Lin Huang delegated the responsibility directly. "Tell me what you need and I'll get it for you!"

"The list will be completed immediately. I need the Union Government, the Hunter Association, Adventurer Paradise, the Heretics and Dynasty's full rules and regulations as well as their rewards and punishments systems. Also, I need Grimace's help." Bloody dragged Grimace into it gleefully. "Oh yeah, I need mint candy and chocolates too."

"Sure." Lin Huang snapped his finger and summoned Grimace.

Upon hearing that Lin Huang wanted him to help Bloody with Dynasty's new conditions, Grimace scowled. "Why do I have to do clerical work? Isn't Bloody enough for the job?"

"I'll elevate you right away when you're done helping Bloody with this."

"Deal!" Grimace agreed almost without hesitation. "To be honest, clerical work is my favorite. Killing and fighting don't suit my elegance at all."

Lin Huang called the guards at the entrance of the Emperor's Palace after arranging work for Bloody and Grimace.

"Master Emperor, are there any orders for us?"

"I need the Union Government, the Hunter Association, Adventurer Paradise, the Heretics and Dynasty's full rules and regulations systems. Also, a tonne of chocolate and a tonne of mint candy. It's best if you can gather all that today." Lin Huang distributed the list of materials that he needed to elevate his imperial monsters as he was done speaking. "This list of materials too. Gather as many of them as you can for me. You don't necessarily have to get this by today, but the sooner, the better."

The guards were stunned for a moment as they skimmed through the copy of the list. They nodded immediately. "We'll get it done for you right away."

Within less than half an hour after the guards left, the chocolates and mint candy that Bloody had asked for were served.

Huang Tianpu sent the rules and regulations as well as the reward and punishment system from the selected organizations over. In the meantime, Bloody and Grimace began working.

Meanwhile, Lin Huang summoned four imperial monsters including Bloody Robe, the Eclipse Boa, the Death Knight, and the Fallen Knight. He found a place in the Emperor's Palace and began the elevation of his four imperial monsters with Advance Cards and the materials he had gathered.

Soon, the four imperial monsters turned into four golden eggs.

Although it was the Emperor's Palace where nobody could come in theoretically, Lin Huang summoned his God Figurine's Combat Soul, the Divine Sun Tree, to guard them anyway after he left.

In the middle of the night at Division 2, a bruised corpse sat on the couch in a dark room. He grinned abruptly. "That damn housekeeper has finally left!"

He stood up slowly and looked at the middle-aged man sitting in the observatory through the glass. Although he could not see anything on the other side of the glass while the room had restrictions on his Territory skill, nobody knew he had comprehended Divine Telekinesis which allowed him to detect everything out there.

The middle-aged man experienced goosebumps when he saw the bruised corpse stand up and stare at him. When he took a step to his left, the corpse's eyes moved to the left too. He took two steps to the right and the corpse's eyes followed.

"Didn't the housekeeper say this transparent glass is one-way? Why does it feel like he can see me?" The middle-aged man frowned slightly. A voice came to his ears when he was going to report the odd event to the housekeeper.

"Look into my eyes…" As if he was hypnotized, the middle-aged demigod lifted his head and locked eyes with the bruised corpse.

Circles of waves seemed to be activated in the bruised corpse's eyes as the man seemed lost as he froze.

"Open the door for me," the bruised corpse ordered.

The middle-aged demigod walked to the door like a zombie and opened the door with a key.

The corpse opened the door and revealed a ferocious grin. He pressed his hand against the middle-aged demigod's head. With a tight squeeze, the middle-aged demigod's head exploded like a watermelon tossed from the sky.

White and bloody mush splattered all over the wall. The bruised corpse withdrew his hand and licked his palm that was filled with blood and brain juice. "Delicious!"

After licking his palm clean, he charged ahead and crushed layers of ceiling plaster before vanishing into the sky.

The housekeeper appeared silently next to the headless body whose head had exploded. He revealed a smirk with a calm face as he looked at the broken ceiling.

He fell into silence for a moment while squinting. He turned his communication page on and dialed a number. His expression and tone turned frantic as he panted, "Oh no, Grandmistress, Young Master has escaped!"

Lin Huang's identity was exposed on the second day of the coronation.

He came from Division 7 and was 19 years of age (not calculated according to his actual date of birth).

He was the direct disciple of a virtual god-level powerhouse, Mr. Fu. Apart from that, he was both a sword cultivator and an Imperial Censor.

He joined the Purple Crow training camp for a short time and escaped by faking his death.

He was not educated, but he was once a teacher at Martial Hunter College's Sword Dao in the White Capital City of Division 7.

He had a sister whose name was Lin Xin. Ever since she dropped out of a foundation institute, she had been missing for close to three years.

According to reliable sources, Lin Xin had a fake identity called Ling Xue. She used to study at Martial Hunter College in the White Capital City of Division 7. She graduated with perfect scores and became the college firearms teacher. She went missing again a few days ago.

Looking at Lin Xin's situation, Lin Huang most probably had a fake identity too.

Besides Lin Huang, Lin Xin's identity was exposed too. Even her fake identity was exposed since she did not disguise herself.

Because Lin Huang disguised as Lin Xie with another appearance, that identity of his had yet to be exposed at the moment.

People were talking about the exposed information on Lin Huang on the Heart Network.

"It seems like Lin Huang isn't that special apart from being a Virtual God's disciple. Maybe Dynasty gave the Virtual God face, so they appointed Lin Huang as the Emperor."

"Looking at the record, his sister is even better than him. At least, she's educated. She even graduated from college with perfect scores."

"I've got a better record than he does. At least, I went to college!"

"He didn't even go to college. How dare he work as a teacher at the Martial Hunter College? I bet he must've gone in through the back door!"

"This newly appointment Emperor is horrible. He even joined the Purple Crow before? And faked his death to escape? I bet he was kicked out for his incompetence!"

Lin Huang did not even look at the comments on the Heart Network as he had been busy the past few days.

Within two days, Bloody and Grimace worked together and came up with brand new rules and regulations as well as a reward and punishment system based on the systems of other organizations.

Dynasty's original system was ditched while the new one was based on the Heretics' system as the framework. Many contents and details were added in after Bloody and Grimace put almost everything into consideration. Most of the added contents were based on the Hunter Association.

Lin Huang wanted to create a neutral organization similar to the Heretics but with a better system. It resembled the Hunter Association too but with more freedom and variety.

The new rules and regulations fit Lin Huang's requirements perfectly.

Apart from the rules and regulations, there was a set of policies, especially for punishments and rewards.

The set of policies was comprehensive too. One of them was the trial zone leaderboard that happened once a month. Those who ranked on top would be given different rewards. The leaderboard was set up to encourage everyone to obtain points in trial zones as much as they could.

Also, Bloody copied the Hunter Association and set up an exclusive mission zone. There would be specialists looking after the mission zone whereby people could accept and even create missions. The more difficult and higher the level of mission, the more effort the challengers needed to put in as well as the more rewards they would obtain.

Apart from that, Bloody even set up a trading market in Dynasty. There, Dynasty members could trade the extra resources they had with Royal points. They could trade Life Crystals or other items too.

After reading everything Bloody prepared, Lin Huang provided very few suggestions for amendment before sending the brand new rules and regulations and reward and punishment system to Huang Tianpu.

Initially, Huang Tianpu thought Lin Huang's new system would be strict. However, he realized there was even more freedom compared to the old Dynasty rules. He only applied some restrictions on killing. Moreover, the details of each rule and regulation were comprehensive whereby almost every possibility was listed. No thinking was needed in applying the punishment in the system since each offense stated the handling details.

If not for the traces of the Heretics and the Hunter Association's rules in the system, Huang Tianpu might have thought that Lin Huang copied this set of policies somewhere.

Meanwhile, Huang Tianpu's eyes lit up when he saw the reward and punishment system, especially the trial zone leaderboard which rewards were handsome.

He then looked at the mission zone and trading market Bloody had suggested setting up. A shiver of delight ran up his spine to see that.

He was a little worried that Lin Huang might mess things up after he was appointed. However, he realized that Dynasty would grow even stronger with all the new setup.

He gathered Huang Wunan, Huang Tufu and the other upper echelons of Dynasty for a meeting.

They spent the afternoon reading the new system Lin Huang provided thoroughly. None of them had any objections. All of them nodded and agreed to the new system.

They could not help but exclaim, "It seems like we've really found a great Emperor!"

The new system was announced right after the approval of the upper echelons. The mission zone and the trading market were set up immediately too.

As for the points leaderboard, Lin Huang linked Dynasty's leaderboard data directly and opened another leaderboard from that. The leaderboard appeared in the Emperor's Heart Ring's projected page option of all the Dynasty members.

After he was done setting up the leaderboard, he then sent the list of 11 spies and 23 psychos Bloody had compiled for him to Huang Tianpu.

He attached a note. "The 34 names on the list are all spies. Kill all of them and send their bodies to me."

Huang Tianpu only glanced at the list and knew Lin Huang wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of the spies and those who had lost their humanity altogether. He said nothing and cascaded the order down.

Before the sky turned dark, the 34 bodies were sent to the Emperor's Palace.

Lin Huang summoned the Undead Styx and refined the 34 bodies into corpse puppets right in front of the person who sent the bodies over.

The person who sent the bodies was a demigod. He was Huang Tianpu's trusted subordinate. After watching that scene, his back was drenched in cold sweat. He told Huang Tianpu about it later on in confidence and the latter only smiled about it.

"Follow what Master Emperor said and spread the news. Tell people that Master Emperor has refined 34 spies into corpse puppets."

"Spread the news… Wouldn't Master Emperor come after me?"

"No, he did it in front of you on purpose so that you would spread it out to scare those guys who are against the new system. This is why he only gave me the name list after announcing the new system." Huang Tianpu knew how Lin Huang thought.

"Understood." The person who sent the bodies nodded and left.

In less than half a day, the news of Lin Huang refining spies into corpse puppets spread through the entire Dynasty, terrifying many.

"He killed them and even refined them into corpse puppets. This new Emperor of ours is merciless!"

"I'm afraid not all 34 of them were spies!"

"It seems like Master Emperor is determined to implement the new system!"

Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction hearing that the news spread out. "Huang Tianpu and the rest support this with full enthusiasm. With the warning, I think there won't be many obstacles in implementing the new system."

After Grimace helped Bloody with the rules and regulations as well as the reward and punishment system for Dynasty, Lin Huang fulfilled his promise and elevated Grimace with the materials and Advance Cards that he had prepared beforehand.

Looking at the golden egg protecting Grimace, Lin Huang looked at the remaining Monster Cards he had.

"Since Grimace and the rest have elevated, including Kylie, Tyrant and the rest as well as the four Bug Tribe Queen Mothers which are on mythical-level since the beginning, I have 14 summoning beasts that I can't use at the moment. Out of the monsters I can use, I only have a total of 18 imperial monsters which are Lancelot, Killer, the Evil Dominator, Thunder, the Fiend, the Imp, Warlord, Bloody, Bing Wang, the Witch, the two Dark Crescent Snakes as well as the two Titan Boas, the two Ghastly Spider Ladies and the Ghoul Lynx (excluding the thousands of Bug Servants) that I've obtained earlier. They're enough for now."

Initially, Lin Huang thought he would elevate the Viridian Wolf and the rest to make up the quota if he had insufficient imperial monsters. It seemed like there was no need to do that for the time being.

He only had 15 summoning slots. Naturally, 18 imperial monsters were enough.

However, after he gathered the materials and elevated his next batch of imperial monsters, he would have less than 15 imperial monsters to summon. It would not be too late to consider elevating the Viridian Wolf and the rest by then.

After putting the bunch of Monster Cards in his hand away, Lin Huang looked at his 32 broken Godhead Cards. He had extracted them from the demigods he had killed in the third layer of the Abyss Brink earlier.

Initially, he thought that those broken Godheads were useless. He began collecting them since the stone tablet told him that they could be refined into Life Palaces with Divine Fire.

"Old Rocky, how many broken Godheads do you think I need to refine the Life Palaces?"

"I'm not too sure about that since nobody has ever refined broken Godheads into Life Palaces before. I can't advise you if there's no historical data that I can refer to. However, I think you'll just have to use the same amount of broken Godheads to refine the same amount of Life Palaces until your body is full," said the stone tablet after a moment of silence.

"Are you sure there won't be any issues as a result?" Lin Huang was slightly skeptical after hearing that nobody had ever done that before.

"It shouldn't be a problem theoretically," added the stone tablet after it was done speaking, "But if something really happens, I can extract those broken Godheads from your body."

"Alright then." Although it sounded unreliable, Lin Huang decided to take the risk.

"If that's the case, the more I gather, the better. Dynasty's treasure hold must have quite a number of those. I must take a look."

Lin Huang contacted Huang Tianfu immediately as he thought of this. He requested to visit the treasure hold. Huang Tianfu had no objection and agreed right away.

In less than three minutes after the call ended, Huang Tianfu arrived before the Emperor's Palace. Lin Huang waved his hand to open the door while Huang Tianfu walked in.

"Aren't we going to the treasure hold?" Lin Huang was surprised.

"Our treasure isn't in Emperor City but in an alternate dimension," Huang Tianfu smiled while explaining, "Master bought it from the Royal Market especially as a coded storage space."

Lin Huang was even more astonished to hear that. There was treasure available at the Royal Market?! And it was coded?!

"So, how do we get there?"

"The entrance is approximately 3,000 meters right beneath the throne," Huang Tianfu explained further, "Master set the entrance beneath the Emperor's Palace intentionally for safety purposes."

"I can understand that." Not only was it coded, but the entrance was also located beneath the Emperor's Palace, which provided double protection.

"So, how do we get there?" he repeated his question. He understood that but he had no idea how would they go underground.

"Just give the weapon spirit of the Emperor's Palace your order directly. Tell him that you're going to the treasure hold and he'll send us there."

"I see." Lin Huang interacted with the weapon spirit immediately. "Send us to the treasure hold."

The platform under the throne experienced a tremor. Huang Tianfu stepped out and stood on the platform too.

In the next second, the entire platform began dropping rapidly like an elevator.

After over a minute of being plunged into darkness, with a resounding thud, the platform finally landed on a flatland deep underground.

Lin Huang saw massive golden doors looming less than 100 meters from the platform.

The doors were completely a dark amber shade and were approximately 10 meters tall but they were locked with golden shackles as thick as a human thigh.

"Do you have the key?" Lin Huang turned around and looked at Huang Tianfu expectantly.

"Under normal circumstances, we'd need to apply to visit 24 hours ahead. The application has to be sent by the three Grand Dukes with less than three minutes' gap in between the visits. After the application has been sent, the three of us would receive a different code. The next day after the 24 hours have passed, the three applicants would have to arrive at the entrance of the treasure hold at the same time and key in the accurate codes. The dimensional portal would verify our identities automatically, and the dimensional portal would only open if our identities are accurate. If the number of people, the identity verification or codes are inaccurate, the doors won't open.

"However, since you're the new Emperor now, all you need to do is show your Royal Token. Your identity token has bound all the authority you have with Dynasty. The coded space is a part of Dynasty too, so you have the authority. The dimensional portal will scan your identity as soon as you show your token and your entry will be granted," Huang Tianfu explained in detail.

"That's really strict!" Lin Huang could not help but tease. He then took out his Royal Token.

As soon as the token was revealed, the thousands of sigils on the amber doors began swirling rapidly. They consolidated into an eye within the span of two to three breaths.

As the eye opened, a white glow shot out and covered the token in Lin Huang's hand. The token then hovered in the air automatically.

A moment later, a golden glow darted from the token into the eye. The eye closed slowly as if it was falling asleep.

The amber doors turned to become dazzling gold as if they were fully charged. The shackles that were tied around the doors began fading one after another.

A moment after the shackles vanished, the sigils on the doors transformed again and there were now two arms on the left and the right doors respectively.

Subsequently, the doors opened slowly. They seemed to be pushed by a pair of invisible hands slowly.

As the doors opened completely, the identity token turned into a golden stream of light and landed back into Lin Huang's hand.

"Let's go!" Lin Huang put the token away and walked in slowly. Huang Tianfu followed closely behind him.

As the duo walked in single file, the doors closed again slowly. The pair of hands solidified on the doors and turned back into the sigils like before while the shackles locked the doors again.

If this throne platform did not stay in this underground space, nobody would know someone had been there before.

Lin Huang was surprised to see how the treasure hold looked like as he entered the amber doors.

The alternate dimension where the treasure hold was located was very different from what he imagined.

He thought Dynasty's treasure hold was a massive warehouse when Huang Tianfu had told him that it was in an alternate dimension. In his imagination, the alternate dimension would be a space with nothing but all sorts of treasures.

However, what he saw was completely different from his thoughts.

Shiny and sophisticated palaces hovered in the air like islands in the sky. When Lin Huang gazed farther away, he saw all palaces but no treasure. It was not hard to guess that Dynasty's treasures were stored in the palaces.

'Building palaces in an alternate dimension for storage! How free was this Huang Tianyu exactly?' Lin Huang was a little speechless about Huang Tianyu's egotistic behavior.

Naturally, he did not say that in front of Huang Tianfu. After all, Huang Tianyu was not only the first Emperor, but he was also Huang Tianfu's master.

However, Huang Tianfu seemed to read Lin Huang's mind, so he explained immediately, "These palaces weren't built. Master created them in this alternate dimension purely with his imagination. As long as the owner is willing, any storage structure can be created in this alternate dimension but the storage capacity remains the same."

Lin Huang realized that he was overthinking earlier. He then changed the subject, feeling embarrassed. "There are so many palaces! Are the contents inside all different?"

"Yes. Weapons, tools, methods, elixirs, all sorts of minerals and miscellaneous items are stored separately," Huang Tianfu responded.

"Which palace stores items such as Godheads?" Lin Huang asked.

"In the Mysterious Item Palace. Some rare god items and a minority of special items that can't be categorized are stored in the Mysterious Item Palace." Huang Tianfu pointed at a palace far away. "Do we go there now?"

"There's no rush. Let's just look around since we're here." Lin Huang looked at the palace Huang Tianfu was pointing at and shifted his focus to the few palaces nearby.

"It's your first time here. It's great for you to familiarize yourself." Huang Tianfu nodded in agreement.

The duo hovered in the air and soon arrived before the first palace. The huge characters 'God Weapon Palace' were written on the sign above the entrance of the palace.

Lin Huang knew what was stored in this palace just by looking at the name.

"This palace is called the God Weapon Palace. All the weapons Dynasty has been collecting throughout the centuries are basically stored here. Sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, hooks… Basically, every weapon that you can think of are available here," Huang Tianfu explained, "The lowest grade of weapon that we have in here are demigod relics. There are also six god relics. In total, there are over 500 weapons in here."

"Let's take a look." Lin Huang raised a brow when he heard about the collection. A palace alone had hundreds of demigod relics and six god relics! Dynasty's collection was abundant.

"The palace doors can only be opened with your identity token," Huang Tianfu added, "If we were to open it, all three Grand Dukes need to show our Dynasty identity token at the same time."

Lin Huang took out his token and a golden glow radiated from the token and covered the entire palace doors. A moment later, a rumble echoed while the golden doors opened slowly.

He then put his token away and walked in with Huang Tianfu.

The interior of the palace was sophisticated with detailed murals on the ceiling. Clearly, Huang Tianyu had put a lot of thought into this.

Lin Huang could not help but gush over how exquisite the design of the palace was.

However, although it was a palace, its function remained the same. There were different weapons placed in separate rooms in the palace.

Sabers and swords were placed in individual rooms. The rooms for larger collections of sabers and swords were bigger while collections with lesser items were placed in smaller rooms.

Among all the weapons, the sabers occupied the biggest space. Over 60 sabers were arranged on the weapon racks one after another. There were intersecting paths in between that took up over 300 square meters of space.

The second weapon that took up the most space was the sword room. There were over 40 demigod-level battle swords.

Lin Huang did not stop at the sword room. Just like how he skimmed over the other weapons, he only peeped at the entrance and left.

What made him stay the longest was the room with telekinetic weapons. There were only four telekinetic weapons in Dynasty's treasure hold, and only one of them was in the form of a flying dagger in which he was the most interested.

Lin Huang glanced through the God Weapon Palace like he was window shopping. Apart from stopping at the room with telekinetic weapons, Lin Huang only went into the room with the six god relics.

In that room, there were two sabers, a sword, a spear, a bow, and a giant hammer.

Lin Huang only picked the sword up and took a good look at it in silence before putting it back where it was.

Lin Huang walked out of the God Weapon Palace empty-handed. He then headed to the God Armor Palace with Huang Tianfu.

"You can take the telekinetic flying dagger and god battle sword relic if you like," Huang Tianfu suggested to him as they walked out of the God Weapon Palace.

"I can't use it yet with my current combat strength. Don't worry. I won't be shy when I need it and am able to use it in the future." Lin Huang did not reveal that he already had a god relic battle and a few sets of demigod-level telekinetic flying daggers.

Huang Tianfu began to rattle an introduction off again as they walked into the God Armor Palace.

"There are four rooms in the God Armor Palace. There's one room with full demigod battle armors, one with all sorts of shields and other defense tools, one with incomplete armors and another room of god relics. There are three god relic armors, two god relic shields, and over 300 demigod-level defense tools."

Lin Huang nodded and began to look through the rooms.

He was not interested in the demigod battle armors and he merely glanced through the incomplete armors as well. Instead, he stopped at the room with the shields and other defense tools.

Apart from the shields, he saw many peculiar little items in this room. There were cloaks, rings, necklaces, bracelets, and even hair pins and hair bands.

The stone tablet spoke to him all of a sudden when he felt dizzy looking around.

"There's a blue gem on your left. It's the best item that you can take with you."

Lin Huang looked down and saw a blue gem that was around the size of his little finger in the shape of a water drop. He picked it up with two fingers and asked Huang Tianfu, "What's this?"

"We're not too sure either. We hired a couple of appraisers but none of them knew what this is. We only know that this gem can block all sorts of detective techniques."

"Do you mind if I take it back to study?"

"You can take it if you want since it's just sitting here." Huang Tianfu nodded with no expression on his face. He felt that Lin Huang probably knew what it was but he did not expose him.

Lin Huang spoke to the stone tablet quietly after putting the blue gem into his storage space, "So, what exactly is this gem? Can you tell me now?"

"It's a soul jewel that was formed naturally from spiritual energy that aligned with the Spirit Rule. The spiritual energy belonged to a dead true god-level cultivator who mastered the Spirit Rule."

"Can you be specific? What does this thing do?" Lin Huang was still clueless even after hearing the stone tablet's explanation.

"This item is equivalent to a natural spirit-type god relic. It's even a true god-level Spirit Rule god relic," the stone tablet proceeded to explain.

"Won't there be a True God's will remnant in there? It's a True God who mastered the Spirit Rule, so it should be easy for it to do that, shouldn't it?" Lin Huang asked rather cautiously.

"No, a soul jewel is made of spiritual energy naturally with the guidance of the Spirit Rule. The item will only be created when the spirit-type True God is completely dead. In the process of creation, the soul jewel will remove all information of the dead spirit automatically because according to the Spirit Rule, that information is just impure and redundant. The existence of a soul jewel is purely a natural spirit-type Spirit Rule god relic," the stone tablet gave an even more detailed explanation.

"This is a dream for many spirit-type true god-level powerhouses because a soul jewel is a god relic which is mainly made of Spirit Rules. It's the best Spirit Rule god relic out there whereby it boosts their attack and defense techniques by heaps!"

Lin Huang stopped walking all of a sudden when the stone tablet was halfway through his explanation. He felt Wu Mo's True God's blood in his body went through a tremor.

"Master Emperor…" Huang Tianfu was a little surprised to see Lin Huang stop walking.

"Give me a minute." Lin Huang closed his eyes while standing where he was. He was checking what was happening in his body.

Sorcerer Goddess Wu Mo's body flew out of the drop of Sorcerer Goddess's blood in his body.

She said as soon as she saw Lin Huang, "I'm feeling the aura of a soul jewel around."

"Sister Mo Mo, do you need a soul jewel?" Lin Huang was taken aback.

"Although it's not something that can restore my combat strength, I can use a soul jewel to host my consciousness. If that happens, I won't stay in a deep slumber like I always have before. Apart from that, a soul jewel doesn't only make my soul grow, but I can also use its soul power to fight for a short period of time when necessary. Although there are many techniques that I can't use as my ability might only be 1% compared to my peak, it should be helpful to you," Wu Mo explained.

"I'll give you the soul jewel then." Lin Huang took the soul jewel out from his storage space.

In the next second, Wu Mo waved her white sleeve and the soul jewel appeared in her palm.

Her body turned into gushes of white mist and penetrated the soul jewel. The drop of True God's blood also infiltrated the soul jewel.

"I'll use this soul jewel of yours for the time being." Wu Mo's chuckle that sounded like a silver bell came into his ears. Clearly, she was very thrilled about not having to sleep any longer.

"Don't worry about it. Just take it." Lin Huang thought of making the best out of this natural Spirit Rule god relic by giving it to Wu Mo since he could not use it anyway. The boss inside his body was once a powerful True God during the middle era. Although her remnant ability was less than 1%, she was not to be underestimated.

As Wu Mo penetrated the soul jewel, Lin Huang snapped back to reality and opened his eyes slowly.

"Master, is everything alright?" Huang Tianfu asked immediately.

"I'm alright. Let's carry on." Lin Huang shook his head and headed to the next room.

After spending a couple of minutes looking around the God Armor Palace, Lin Huang headed to the third palace with Huang Tianfu.

"This is Dynasty's Secret Method Palace. To put it simply, it's a library. However, all the methods and secret skills in here are at least pseudo-mythical-level, so there aren't many of them. There are only a total of over 200 methods, and only five god-level methods and secret skills."

"Are there any sword skills?" That was what Lin Huang was most interested in.

"There are one god-level sword skill and 17 pseudo-mythical-level sword skills," Huang Tianfu confirmed.

Lin Huang headed to the section where the sword skills were placed as soon as he entered the Secret Method Palace. He memorized the sword skills in his head one after another.

It was almost evening when they left the Secret Method Palace.

Lin Huang got Huang Tianfu to bring him to the palaces one after another leisurely. He even found two materials that Wu Mo needed along the way. He informed Huang Tianfu and took the materials.

Huang Tianfu said nothing about that. To him, the items that Lin Huang took were nothing compared to Dynasty's massive treasure hold.

Eventually, the duo arrived at the Mysterious Item Palace where the Godheads were.

"There are some rare god items and a minority of special items that can't be categorized in the Mysterious Item Palace. At the moment, there are over 200 items with over 70 varieties."

Lin Huang visited the rooms one after another, but he merely glanced into them without stopping.

He only stopped walking when he saw the room with a few Godheads.

"Only four Godheads?" Lin Huang frowned slightly. "How about demigods' broken Godheads?"

"We didn't collect those." Huang Tianfu shook his head and looked at Lin Huang, feeling confused. However, he explained patiently anyway, "We usually pack the broken Godheads we obtained from killing demigod-level monsters to send to trading companies together with the monster carcasses. Nobody wants that. Unlike Virtual God's Godheads, all organizations would fight for it every time it appeared."

"You guys didn't collect them?" That was out of Lin Huang's expectations. Initially, he thought broken Godheads were considered demigod-level items and that Dynasty's warehouse should have at least 70 to 80 pieces, if not 100 pieces. He was astounded to find they had none.

"Forget it. Let's call it a day." Lin Huang could only forget about not getting what he most desired.

The sky had turned completely dark when the duo got out of the treasure hold and returned to the Emperor's Palace.

Lin Huang looked at the time. It was already past 10 p.m. "You must be very exhausted after walking around with me for the entire day. Go back to rest."

"It's my job," Huang Tianfu assured while smiling.

Wu Mo peeped after Huang Tianfu left and asked rather curiously, "Why do you need demigods' broken Godheads?"

Lin Huang told Wu Mo about the plan of refining the broken Godheads into Life Palaces like what he discussed with the stone tablet.

Wu Mo voiced her opinion after listening. "It seems like the cultivation system of your era is indeed problematic. You've Divine Fire in your body, so refining broken Godheads shouldn't be a problem. On a certain level, your new way of building your foundation is very attainable. Moreover, if it's successful, there'll be a dramatic transformation in your ability. You might be as powerful as a Virtual God by then."

Lin Huang was even more determined to carry out his plan of refining broken Godheads into Life Palaces after getting Wu Mo's affirmation.

He requested to purchase broken Godheads from the black market in Sweep City and the Wanbao Auction. He also got Huang Tianfu to issue an order to collect broken Godheads.

Subsequently, he began browsing all the business section in the forums to see if anyone was selling broken Godheads and other materials that he needed.

It was almost one in the middle of the night. He only went to bed feeling helpless after his effort of browsing through all the forums was to no avail.

The next morning, Lin Huang left the Emperor's Palace after washing up. He got the Divine Sun Tree to stay in the palace to guard the elevation of Grimace and the rest.

He had been busy for two days consecutively since the coronation. He finally had time to get some fresh air out there, so he asked Lin Xin and Xiao Mo to go along too.

Lin Xin had roved everywhere in the headquarters of Dynasty for the past few days while Xiao Mo stayed by her side as her bodyguard. If not for Lin Xin, Xiao Mo would have rather stayed in his room to cultivate.

The duo was more than happy to join upon hearing that Lin Huang was going to visit Emperor City.

Lin Xin was happy to head out because she had explored every cranny of Dynasty's headquarters. She would have headed out on her own within these two days if Lin Huang had not asked her along.

Meanwhile, Xiao Mo was elated because although he had agreed to be Lin Huang's bodyguard earlier, Lin Huang had been spending most of his time in the Emperor's Palace for the past few days. Even if he was not in the Emperor's Palace, Huang Tianfu and the rest would be around him. Therefore, being Lin Xin's bodyguard became his main responsibility. Now that Lin Huang was heading out, he would naturally take up the responsibility of being his bodyguard.

Apart from Lin Xin and Xiao Mo, Huang Tufu of the three Grand Dukes went along too.

As a perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouse, he had abilities that were close to a virtual god-level's. He was also the person in charge of Dynasty's guard. Now that the Emperor was crowned, he naturally became his main bodyguard.

Lin Huang had no objection about Huang Tufu coming along. Since he was familiar with Emperor City, he could use him as a tour guide.

"Which are the biggest trading companies in Emperor City at the moment?"

"The biggest one would be our own Dynasty Court at the moment. We have anything and everything. The second biggest would be the Union Government's Union Trading Company. Just like us, they sell everything. Next would be the Ouyang Clan's Divine Armor Pavilion which sells mainly weapons and defense equipment. The Li Clan's Elixir Pavilion has all sorts of elixirs while the Lu Clan's Precious Treasure Den has all sorts of peculiar miscellaneous and luxury items," Huang Tufu introduced the major trading houses in the foothold one after another.

"Let's take a look at the Dynasty Court first then. It's our own place after all." Lin Huang thought about it and decided to visit the Dynasty Court first.

"Actually, all the stores are located in the same business district, so it doesn't really matter which we go first," Huang Tufu said and took out a black dimensional portal. He opened the door after setting the coordinates.

Lin Huang and the other two walked into the door one after another. Huang Tufu only walked in after letting the three in first.

The dimensional portal closed slowly after the quad entered.

A moment later, Lin Huang and the rest of them arrived in a crowded business district as soon as they stepped out of the dimensional portal.

The crowd did not stop moving. There were people walking, flying, or riding on pets and all sorts of strange equipment.

"It's so crowded here!" Lin Huang exclaimed while smiling.

"This is the Dynasty Court's headquarters." Huang Tufu stretched his arm out and pointed at a sophisticated building that looked like a palace next to them.

Lin Huang turned his head to see a building that looked similar to the Emperor's Palace. It looked completely like a palace where a king lived.

There were four massive buildings at the crossroads. Although the three other buildings were taller, they were nothing compared to this one.

No matter who was standing at the crossroads, they would definitely lock their attention on the Dynasty Court's headquarters as soon as they gazed up.

"It's… sophisticated as usual…" Lin Huang had no idea what else to comment.

"Master Tianyu built the Dynasty Court himself. He was the one who designed this headquarters too," Huang Tufu explained.

"Let's take a look."

The two security guards at the entrance recognized Lin Huang and Huang Tufu when they arrived at the entrance.

"Master Tufu, Master Emperor."

Huang Tufu was one of the three Grand Dukes, so almost every Dynasty member had seen him before. Besides the fact that this was the Emperor City, he had also been to the Dynasty Court's headquarters more than once.

Meanwhile, Lin Huang had been appearing in all the news and media for the past few days as Emperor, hence almost all the cultivators knew how he looked like. Him being crowned as the Emperor of Dynasty had been the hot topic in all the forums on the Heart Network for the past few days.

"I'm just looking around. Don't alert anyone," Lin Huang told the two security guards.

The four of them soon blended in with the crowd as they entered the Dynasty Court.

Lin Huang was not in a rush as he browsed through the counters one after another with the three of them.

The products that took up the most space and counters were relics including weapons, defense tools, and assisting equipment. There was an impressive variety. Not only did they have everything mainstream on the market, but they even had some rare and modified models.

However, the most crowded counters were on the other side selling elixirs. Such consumables had high demand whereby people would purchase them every day. Powerhouses could use one specific relic that they had bought for decades as long as their combat strength stayed on the same level. Meanwhile, elixirs were consumed and needed to be purchased again.

Lin Huang could not help but ask Huang Tufu after seeing the large crowd at the two counters, "Why don't these customers go to the Divine Armor Pavilion and the Elixir Pavilion for relics and elixirs? Aren't they more professional when it comes to that?"

"It would be the same where you buy the default relics and usual elixirs. To prevent vicious competition, we made it compulsory for all default relics and usual elixirs to be priced the same as the market price. We sell the same thing at the same price, thus naturally, there's no need for the consumers to go to the specific stores," Huang Tufu explained.

"If that's the case, doesn't that mean the Divine Armor Pavilion and the Elixir Pavilion have no upper hand?"

"The Divine Armor Pavilion has customized relics while the Elixir Pavilion has elixirs with special functions that other stores don't. The other organizations have no way of fighting them when it comes to that, so there's no need to waste their efforts."

"I see." Lin Huang could not help but nod when he heard that. The differentiation business gave everyone the opportunity to make a living. Everyone would lose money if they viciously competed to sell the same thing at a different price. "So, what's the Dynasty Court's upper hand?"

"Firstly, the Dynasty Court is duty-free in Emperor City. It's the benefit that other organizations don't get. Secondly, we're the first trading company that has a membership system. Although we have the same price with other organizations, members can enjoy promotions which were the unique selling point in the beginning. Thirdly, we've got a comprehensive selection. Apart from some special modification requirements, we basically have everything the customers need," Huang Tufu explained in detail.

Lin Huang nodded after hearing about the Dynasty Court's modus operandi. He proceeded to visit the remaining counters.

However, he had no idea that he was being targeted by a pair of bloody eyes as soon as he stepped out of Dynasty's headquarters.

Wei Shan wore a pair of sunglasses and walked casually around the store across the Dynasty Court.

He looked many times smaller than his initial body after the disguise. He was only 1.8 meters tall with a skinny frame. He was disguised as someone inconspicuous to avoid people noticing him because he must stay low-key before completing something.

Since Lin Huang killed him three years ago for kidnapping Lin Xin, he had been thinking of taking revenge every second for the past three years. The hatred he bore for Lin Huang grew by the day.

For three full years, his soul had been stuck in a skull. Apart from being able to speak, he almost could do nothing else. He could not drink or eat, move, let alone flirt with women.

His soul finally shifted to this spirit's body after it was restored a few months ago.

This body was much more powerful than what Wei Shan expected.

He knew that this virtual god-level body was one of the most precious collections his mother had. He heard it had been excavated from a grade-6 war site.

The God's corpse had signs of preliminary decomposition when it was found and was turning into a spirit. Fortunately, his mother disconnected the consciousness by force before it could form entirely. She then made it into a puppet and put it into her collection.

Wei Shan had to beg her many times to use this most powerful item to become his body.

Since obtaining this body, apart from familiarizing with his body every day and doing some check-ups with his mother for the past few months, he had been collecting information about Lin Huang. However, Lin Huang seemed to have vanished over a year ago, so he could not find any information about him. His sister Lin Xin also went missing even earlier than Lin Huang did.

Three days ago, Wei Shan finally saw the face that he had never forgotten for the past three years in the headlines on the Heart Network.

The hatred that had been expanding every second for the past three years finally exploded completely.

Although Lin Huang had become the high and mighty Emperor of Dynasty while his mother advised him to be patient again and again, his hatred and rage crested when he saw Lin Huang's face. There was nothing else in his head apart from revenge.

As soon as he escaped from his mother's institution, he contacted Old Huang that his mother had hired to be his bodyguard earlier. He had no idea who else he could trust.

Fortunately, Old Huang did not betray him. Instead, he arranged a disguise demigod relic for him and got someone to put him in a pet enclosure, sneaking him into the Emperor City in Division 1.

However, Wei Shan had no idea that it was not Old Huang who had arranged all that for him. It was someone else.

Wei Shan had been lurking around Dynasty's headquarters for the past two days since he got into Emperor City.

No one in Dynasty was alerted to his existence since the Emperor had just been crowned and many organizations had assigned many spies around Dynasty's headquarters. The number of tourists was also a few folds compared to before.

Wei Shan had been squatting at the entrance of Dynasty's headquarters for two days when he finally saw Lin Huang coming out early in the morning.

As Lin Huang and the rest stepped into the dimensional portal, he used his Divine Telekinesis and soon found out their destination coordinates. Then, he followed them secretly.

'Two bodyguards, one perfect-stage demigod-level and one imperial-level purple gold-level. That perfect-stage demigod-level one guy is tough, but I don't have to fight him. I'll just make him stay back. Then, I can kill Lin Huang and his sister as long as I've bought myself a moment.' Wei Shan began visualizing the fight in his head and planned it out quietly. He would attack as soon as Lin Huang and the rest came out of the Dynasty Court.

Lin Huang had no idea that he had been targeted.

After walking around the Dynasty Court, Lin Huang bought nothing else apart from a modified DevilEagle17 for Lin Xin.

He bought a demigod relic for Xiao Mo earlier, so there was no need to purchase any other equipment.

Lin Huang asked the staff when he arrived at the miscellaneous items counter, "Do you have any demigods' broken Godheads?"

The staff was stunned for a moment and subsequently shook his head. "No. Broken Godheads have very low profit. Our Dynasty Court usually doesn't take in such a product. Even if our staff has it, we'd sell it to the Lu Clan's Precious Treasure Pavilion directly. It'll be sold at a much more expensive price after the Lu Clan has made it into decor while we take a commission from their sales."

The staff noticed that Lin Huang looked rather familiar after answering him. Subsequently, he saw Huang Tufu standing behind Lin Huang and recognized the duo right away. He almost shouted out loudly while widening his eyes.

"Don't you dare yell. Don't alert anyone," Lin Huang said to him through voice transmission.

"Master Emperor, Master Tufu…"

"We're just looking around. Go on now." Lin Huang nodded and turned around with Lin Xin and the rest in an attempt to leave.

"Master Emperor, you can tell me directly if you need broken Godheads. I can get someone to purchase them from other trading companies."

"I know. I've already told Tianfu that. I'm just out walking around and see if there's any," Lin Huang nodded. "We're almost done with the Dynasty Court now. Let's go to the next one. Which trading company is the closest to the Dynasty Court?"

"That would be the Union Trading Company," Huang Tufu said immediately, "The Union Trading Company is just close to the Dynasty Court. Their main branch in the Emperor City is just on the right."

"Let's go to the Union Trading Company then!" Lin Huang walked to the entrance with them.

Before he arrived at the entrance, the Nightmare Tapir in his body spoke to him through voice transmission, "There's someone with intense hostility against you outside. You might be attacked as soon as you step out."

Lin Huang raised a brow. He could not believe that someone would dare to attack him in the Emperor City, even more so when Huang Tufu was just next to him.

He stood where he was and turned his head to say to Lin Xin, "Xin Er, go get me a drink. Get me the one that you told me about that's tasty. We'll wait for you at the entrance."

"Oh…" Although Lin Xin was surprised, she agreed to it right away.

As soon as Lin Xin left, Lin Huang signaled Xiao Mo, commanding him to follow her.

"Let's go. We'll wait at the entrance." Lin Huang and Huang Tufu then walked out of the Dynasty Court.

Lin Huang sensed a killing intent materialize, charging at him as soon as he stepped out of the door.

Huang Tufu sensed something off almost at the same time. He stepped out and blocked the front of Lin Huang.

A black silhouette appeared in a flash in the next second and collided with Huang Tufu.

An explosion blasted out at the same time as if tens of thousands of thunders struck while ripples of energy waves followed. They spread toward all directions like ripples on the surface of the water.

The marketplace had barriers set up, so the people in the marketplace were not affected at all, but it was a different story for the people on the streets.

Almost everyone was killed when their organs exploded as the ripples of energy waves spread out.

Naturally, the Ninetails Lynx pulled Lin Huang into its alternate dimension as soon as that happened.

Huang Tufu looked extremely terrible. The person had attacked so swiftly that he did not have enough time to charge the Divine Power in his body. He absorbed the attack filled with the Divine Power the person had been charging by force.

He only braced the attack for a moment, then his body completely drowned in the person's bloody Divine Power. He then plummeted underground like a cannon.

"This guy is pretty powerful!" It was not difficult for Lin Huang to guess that the person should be a virtual god-level powerhouse. Although his combat strength was not on virtual god-level, his ability should be on par with virtual god-level.

"Get the hell out, Lin Huang!" Wei Shan looked around and realized that Lin Huang was already gone. Naturally, he was not naive enough to think that Lin Huang had been killed by the impact earlier.

A silhouette appeared slowly at the entrance of the Dynasty Court.

The young man had a little white cat sitting on the right of his shoulder and a tiger with a long trunk on his left. There was a little elephant whose body was less than two meters long blocking his front.

"Why don't you get out first?" Lin Huang grinned.

"Lin Huang, do you remember me?" Wei Shan removed his sunglasses and transformed into how he looked like three years ago using the demigod relic. He wanted to see Lin Huang's reaction upon realizing he had come back alive.

"I'm sorry. I really don't remember who you are." Lin Huang shook his head right away without hesitation. He faintly thought that he had seen that face before, but he did not bother to try to recall who that person was.

He was the Emperor now, so every cultivator in the world had seen his face. It was normal if rivals from some organization came for him since he had offended quite a number of them before.

"You bastard!" Wei Shan was so mad at how Lin Huang responded.

He had been missing Lin Huang all day and all night for the past three years. He thought Lin Huang would recognize him as soon as he showed up today. Never had he thought that he would not remember who he was at all!

He felt like he had swung his fist with all of his might but all he punched was nothing but thin air.

"You're lying. You'd definitely remember me! My name is Wei Shan!" Wei Shan shouted his name to Lin Huang unwillingly.

"That name…" Lin Huang frowned a little and thought about it. Subsequently, he lifted his head and looked at the person. "I'm sure your name doesn't ring a bell. Did you mistake me for someone else?"

"You…" Wei Shan was so irate he almost puked blood.

'Mistake you for someone else?! Your name has been on my mind every second for the past three years, how could I possibly mistake you for someone else?!' he thought to himself.

"If you have mistaken me, I suggest you figure it out properly before you go looking for the right person," Lin Huang added.

"Again, how could I possibly mistake you for someone else?! Three years ago, I kidnapped your sister on the Demonic Crystal Spaceship in Division 7. Then, you summoned your imperial monster to kill me. My soul has been trapped in a soul-fostering device for the past three years. I spent every day and every night thinking about how to take revenge on you. Your face would appear in my head whenever I closed my eyes every day. I'd recognize you even if you turned into ashes. How is it possible that I mistook you for someone else?!"

"I remember it now that you said that." Lin Huang finally recalled who the person was after his detailed reminder. "You're the pedophile that I killed three years ago!"

Wei Shan looked extremely terrible. Although his target recalled who he was, he was no different from a pedestrian to Lin Huang apart from being a pedophile.

The intention to kill was rising in Lin Huang's body after verifying the person's identity. "I killed you three years ago and I can kill you today too! I won't hold back since you sent yourself all the way here."

The Destructive Divine Mammoth swung its trunk as soon as Lin Huang was done speaking, initiating the fight.

"Aren't you embarrassed to show an imperial-level summoning beast off before me?!" Disdain filled Wei Shan's face upon seeing the Destructive Divine Mammoth attack.

Its trunk swept like a giant pillar in the air. Even the air where the giant lead-colored pillar solidified from Life Power became a vacuum when it passed by.

The disdain on Wei Shan's face soon turned into fear after sensing the impact from the attack. He attempted to run but it was too late, so he could only stand in a defensive position and bore the attack forcefully.

Bang!

The trunk slammed into Wei Shan, creating an intense explosion.

The impact of the attack was even more powerful than the attack Wei Shan had sneakily launched on Huang Tufu earlier.

At the moment of collision, a circle of lead-colored energy wave spread like a ripple. The entire business district shook under the attack.

Half of Emperor City could feel a clear tremor as strong winds blew in Emperor City's streets and alleys, forcing countless of people to take cover in buildings.

Wei Shan only felt an invincible, massive power overwhelming him the moment he was hit.

His body that was comparable with a Virtual God's never experienced any damages throughout the hundreds of tests for the past few months.

However, his left arm that he used to defend the attack with was completely crushed. The bones in his forearm were smashed into at least ten pieces while his upper arm was fractured too.

Not only was his entire arm was broken now, but even his left chest had taken a certain level of impact.

He fractured a couple of ribs on the left, and his organs were jarred as well.

If his body had only been on demigod-level, the blow might have taken his life.

Wei Shan staggered hundreds of meters back as he gaped at the Destructive Divine Mammoth with fear on his face.

"What exactly is this thing? Its combat strength is only on imperial-level purple gold-rank, but how is it so powerful?!"

As the Destructive Divine Mammoth's attack shot Wei Shan away, Huang Tufu, who was sent into the ground, clambered out of the rubble.

Although he stumbled clumsily, he did not seem hurt.

"Damn you, sneaky assaulter!" Huang Tufu looked ferociously at Wei Shan with a battle sword in his hand. This person had embarrassed him before the newly appointed Emperor!

Lin Huang called out to him when he was going to fight Wei Shan, "Maybe you should just watch."

Huang Tufu noticed that Wei Shan's left arm was distorted in an abnormal way. However, soon he was not looking at them at all. Instead, he was staring at the little elephant not far away from him.

'Wait, what's that?'

Huang Tufu was stunned when he saw the little elephant. Subsequently, he noticed another two animals around Lin Huang. There were a white cat and a normal-sized tiger with sharp teeth and a trunk.

'Are those Master Emperor's imperial monsters?' He recalled that Lin Huang's profile stated that he was an Imperial Censor.

Huang Tufu also did not recognize that those were merely Combat Souls because Lin Huang's Combat Souls had the body of God Figurines whereby they looked just like ordinary living things. They were completely different from the ordinary Combat Souls.

The Destructive Divine Mammoth did not plan to let him go just yet after the successful blow. It chose to launch its winning strike again.

This time, Wei Shan was fully aware. His left arm was healed in the blink of an eye, but that did not mean he could hurt himself again carelessly since recovering would drain his Divine Power.

The Destructive Divine Mammoth swung its trunk again. This time, Wei Shan's hands turned into bloody sharp claws that mauled at the elephant trunk.

All of a sudden, the trunk turned into a divine whip. Its offense became more flexible and agile.

Wei Shan's sharp claws tore black lines in the air and collided with the trunk again and again.

The duo collided up to a thousand times within the span of a couple of breaths.

The entire Emperor City could hear deafening bangs that were thousands of times louder than thunder. Almost all the buildings in the city felt the tremors that seemed like an earthquake rumbling.

Lin Huang was enjoying the duo's battle in the beginning. However, he soon noticed that buildings were collapsing far away. He realized that letting the two powerhouses that were comparable with Virtual Gods fight inside Emperor City was not a wise move. Not all the buildings were protected with a barrier like those in the business district.

"You're up. Don't waste any time," Lin Huang ordered the Nightmare Tapir.

If they were not in the city, Lin Huang was more than happy to watch the Destructive Divine Mammoth's brutal fight with Wei Shan. After all, a battle between powerhouses that were comparable with Virtual Gods was rare.

However, many buildings collapsed and civilians were killed just as they were at the beginning of the battle. If they went on, nobody knew how many more people in Emperor City would die.

Therefore, Lin Huang got the Nightmare Tapir to join the battle to get it over with as soon as possible.

Under normal circumstances, people who were experts at close combat would be weak when it came to soul battle. Since the Destructive Divine Mammoth managed to strike him within a short period of time, it meant there was a high possibility that he would be controlled by the Nightmare Tapir.

Naturally, the Nightmare Tapir knew that too. It nodded after hearing Lin Huang's order. It took a step out and swung its trunk while releasing a deafening shriek.

An invisible sound wave spread out up to a hundred times faster than the speed of sound. It reached Wei Shan in the blink of an eye.

Wei Shan had his guard up when he saw the Nightmare Tapir moving all of a sudden. However, the sound wave swept him up in the next second. Halting abruptly, he was unable to move.

"What's happening? He's hit just like that?" Lin Huang was stunned to see that. "Isn't this guy a Virtual God?"

Initially, Lin Huang thought of getting the Nightmare Tapir to join the battle merely to interfere with Wei Shan's battling rhythm.

However, Wei Shan was pulled into dreamland as soon as the Nightmare Tapir charged at him. He completely lost his battle strength.

"His soul is weak. It just reached imperial-level purple gold-rank," the Nightmare Tapir explained, "I suspect he took over this consciousness-less body with his soul by force.

"Why is he not moving?" Huang Tufu had confusion written all over his face.

"Maybe something went wrong with his body." Lin Huang gave a feeble excuse.

At that moment, Wei Shan's disguise was removed since he fell into the dreamland. He regained his bruised corpse look again.

Huang Tufu was completely shocked when he saw him turning into a monster. "I don't think it's as simple as something having gone wrong with his body!"

Even Lin Huang looked lost. "Wait, what?"

He even suspected it might be an unknown side effect of being dragged into the Nightmare Tapir's dreamland at first.

"This should be how he really looks like. Since I pulled his consciousness into my dreamland, it caused the demigod relic that he was using to lose its function and it retreated back into his body," the Nightmare Tapir explained.

"I can't believe he turned into a monster!" Lin Huang thought it was unbelievable. It was hard for him to imagine what exactly this guy had gone through for the past three years.

As Lin Huang was watching Wei Shan with Huang Tufu, Wu Mo, who was in Lin Huang's body, peeped her head out of the soul jewel. "Can you give me this monster's body?"

"Sure, I can't do anything else to it apart from selling it anyway."

This bruised corpse was obviously on virtual god-level. Since the Undead Styx could not resurrect it, there was no reason for keeping it.

"Although this body is much weaker compared to a true god-level body, it shouldn't be a problem to use it as a host for a short period of time," Wu Mo explained the purpose of her wanting the bruised corpse, "I can use it for the time being so that I won't have to stay in your body."

"When I've gathered all the materials for my own body, I'll make this corpse into a puppet for you. That will be my rental dues," Wu Mo declared while smiling. She was a Sorcerer Dao True God, so making puppets was a piece of cake to her.

"Sure." Lin Huang accepted that suggestion right away.

Meanwhile, Wei Shan was in a tough fight in the dreamland.

The little elephant could almost suppress him, and now there was another tiger with sharp teeth and a trunk.

Every time the tiger mauled with its sharp claws, it was powerful enough to tear through anything. Although Wei Shan had a terrifying defensive ability, the Nightmare Tapir managed to lacerate deep wounds on his body, exposing his bones whenever he mauled.

There were more and more wounds on Wei Shan's body as the two God Figurine's Combat Souls worked together. The Divine Power in his body was draining rapidly and even the speed of his body recovery had dropped significantly.

Wei Shan managed to hold on for a whole day and night. Eventually, he was out of Divine Power.

"Why is God doing this to me?! I came back alive after three torturous years just to take revenge on him. Why is God treating him so well, giving him such powerful imperial monsters?!" He knelt on the ground while complaining about his horrible destiny.

"There's no other reason than that you deserve to die!" Nobody knew when Lin Huang appeared less than ten meters before Wei Shan. "Also, allow me to correct you. They're not 'some' imperial monsters. They're my combat souls."

The Destructive Divine Mammoth stomped its feet as soon as Lin Huang was done speaking.

Wei Shan's body turned into dust right away and was blown away with the wind.

While the tough battle in dreamland went on for a whole day, only less than a minute had passed in reality.

Lin Huang even took the time to enter dreamland to witness Wei Shan's final death.

The bruised corpse who was standing there was losing his vital signs quickly. Before Lin Huang managed to put him away, a blue glow shot out between his brows. In the next second, Wu Mo dragged the bruised corpse into Lin Huang's body.

Lin Huang shook his head while smirking. "She's so impatient."

"So, that guy died just like that?!" In shock, Huang Tufu sensed Wei Shan's vital signs fading all of a sudden too.

He peeped at the Nightmare Tapir and the Ninetails Lynx, faintly sensing that this should have something to do with the two monsters.

He shivered fearfully at Lin Huang. He knew very well how powerful that monster Wei Shan was, but Lin Huang had destroyed him like a piece of cake.

"Do a calculation on how many houses were damaged and how many people died." Lin Huang had no idea what Huang Tufu was thinking as he turned his head to speak to him, "Compensate those who have families. As for those who have none, arrange their burials."

"Sure, I'll get it done." Huang Tufu obeyed immediately.

If he had merely been fearful of Lin Huang's identity earlier, he was beginning to fear Lin Huang as a person.

He only had a combat strength of immortal-level, but he had techniques to kill a Virtual God. It was a little hard for him to imagine how terrifying he would be in the future.

"Also, whatever you saw today, just let it be. I don't want the media to spread the word out," Lin Huang ordered him, "Exposing my ability is a small matter but Dynasty will become a public target. It's bad for Dynasty's development in the long run."

Huang Tufu figured that he had to think of a way to muffle this incident too. If Lin Huang's true ability was really exposed, everyone would know that Dynasty had an Emperor who had ridiculous abilities. By then, many organizations might collaborate to fight Dynasty because no organization would hope to have a second Union Government in this continent to suppress them.

Lin Huang was in too glum a mood to even look at the destroyed buildings and houses not far away from the business district. There were even devastating cries echoing faintly. Needless to say, Lin Xin and Xiao Mo lost their moods as well.

After ordering Huang Tufu to take care of the damages, Lin Huang got Xiao Mo to bring Lin Xin back to Dynasty's headquarters ahead of time.

Meanwhile, he summoned the Warlord and got him to engineer thousands of robots with no combat ability to be involved in the rescue work.

Not long later, many Dynasty members from the headquarters came to the rescue.

Apart from Dynasty, the Union Government armies who were guarding Emperor City, the Hunter Association and the Adventurer Paradise's branches, as well as two local families, came to help with some other Royalties.

Emperor City was Dynasty's territory, so it would be understandable even if these organizations did not help when something happened to the city. However, they decided to help and got involved in the rescue without hesitation.

The rescue went on for a whole day. Basically, everyone who was still alive was rescued the very next morning.

Above all, the Warlord's robots played a big part in the rescue operation.

Some underground areas that human could not access were examined by the robot dogs the Warlord had made. They dug holes to lead the people out after they were rescued. The robots he made came with civil structure knowledge so they could analyze possible collapse sites and safe zones, and subsequently find the suitable route for excavation.

"Master, the rescue work is almost done now. You should head back to rest." Huang Tianfu came as soon as he was done with his errands yesterday. He stayed with Lin Huang for the entire night.

"That's right. Go back to rest. We will monitor the follow-up work," Huang Tufu assured in agreement.

"Sure, thanks for helping with the rest," Lin Huang expressed.

The rescue work was basically done, so what remained would be the rebuilding. However, that would take time to complete.

"Tufu, follow Master Emperor back," Huang Tianfu turned and ordered Huang Tufu who recalled that he possessed the identity of a bodyguard.

After recalling the Warlord into card form, Lin Huang followed Huang Tufu back to Dynasty's headquarters.

Lin Xin came to him as soon as he returned. "Brother, how's the rescue work?"

"It's pretty smooth. We've basically rescued all the survivors. There are no other incidents such as further collapsing."

"I'd like to help," Lin Xin suggested. She wanted to stay to help yesterday, but she did not interrupt upon seeing that everyone was busy, including her brother.

Lin Huang fell into silence for a moment. "You can go but don't give anyone any trouble. You must know that this isn't a game. Also, ask those who know when you aren't sure about something. Don't be reckless."

Lin Huang agreed to let her help because the rescue work was basically done. Even if she were to make a mistake, there were no major consequences. Moreover, it was a great opportunity to train Xiao Mo who had grown up in the Purple Crow.

"Understood!" Lin Xin left joyfully after getting Lin Huang's explicit permission.

Xiao Mo followed her immediately.

The first thing Lin Huang did when he returned to the Emperor Palace was to summon the Nightmare Tapir again. He got the Nightmare Tapir to share Wei Shan's memory with Bloody.

Apart from a disguise demigod relic, Wei Shan had nothing valuable on him, not even an Emperor's Heart Ring. In reality, he could not even activate an Emperor's Heart Ring in his monster form.

However, what Lin Huang wanted the most were not the treasures on him, but the memories in his head.

He clearly remembered that fatty Yin Hangyi's death two years ago was related to the Grandmistress behind Wei Shan.

The so-called Grandmistress sent Lily to kill him. In the end, fatty suffered the undeserved tragic consequences and was killed by her.

Lin Huang always remembered that. He thought it would be difficult to find out who the mastermind behind it was since Lily died. Never had he expected Wei Shan to send himself here this time.

It only took a moment for the Nightmare Tapir to complete the sharing of Wei Shan's memories.

"How is it? Is there anything about the Grandmistress in his memory?" Lin Huang asked immediately after seeing Bloody open its eyes.

"Yes, the Grandmistress you're talking about is Wei Shan's birth mother," Bloody clarified while smiling, "Also, I found a lot of unexpected information in his memory."

"Unexpected information?" Lin Huang could not help but raise his brow. Now, he was even more eager to know Wei Shan's background.

"Apart from being the head of the Wei Clan in Division 2, Wei Shan's mother, who is the Grandmistress, has another identity…" Bloody paused to pique Lin Huang's interest before proceeding to speak, "She is God Bless's God's Messenger!"

"She's one of the four God's Messengers?!" Lin Huang's eyes flew wide open.

God's Messenger was the position after the Master God in God Bless. Also, there were only four God's Messengers in the entire God Bless.

According to the discussion Lin Huang had with Bloody earlier, they were almost sure that God Bless's four God's Messengers were possibly virtual god-level powerhouses.

After verifying Wei Shan's mother's identity, Lin Huang considered that Wei Shan's enhanced combat strength that came out of nowhere and his turning into a monster was not odd.

After all, God Bless's Master God most probably came from the great world. Perhaps Wei Shan's mother acquired the technique of fusing his soul into the monster's body from the Master God.

"Looking at Wei Shan's memories, his mother mainly manages the entire God Bless's finance," Bloody continued, "The Wei Clan, the biggest merchant in Division 2, became God Bless's money laundering tool since centuries ago. Furthermore, under the leadership of Wei Shan's mother, almost all of the outstanding Wei Clan descendants joined God Bless. The rest pretty much became God Bless's outer members even if they didn't join the organization officially."

"So, you're saying we'll be getting handsome loots soon?" Lin Huang could not help but smirk after hearing that.

"It might be a little difficult for you to fight the Wei Clan directly. The Wei Clan only has two demigods on the surface, but in reality, they already have five and all of them are on perfect-stage demigod-level. Apart from that, Wei Shan's mother has an unfathomable housekeeper who is at least on perfect-stage demigod-level.

"Meanwhile, Wei Shan's mother's ability is even more powerful than his. We're almost sure that she's on at least Virtual God rank-2 or even Virtual God rank-3."

"So, that's three Virtual Gods and six perfect-stage demigod-level. This bunch is rather powerful indeed, but I should be able to handle them." Lin Huang made some simple calculations and thought it should not be a problem for him to handle them.

"The Wei Clan's ability isn't the biggest obstacle. Instead, it's the Union Government," Bloody voiced its concern. "The Wei Clan is located in No. 2A1 foothold of Fengtian City in Division 2. It's also where the Union Government's headquarters in Division 2 is located. The Union Government office building is just less than 30 kilometers away from the Wei Clan."

The Wei Clan was the biggest merchant in Division 2. It was impossible that the Union Government would not take action if they were attacked.

Even if the Union Government knew the Wei Clan had something to do with God Bless, they still held the responsibility of protecting the Wei Clan as long as there was no solid proof.

The Union Government would definitely interfere if Lin Huang attacked the Wei Clan.

Moreover, the Union Government's office was just less than 30 kilometers from the Wei Clan. Demigods could reach it within a few seconds as easy as pie while Virtual Gods could reach it in the blink of an eye.

No matter how powerful Lin Huang's ten God Figurine's Combat Souls were, it was impossible for him to kill the entire Wei Clan within a few seconds.

Lin Huang fell into silence after hearing Bloody's concern.

Ever since he found out there were over 30 Virtual Gods in this world, he realized how massive the Union Government was.

Attacking the Wei Clan head-on would not be a wise choice.

"Indeed, it'll spell big trouble if the Union Government interferes." Lin Huang scowled. He spoke after a moment of silence, "We can't just remove the Wei Clan as a clue. Avenging fatty is just one of the reasons. Since Wei Shan's mother is a God's Messenger, she would definitely know where Chan Dou is. If he's still alive, this is the only clue for us to find him at the moment."

"But the Union Government is too close. They'll definitely interfere as soon as we attack the Wei Clan." Bloody hoped that Lin Huang could hold back for now. "By then, we'll be attacked by two organizations. Although your God Figurine's Combat Souls have abilities comparable to a Virtual God's, the battle will be a tough one if they were to fight the Wei Clan and the Union Government at the same time."

Once again, Lin Huang fell into silence and subsequently proposed, "How about we declare war with the Wei Clan directly? Let's say that the Wei Clan sent Wei Shan to assassinate me. To Dynasty, assassinating the Emperor isn't tolerable. We'll use Dynasty's name to declare war with the Wei Clan.

"It's futile. Wei Shan's body looks completely like a monster now. There's nothing on him that can prove his identity. Then, the Wei Clan can totally say that we're framing them. Moreover, even if we can prove that he's Wei Shan, the Wei Clan can argue that it's a personal choice that has nothing to do with the clan.

"If they're smarter, they can even seize the opportunity to make a story up. They might say that Wei Shan turned into a monster due to some incident, causing him to lose his mind. He's been locked in a room for a long time while his mother has been feeding him all these years. However, Wei Shan escaped from his home recently and the family couldn't find him. Then, they would get Wei Shan's mother whose son has just died to apologize to us while crying in front of the media, looking sincere and saying that she should've watched her son instead of letting him out."

Lin Huang was speechless after hearing that. "By then, people will only talk about how I killed their son and stirred things up with the Wei Clan."

"If the Wei Clan isn't that smart and denies it no matter what, it'll cause conflict for both parties. The Union Government would definitely do something if we were to fight. They'd probably ask us to put an end to this by convincing the Wei Clan to compensate us.

"As long as the Union Government is around, we only have two options. We either do nothing or fight the Union Government as well," Bloody announced its final conclusion.

"Is there really no other way around this?" Lin Huang frowned. He was secretly calculating how would he fare if he were to include the combat power of the Union Government's headquarters in Division 2.

"There's really no other way." Bloody shook its head, feeling helpless. "The only possibility of avoiding the Union Government interfering with us is to hide the fight from them completely."

"They're just less than 30 kilometers away. How is it possible that they won't find out as soon as we fight?" Lin Huang thought that Bloody's suggestion was totally useless.

"I've got an idea about that." A voice went into Lin Huang's ears all of a sudden.

Lin Huang was stunned as he watched a green glow streaming out between his brows and turning into a person.

He could not help but raise his brow when he saw the bruised corpse before him. "Sister Mo Mo?"

"This new body isn't too shabby. In fact, it's better than what I expected," Wu Mo said while grinning ear-to-ear.

"That's great to hear." Lin Huang smiled while nodding and he proceeded to ask, "Sister Momo, you said you've got an idea about that. What do you mean?"

"Don't you want to fight the Wei Clan but are afraid that the Union Government might interfere?" Clearly, Wu Mo overheard the entire conversation between Lin Huang and Bloody.

"Do you have a solution to that?"

"It's simple. I can help you move the entire the Wei Clan thousands of kilometers away. If I do that, the people from the Union Government won't feel any battle impact. Am I right?" It sounded extraordinarily simple when Wu Mo said that.

"Move the entire the Wei Clan thousands of kilometers away? Is that possible?" It was the first time Lin Huang had ever heard of that.

"I asked you to learn the Witchcraft Runes but you just wouldn't listen." Wu Mo placed her hands on her hips. "I created a set of combo runes called the Perfect Switch. The rune can move things away and replace it with an illusion. In the beginning, this rune can only move small items. I was having fun with it at first. Later on, I realized that the rune is actually very useful, so I took a few months to fix and perfect it. As time went by, I could move mountains and lakes."

"Can it move living things as well?" Lin Huang was a little surprised.

"Yes. In reality, the nature of the rune is moving space by force. As soon as I pick the size of the space and draw a line around it, I can move the entire space away together with the living things within it." Wu Mo was worried that Lin Huang might not understand her. Therefore, she explained using a more relatable analogy, "You can imagine the space you want to move to as a potted plant. This rune can move the plant and soil in the pot into another pot without asking the permission of the plant in the pot. At the same time, you replace a plant illusion in the original pot."

"I get it now." Lin Huang nodded and thought to himself, 'It's much easier to understand when you put it like that.'

"What's the farthest distance you can go if we're moving the entire the Wei Clan?" Bloody asked a new question immediately.

"It depends on the size."

Bloody soon browsed through Wei Shan's memory and calculated the rough surface and size of the entire the Wei Clan then reported to Wu Mo.

"With the current Divine Power that I can use to move things, I can safely say that it shouldn't be a problem to move a place of the said size 2,000 kilometers away." Wu Mo soon provided an answer. "But if you need, I can try to move it further away as much as I can."

"And how long can the substitute illusion last?"

"That also depends on the size. From what you told me, it should be able to last half an hour."

Bloody nodded and downloaded the map of Fengtian City in Division 2 and the areas around for Lin Huang. He pointed at the canyon in the north of Fengtian City after looking at it carefully and asked Wu Mo, "Can you move the Wei Clan to a specific location, namely inside this canyon 2,300 kilometers to the north?"

"It shouldn't be a problem, but I'll need to set the coordinates," Wu Mo responded.

"Sure." Bloody turned its head to look at Lin Huang. "When do you plan to do this?"

"There is no time like the present. Let's do it today."

"You want to go to Division 2?!" Huang Tianfu frowned slightly. He was almost speechless that Lin Huang, who had just been crowned Emperor four days ago, was requesting to go to Division 2 all of a sudden.

"There's something that I need to settle over there. You don't have to send anyone to follow me," Lin Huang responded, "Also, I would need to borrow the Star Titan."

Huang Tianfu frowned even deeper now. He was really afraid that Lin Huang was going to run away.

Although Dynasty was now Royal's affiliate again while they had regained all benefits and they were doing even better than before, their fate lay in Lin Huang's hands after all. As long as he was willing, he could remove Dynasty from the affiliate list of organizations anytime he wanted. That was the reason why Huang Tianfu had been so obedient to him.

Clearly, Lin Huang knew Huang Tianfu's concern, so he said while feeling helpless with a smile, "Don't worry that I'll run away. I'll leave my Royal Token here and I'll be back right after I'm done with my business."

Lin Huang took his Royal Token out and handed it over to Huang Tianfu after he was done talking.

The reason he handed out his identity token was simply that he was the only one who could use the Royal Token (anyone could claim ownership of trial token, but a token with an official member identity could not be altered). To others, it was no different than a brick. Nobody could even see the basic information, let alone use it.

Huang Tianfu hesitated and did not take the token. "You don't have to do this, Master Emperor. Go ahead with your thing. The rest of the Dynasty members and I believe that you won't leave us behind."

He declined because he knew very well that it was redundant for him to have the token if Lin Huang was determined to run. Apart from the Royal Token holder, nobody else could use the token. The other reason was that the holder could reapply for the Royal Token if one lost it. To Lin Huang, applying a new identity token would merely take two to three days.

"I won't be bringing my sister and Xiao Mo this time since I'll be back within one or two days. Please take care of them and don't let any troublemakers enter Emperor City again."

Huang Tianfu was completely relieved upon hearing what Lin Huang said. He knew that Lin Huang would definitely not run away and leave his sister behind.

"Don't worry, Master Emperor. Tufu has been getting people to protect your sister secretly."

"Also, this is a private matter. I hope that no one will see this. Don't send anyone to follow me," Lin Huang emphasized again.

"But the Star Titan needs a professional pilot," Huang Tianfu pleaded helplessly.

"I have my way of flying it. I don't need a pilot." Lin Huang's imperial monster, the Warlord, was a professional mechanic. There were no mechanical items that he could not handle. Naturally, the same applied to the Star Titan.

"Alright then. So, when do you plan to head out, Master?" Huang Tianfu asked again.

"Right now!" Lin Huang had come to Huang Tianfu just to inform him that and borrow the airship.

Huang Tianfu was speechless at that moment. He removed a pitch-black ring on his right middle finger and handed it to Lin Huang. "This is the Star Titan's miniature ring. As the Emperor of Dynasty, you have access to activate it. The airship will expand automatically as soon as it's activated, so it's best to only activate it when you're somewhere spacious enough."

Huang Tianfu reminded him about some matters that he should take note of after handing the Star Titan's miniature ring over to him.

Lin Huang left Dynasty alone quietly after getting into the Star Titan. He headed to Division 2. No. 2A1 foothold of Fengtian City was the core zone of the entire Division 2. It was even more bustling than the Magical Sky City in Division 3.

After entering the city, Lin Huang found a safe place and summoned Wu Mo from his pet spatial ring.

She could be kept in a pet spatial ring in the form of a bruised corpse as long as she did not fight it.

That was how Wei Shan had entered Emperor City earlier.

Since Wu Mo was summoned, she performed a few hand seals and turned herself into a young, beautiful lady. She wore a white dress and did not even use any disguise demigod relic. They looked very much like a beautiful couple when she strolled with Lin Huang. Many people could not help but stare at her.

Even Lin Huang could not help but ask, "Sister Mo Mo, is this how you really look like?"

"What do you think?" Wu Mo asked playfully.

"I think so."

Wu Mo smiled without saying anything. In the end, she still did not answer his question.

Soon, the duo found the Wei Clan on the map.

To prevent the Wei Clan from noticing them, Lin Huang put on a disguise demigod relic mask to give himself a new face. He then pretended to be a couple with Wu Mo while approaching the area where the Wei Clan was located.

As the biggest merchant in Division 2, the Wei Clan's castle was sophisticated which, in turn, made it a tourist attraction in Fengtian City.

There were many tourists all around the world visiting on normal days and occasionally, among those tourists were cultivators. It was a luxurious ancient castle that had existed for centuries after all and was not something that one saw everywhere.

Lin Huang and Wu Mo did not spend much effort to blend in with the tourists. Due to Wu Mo's energetic character, the duo even made friends with quite a number of tourists.

"Young man, listen to your old man. Don't ever let go of such a great lady or you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

"Girl, this guy isn't too shabby. He's handsome and he makes you happy. You must seize the opportunity if you like him. A girl should be reserved but not too conservative. Also, when you guys are together, you can complain occasionally but not too much. You will scare men away if you did."

Many uncles and aunties even tried match-making the both of them. Some even imparted knowledge based on their experience.

Lin Huang had been in the sales line when he was on Earth, so he was a natural when it came to handling people like these.

Wu Mo did not shy away at all. Instead, she asked those aunties questions in all seriousness despite her being so much older than them.

The duo followed the tourists and walked around the Wei Clan's ancient castle for over an hour. They even took photos everywhere like the tourists did, sometimes even taking photos with other tourists.

In between, Lin Huang was eager to ask about the setting of the coordinates for a few times through voice transmission. However, he swallowed what he was going to say after recalling that Wu Mo had specifically asked him not to do that as the Wei Clan's Virtual God might cut him off.

After the tourists scattered while Wu Mo bade goodbye to the uncles and aunties enthusiastically, she chirped to Lin Huang though voice transmission, "All done! We can leave now. Also, someone from the Wei Clan has been checking up on us using Divine Telekinesis. They must've suspected us to be dupe tourists. Don't talk to me through voice transmission at least 1,000 kilometers within the Wei Clan's home. It's better to talk after we leave this foothold. I'll speak to you. Virtual Gods can't cut me off but demigods might be able to do that if you speak to me through voice transmission.

"Next, we'll go anywhere crowded. We'll have to stay for at least an hour and leave after the person has completely given up checking on us with their Divine Telekinesis."

Lin Huang said nothing. Being suspected as a fake tourist was totally within his expectations. The Wei Clan did not care about ordinary tourists but they would look out for cultivators who occasionally visited just for safety purposes.

He opened the map and found a large shopping mall nearby. He then brought Wu Mo there and they began to shop.

They initially planned to shop for an hour, but Wu Mo shopped for over five hours happily. They then left Fengtian City reluctantly and headed to the canyon in the north of Fengtian City.

Soon, Wu Mo set up the dimensional coordinates deep in the canyon 2,300 kilometers to the north of Fengtian City.

After observing the process, Lin Huang asked while feeling confused, "Sister Mo Mo, why didn't I see you drawing these runes around the Wei Clan this morning?"

"Are you dumb? I used an illusion to cover my movement. Of course, you couldn't see it." Wu Mo scoffed as if that was common sense.

Lin Huang was speechless right away upon hearing that answer. With Wu Mo's comprehension in Sorcerer Dao, she could indeed deceive him using an illusion without him even realizing it.

Clearly, Wu Mo did not exclude Lin Huang when she performed the illusion. Therefore, all Lin Huang saw was the illusion Wu Mo wanted people to see unlike Grimace and the Nightmare Tapir which would exclude Lin Huang when they performed the illusion.

"I've completed the setup of the coordinates. I'll put up a space barrier around the entire canyon and I'll activate it when I move them here later to avoid them escaping using a dimensional portal or some other way." Wu Mu began setting up the space barrier after she was done with the coordinates.

"How long does it take for this dimensional rune to move the Wei Clan over?" Lin Huang asked.

Wu Mo thought about it before giving her answer, "One to two seconds. Don't worry. They won't have time to react. The commotion of this teleportation is very insignificant. Even though they might feel a slight tremor, the teleportation will be done by the time they react."

"You can prepare whatever you need before the battle officially begins since I'm still working on the space barrier now."

"There's nothing to prepare actually." Lin Huang lifted his head and looked at the sky above the canyon. "All we need is to cover the top."

Lin Huang flew above the canyon as he spoke and activated the Star Titan airship's miniature ring.

In the next second, the ring turned into a black glow and shot toward the area Lin Huang targeted. Then, it began to expand rapidly.

Within less than three seconds, it expanded to a terrifying, giant airship more than 50 kilometers in length. The giant airship hovered above the canyon like a massive floating city in the air.

Subsequently, Lin Huang crushed the Warlord's card.

A black metal egg which was a meter in diameter was summoned. Soon, the monster stretched his limbs and opened his eyes.

"Is there any order for me, Master?" The Warlord's machine voice rang out as he looked at Lin Huang.

"I'll give you the control access to the Star Titan. You'll just have to wait for my order and shoot the target."

After passing the authorization, the Warlord commanded the Star Titan to emit a light stream while he was sucked into the pilot's cabin right away.

As he got into the airship, the Warlord spent less than two seconds to manage the operating system and successfully controlled the entire airship.

"Point the cannons to where I'm standing." Lin Huang stepped out and stood in the middle of the teleportation zone that Wu Mo had just set up.

Up to a thousand cannons of all sizes on the Star Titan shifted and pointed to where Lin Huang was standing.

"Lower the airship a little. Don't leave such a big gap between the canyons."

"Shut down the entire canyon's communication system and Internet signal."

The Emperor's Heart Ring on Lin Huang's finger soon lost its signal as soon as he issued the order.

"Alright, I'm done with my prep work." Lin Huang stepped out of the teleportation zone and looked at Wu Mo while beaming.

Wu Mo lifted her head and glanced at the Star Titan. "Are you preventing them from escaping above? I can just set up another defense barrier."

"Isn't this more threatening?" Since Lin Huang did not plan to let anyone live, he did not care if the people from the Wei Clan saw the Star Titan or not.

"As long as you're happy." Wu Mo shrugged.

More than ten minutes later, Wu Mo had finally set up the space barrier around the entire canyon. She then nodded at Lin Huang. "I'm done setting up the space barrier. When do you need me to send it over?"

"Do it now then." At the same time that Lin Huang spoke, apart from the Divine Sun Tree that was guarding the elevation of Grimace and the rest in the Emperor's Palace, Lin Huang had summoned all his nine God Figurine's Combat Souls.

Wu Mo had seen those God Figurine's Combat Souls in his body before, so it did not impress her.

As she snapped her fingers, the silhouette of a castle appeared in the transportation zone that she set up. Approximately a second later, the silhouette soon materialized and became a solid castle.

The entire Wei Clan's ancient castle, including the three-story basements, were moved to the coordinates Wu Mo set without missing a single detail.

Everyone in the Wei Clan's ancient castle felt a tremble under their feet.

'What happened? Was it an earthquake?' That was the first reaction almost everyone in the Wei Clan had.

However, Grandmistress Wei, some demigods and imperial-level powerhouses who were staying in the Wei Clan felt that something was off. Their surroundings were different.

A minority of them looked at the changes outside through the windows and exclaimed out loud.

"Look outside! All of the houses are gone!"

"How come it looks like the wilderness outside?"

However, what was done could not be undone. By the time the people from the Wei Clan noticed that, Wu Mo had moved the entire the Wei Clan's ancient castle to this canyon that was 2,300 kilometers from Fengtian City.

"Who dares to invade the Wei Clan?!"

Two demigods appeared as soon as the deafening scream came. They hovered above the ancient castle and stared at the Star Titan above their heads fearfully. Then, they glared at Lin Huang and Wu Mo.

The two demigods had gray beards and hair. They were the famous two demigods from the Wei Clan.

At that moment, Lin Huang removed the disguise and revealed his original face. The two demigods recognized him as soon as they saw him.

In reality, it would be redundant for him to disguise himself. There was only one the Star Titan in this entire gravel world. It was not one of the Grand Dukes from Dynasty who was flying the airship now, so his identity was obvious.

"So, it's the Master Emperor of Dynasty. I wonder why have you brought our Wei Clan here."

Although they recognized Lin Huang, their fear faded because Lin Huang's combat strength was only on immortal-level. They did not even bother about the nine God Figurine's Combat Souls around him.

Instead, they glanced at Wu Mo twice because they could not sense her combat strength at all. However, they knew that it was impossible for Lin Huang to bring an ordinary person here.

"Why am I here? Don't you guys know what you've done?" Lin Huang simpered at the demigod old men.

"We've no idea why you've come all the way here to stir things up with our Wei Clan. Even if we've really offended you unintentionally, you could've totally come to us. Don't you think it's a little too much to have moved our abode here out of nowhere?"

"Stop acting, the both of you. Get your Master here," Lin Huang said and contacted the Warlord secretly.

A thousand cannons on the Star Titan inched and pointed at the two demigods.

The two demigods' faces turned pale upon seeing the Star Titan's cannons pointing at them.

"Seems like Master Emperor is here for me." A lady's voice sang all of a sudden.

A lady with a stunning figure hovered into the air. There were four people following behind her. One of them who was in a suit had an unfathomable aura while the other three were clearly on perfect-stage demigod-level. Their aurae were evidently more powerful than the two old men who were also on perfect-stage demigod-level.

Lin Huang ignored the rest while looking at the lady.

After two years, he finally met the mastermind who had sent Lily to kill fatty — the legendary Grandmistress of the Wei Clan.

This lady only looked 25 or 26 years old at the most with her make-up on. She was dressed in a rather fitting dress while the front showed off her ample bosom. The plunge neckline ran from her neck all the way to her belly button. Even a third of her fair-skinned breasts were showing.

There were two long slits at the bottom of the dress, revealing her long legs that were as fair as jade.

The dress showed everything attractive about her body like her big breasts, tiny waist, shapely butt, long legs, and that beautiful face.

"So, you're the Grandmistress of the Wei Clan in this generation?" Lin Huang asked despite knowing the fact.

Nobody could imitate this lady's charisma. Lin Huang could tell she was definitely the Grandmistress of the Wei Clan without having to sense her combat strength at all.

"I am. I wonder why you're visiting my Wei Clan from so far away, Master Emperor?" Grandmistress Wei unveiled a smile, not showing her impatience at all.

"I guess Wei Shan is your son, isn't he?" Lin Huang did not bother to beat around the bush and asked directly.

Grandmistress Wei, on the other hand, was stunned to hear the question. However, she was well-trained, so she nodded lightly. "I do have a son named Wei Shan."

"It's great that you admit to that. He attacked me in Emperor City, so I killed him on the spot." Lin Huang stared at Grandmistress Wei, eager to see her reaction to that.

"You killed him?" Grandmistress Wei did not seem surprised in the least. Lin Huang could not even see any grief on her face.

"You don't seem to be surprised at all." Lin Huang raised his brow and asked, "Or your did your Wei Clan know that he was going to attack me?"

"You're overthinking, Master Emperor. We're not surprised because it isn't his first time attacking people," Grandmistress Wei explained, "Due to an accident, Shan Er turned into a monster three years ago. We were afraid that he might scare people, so we've been locking him up as a prisoner for the past three years. This caused him to be easily triggered and he attacked easily. He even experienced paranoia. Throughout the three years, he ran away more than once. He ran away a few days ago, but we didn't expect him to flee to Division 1. Since he's been killed for attacking you, Master Emperor, that's his destiny. There's nothing to complain about."

"You mean this has nothing to do with the Wei Clan and that it's all his personal behavior?" Lin Huang scoffed. "Then, how do you explain him taking the long-distance dimensional portal across the Union Government territory and entering Emperor City, a grade-A foothold?

"Without help from the Wei Clan, could he have done that? Him crossing the safe zone as a monster aside, he even went into a grade-A foothold in Division 1. If he really did that on his own, our 13 safe zones would've been crushed by monsters since the beginning!"

"Master Emperor, no matter whether you believe me or not, this has nothing to do with the Wei Clan. I suspect that our rival found out that Shan Er escaped and helped him along the way to create conflict between Dynasty and the Wei Clan," Grandmistress Wei clarified, "Please think about it. You're the almighty Emperor of Dynasty. Our Wei Clan has nothing to do with you all this while. Why would we ask Shan Er to attack you? Wouldn't we be making an enemy for our clan?"

"Are you sure that your Wei Clan has nothing to do with me?" Lin Huang said while smirking, "With your intel sources, you should know that I was the one who killed Wei Shan three years ago, don't you?"

"Of course, we know that, but that's the personal conflict you had with Shan Er. It isn't severe enough to drag our clan into a conflict with an organization. If we get into conflict with a related organization when any of our clan members are killed, the Wei Clan would be rivals with at least 100 organizations throughout these hundreds of years. We're sensible business people. Won't we lose our business if we can't even maintain a good relationship?"

"In the Wei Clan, there are at least 30 people who are the same age as Shan Er and are more talented than him. I allowed him to do whatever he wanted in Division 7 back then because he couldn't cultivate. I hope that he would live a normal life just like everybody else. Never had I thought that he would bring trouble upon himself and do something so unforgivable. He could only blame himself for getting killed. Nobody else should be blamed."

"So, him trafficking underaged girls has nothing to do with the Wei Clan?"

"Of course, it has nothing to do with us. If the Wei Clan were to do such business, do you think the Union Government would do nothing about it?" Grandmistress Wei pushed the responsibility of human trafficking away completely. "It was Shan Er who did all that out there using our clan's name. We only found out about that after his death."

Lin Huang did not expect Grandmistress Wei to push all the responsibilities onto her son and get a clean slate for the Wei Clan.

"According to what you said, wasn't it your plan to send the girl Lily to assassinate me after your son's death?"

"It was my plan indeed," Grandmistress Wei admitted immediately because she knew very well that Lin Huang knew exactly what had happened since he asked. Instead of denying, she would rather be honest. "I was devastated when I heard that Shan Er was dead. As a mother, it's only natural that I'd want to avenge my son. Master Emperor, you were a nobody back then, so your death won't matter," Grandmistress Wei said as if she was right and was not the one to blame.

"Now, that I've killed him again, don't you want to avenge him?" Lin Huang looked at Grandmistress Wei while scoffing.

"Master Emperor, I'm the master of the Wei Clan. Shan Er's death is nothing compared to the development of the Wei Clan. If you're a nobody, as a mother, I would still send someone to assassinate you without hesitation, but you're an Emperor now. Assassinating you would mean making enemies with Dynasty. I know that personal grudges are nothing when it comes to the big picture. Assassinating the Emperor while risking becoming Dynasty's deadly rival? I wouldn't do such a stupid thing."

"Shan Er attempted to assassinate you and you killed him instead. As his mother, I shall just accept his death. I hope that you won't listen to what the others said in the attempt to sabotage us, Master Emperor. Let's end this personal grudge here. There's no need to continue stirring this conflict. After all, our Wei Clan has many collaboration possibilities with Dynasty in the future."

"Such a powerful lady. She's pretty convincing," Wu Mo said through voice transmission secretly.

"Grandmistress Wei, do you know that Lily killed my friend when you sent her to kill me?" Lin Huang changed the subject after a moment of silence.

Grandmistress Wei frowned lightly and fell into silence. She said nothing.

"My friend was named Yin Hangyi and he was a fatty. His biggest dream was to become a food hunter, but you sent Lily to kill me and dragged him into it. She ended up killing him instead."

"Master Emperor, just tell me what you want directly," Grandmistress Wei spoke again after a moment of silence.

"Do you think I came to your Wei Clan just for money?" Lin Huang raised his brow.

"Isn't that it?" Grandmistress Wei stared at Lin Huang expressionlessly.

"Why would I move you guys here if money is all I wanted from you? I could've brought my people from Dynasty to visit you in front of the Union Government. I would be sipping tea while chatting happily in your living room. Isn't that more relaxing?"

"So, Master Emperor, are you saying you don't want to settle this peacefully?" Grandmistress Wei narrowed her eyes lightly. "Can I ask why? I don't think it's as simple as avenging a friend."

"If you insist for a reason… I think killing a God's Messenger of God Bless would give me quite some core information about God Bless. What do you think, Master Messenger of the Third God?" Lin Huang looked at Grandmistress Wei while grinning.

Grandmistress Wei had a dramatic change of expression.

She had been holding back earlier because God Bless was still in preparation before officially revealing themselves. They had to stay low for now. Therefore, she wanted to end the trouble and was willing to compensate him instead of stirring conflict with Dynasty.

Never had she thought that Lin Huang would find out about the relationship between the Wei Clan and God Bless. He had even found out about her identity.

Whether he had solid proof or not, as long as Lin Huang spread the news of the Wei Clan and God Bless out, many organizations including the Union Government would find the proof sooner or later. By then, not only was it the end of Wei Clan, but God Bless that had been in hiding would also be completely exposed.

'Lin Huang must die! This secret must die in the cradle!' Grandmistress Wei made up her mind after a quick assessment.

"Master Emperor, I must say, you know too much. So much that I can't let you leave this place alive."

"What a coincidence! I didn't plan to let any of you from the Wei Clan leave this canyon alive either!"

Both parties were on bad terms as the event unfolded.

The five Wei Clan demigods had their eyes fixated on Lin Huang and killing intent was rising in their bodies. They were no longer hiding their perfect-stage demigod-level aurae as they released it one after another.

The majestic aurae were like suns hanging in the sky, radiating towards all directions.

It was rare to see a demigod in Division 1 on normal days, but there were five of them in the small Wei Clan. Moreover, the five were all on perfect-stage demigod-level with terrifying Divine Power emanating from all over their bodies.

The five demigods' existence alone was sufficient to make the Wei Clan the top organization in this gravel world.

"Five perfect-stage demigod-levels… It seems like your Wei Clan has indeed obtained significant cultivation resources from God Bless throughout the years." Lin Huang did not move a finger as he watched. He had found out about the Wei Clan's rough situation from Wei Shan much earlier.

Grandmistress Wei squinted lightly. She faintly sensed that Lin Huang was not pretending to be fearless before the five perfect-stage demigod-levels. He really seemed to be holding several trump cards in his hands.

'What trump cards exactly does he have?' Grandmistress Wei was doubtful as she glanced through the nine God Figurine's Combat Souls before Lin Huang and eventually stopped at Wu Mo.

'Could this lady be his trump card?' Grandmistress Wei could not even sense what her combat strength was.

However, the doubt only stayed in her head for a moment. It did not stop her from issuing her order.

"Kill him!"

The five demigods almost charged at the same time when Grandmistress Wei gave her order. They rushed toward Lin Huang with full Divine Power in their bodies without holding back at all.

The fastest one was a middle-aged sword cultivator.

The sword in his hand was a thin sword less than two fingers wide and merely 70 centimeters long. Looking at the size alone, it gave one the feeling that it was more suitable for a female sword cultivator.

However, it looked out of place in this middle-aged man's hand. His massive hand almost covered the entire sword handle, but the way he slid the sword out from the scabbard was ferocious. This thin sword that seemed like a piece of decorative item was undoubtedly a killing machine in his hand.

The tip of the sword tore through space as soon as it came out of the scabbard. He seemed to have skipped the process of swinging the sword completely.

The person who was the second fastest was a saber cultivator with a ponytail.

This saber cultivator appeared to be in his early 30's. He wore a gray Taoist robe and had a ponytail flowing down from the back of his head.

The saber was placed back into the scabbard almost at the same time of drawing of saber.

The Saber-Drawing Slash was the fastest saber technique he had. At the same time of drawing the saber, a crescent saber energy was released from the saber, slashing all obstacles out of the way.

Almost all of the opponents he had ever encountered in his life died by this saber technique because before they could react, they were slashed to death.

The third fastest was a spear cultivator who was a cool lady. She wore silver armor and had short hair. She dressed rather androgynously.

Her height was approximately 1.8 meters tall. She was no shorter than the four men when she stood among them.

However, the spear in her hand was even taller than her. It was at least two meters long.

The spear was completely silver. Apart from the sigils on the spear, there were no other colors or patterns on the entire shaft at all.

She held the end of the spear and swung it like a flying dragon.

Divine Power rushed from the tip of the spear. It turned into a spiral arrow that sailed through the air, coming between Lin Huang's brows.

The slowest ones were the two old men with gray hair and beards who had attended to Lin Huang in the beginning.

One had swords in both hands while the other gripped a long staff.

The staff the old man was holding looked like it was made of rock.

The staff looked like an arm is his hand, whereby it had become an extension of his body completely.

He held the end of the long staff with both hands and charged. Divine Power turned into a black whip silhouette that advanced toward Lin Huang's direction.

Meanwhile, the old sword cultivator had a large, wide sword that was 1.2 meters long in his hand. His appearance itself exuded a terrifying vibe.

He held the sword handle with both hands as if brandishing the sword alone would drain all of his energy.

He was the slowest. They were charging almost at the same time, but the swinging of his sword was slower than the rest.

As Divine Power rushed out after the sword was whirled, the other four charges were getting closer to Lin Huang.

Five different colors from the different attack forms came almost at the same time.

Lin Huang remained smiling lightly since the beginning. The attacks were nothing to him. He did not even move a finger when the attacks were going to smack him right in the face.

At that very moment, the Destructive Divine Mammoth before Lin Huang released a long shriek while a circle of sound waves spread out.

The invisible energy wave spread again and again. Each time it rippled, the five demigods' attack would experience an obvious fading in color. The attack speed was getting slower too. As the energy wave rippled, the group's attack was getting weaker and completely vanished eventually.

It sounded slow but in reality, it happened in the blink of an eye. The five perfect-stage demigod-level attacks vanished completely as if it had been a fire put out by ocean waves.

Not only were the five who attacked stunned to see that, but even Grandmistress Wei and the housekeeper next to her were also stunned.

On the other hand, the people who were watching in the Wei Clan's ancient castle froze. Their jaws dropped.

The five perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouses attacked with their Divine Power without holding back at all. However, their attacks were crushed by an imperial-level purple gold-rank summoning beast's shriek!

What exactly was that?!

People in the Wei Clan's ancient castle were discussing among themselves.

"Is that a quadruple mutated mythical-level monster?!"

"He used an imperial-level purple gold-rank against demigods! It even defeated five opponents on its own. It has to be the legendary quadruple mutated monster!"

"Being an Imperial Censor is such an admirable occupation!"

Grandmistress Wei soon snapped back to her senses after a moment of being stunned. "So, this is what you're counting on… A mythical-level imperial monster. It's indeed powerful to be fighting with demigods when it's only on imperial-level purple gold-rank. I've never expected your Imperial Censor talent to be so outstanding whereby you can even control a quadruple mutated mythical-level monster."

Lin Huang did not bother to correct her. The nine little ones before him were not his imperial monsters, but his God Figurine's Combat Souls.

"Nevertheless, a quadruple mutated monster is hard to come by. This imperial monster of yours is considered the best that you have. I'll take good care of this quadruple mutated imperial monster after I've killed you."

"Let's see if you have the ability to take my stuff away from me then," Lin Huang teased her. If he really died, the Combat Souls would vanish naturally. The God Figurine was the only thing that would be left. What imperial monster was he going to take care of by then?!

"You'll soon find out whether I've got the ability or not." Grandmistress Wei waved her hand as she smiled. Two silhouettes appeared before her.

Their aurae was so powerful that it was suffocating.

If the five demigods' aurae were like suns, these duo's aurae were like a powerful black hole with gravely threatening vibes.

"So, those are the two virtual god-level puppets?" Lin Huang finally looked serious for the first time.

The two silhouettes' aurae suppressed the battle as soon as they appeared beside Grandmistress Wei.

The one standing on the left was a humanoid monster. He seemed like a 3.5-meter tall giant wearing impenetrable silver armor. Even his face was completely covered by the helmet. His flaming blue eyes were the only thing that was showing.

This monster carried a massive, wide sword on his back. Excluding the sword handle, the sword was at least three meters long, appearing like a door.

Meanwhile, the one standing on the right was a monster completely covered in red hair. Its body was skinny and small, and it stood at approximately 1.6 meters tall. It had a hyena's head and yellowish fangs in its jaws. It had four upper limbs armed with sharp claws and four highly agile lower limbs.

This monster was hideous. Its body looked like an experiment gone wrong instead of a natural born beast.

To be honest, Lin Huang had never seen these two monsters in the monster guide.

However, that did not affect his judgment of the two monsters. "They seem like they're skilled in close combat. If I'm not mistaken, the armored monster should be adept in strength while the dog-headed monster should be skilled at explosive agility."

"The armored-monster is a monster called the Temple Squire. Indeed, it's a strength-type monster that's skilled in close combat, but it has powerful defense and tolerant abilities too. This monster is pretty balanced in all aspects without any obvious flaws. Its only flaw is that it has no special combat technique. Its attack and moving speed is mediocre. This one before us should have had Virtual God rank-3 combat strength when it was alive, but at the most, it's now on just Virtual God rank-1.

"You should beware of that dog-headed monster instead. This dog-headed monster is a type of mutant Abyssal Hyena. Though small, its power is no weaker than that Temple Squire. Moreover, no matter agility or speed, it's much better than the Temple Squire. Its overall ability can defeat a Temple Squire of the same level. This one that you're looking at was also on Virtual God rank-3 when it was alive, but its ability is now somewhere around Virtual God rank-2," the stone tablet could not help but remind.

'No wonder Wei Shan said the two puppets' abilities are nothing less than the bruised corpse's.' Lin Huang could not help but study the dog-headed monster again.

Soon, the two virtual god-level puppets began moving according to Grandmistress Wei's command.

The Temple Squire was the first to move. Instead of attacking from a distance, he stomped out rapidly like a cannonball that had just been fired, charging at the Destructive Divine Mammoth.

The Destructive Divine Mammoth looked fearless. It was like a giant wall standing and waiting for the opponent's attack to come patiently.

The Temple Squire finally began its attack when he arrived approximately ten meters away from the Destructive Divine Mammoth.

He held the giant sword with both hands and swung it hard.

With the help of the impact from the onslaught, the sword was almost as fleet as he was.

A silver sword glow accelerated in the air. The bright silver sword seemed to have teleported passing through the distance in the blink of an eye and it arrived before the Destructive Divine Mammoth. It went right for his left eye.

The Destructive Divine Mammoth finally shifted at that moment. Instead of stepping backward, it chose to face it head-on.

Its actions were not clumsy at all. Instead, it was extremely agile. It lifted both its forefeet high and stomped hard.

In the next second, the bright silver sword glow collided with the black giant feet.

The silver and black glow exploded immediately, occupying half of the sky.

A moment later, a dazzling white glow expanded in the middle of the collision. Soon, it drowned the duo.

Circles of white energy waves rippled toward all directions. The canyon ground trembled under the duo's collision as the mountains within the radius of tens of kilometers collapsed as if there was an earthquake.

As the duo was locked in their intense battle with many eyes watching, the dog-headed monster next to Grandmistress Wei moved all of a sudden.

Its four lower limbs charged and appeared before Lin Huang without any warning.

As the giant dog-headed monster opened its mouth filled with fangs to chomp Lin Huang's head off, it noticed a little white cat sitting on his shoulder.

The little cat showed human-like disdain at the dog-headed monster, stunning it. The cat gripped its claws on the dog-headed monster's head.

In the next second, the dog-headed monster sailed out like a cannonball and crashed hard into a mountain far away.

Grandmistress Wei was clearly flabbergasted to see that.

"That cat… It's also a mythical-level monster?!"

"How exactly does he do that? How does he manage to master two quadruple mutated mythical-level monsters?!"

Grandmistress Wei glanced at the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the Ninetails Lynx. She then looked at the couple of God Figurine's Combat Souls. A ridiculous thought crossed her mind. 'Can the remaining seven mythical-level monsters be on mythical-level too?'

However, the thought only flashed through her mind and she soon shook it off.

"These two mythical-level monsters must just be a coincidence. It's impossible for all the remaining seven of them to be on mythical-level!"

Grandmistress Wei turned her head and said to the five perfect-stage demigod-levels through voice transmission, "I'll get a puppet to hold that cat down later. You guys find the opportunity to attack Lin Huang."

The dog-headed monster soon climbed out of the mountain it crashed into. It looked terrible. It was already hideous enough, but it now had a couple more deep lacerations that showed its bones on its face. The attack almost ruined half of its face.

If not for its Virtual God rank-3 body, the Ninetails Lynx's slap earlier would have crushed its head into pieces.

The Ninetails Lynx was talented at space slicing. Even though its current attack contained no Rule Bending Power, it was destructive enough for a Virtual God.

However, the dog-headed monster that had been turned into a puppet was fearless. Its body was just an empty shell which Grandmistress Wei was controlling.

Grandmistress Wei did not react much upon seeing the dog-headed monster's devastating stage. She controlled the dog-headed monster to charge toward Lin Huang again right away.

However, its target was not Lin Huang this time, but the Ninetails Lynx.

Challenged, the Ninetails Lynx hopped off Lin Huang's shoulder. Just when it was ready to fight with the dog-headed monster, it chickened out at the last minute and ran away. The Ninetails Lynx did not think twice and chased it.

As the Ninetails Lynx was carried away, the five perfect-stage demigod-levels had no qualms about attacking Lin Huang like madmen.

The fastest one was still the middle-aged sword cultivator.

The thin sword in his hand appeared before Lin Huang almost in the blink of an eye. It penetrated between Lin Huang's brows without any obstruction since he was unprepared.

However, his body broke like glass in the next second. A lady in a white dress smiled at the middle-aged man and released a puff of breath from her mouth.

The breath turned into white fog, covering the middle-aged sword cultivator entirely.

Within the white fog, the middle-aged sword cultivator's devastating and terrified shriek resounded.

The white fog spread out slowly. Everything it passed froze into white frost, including the air.

The devastating and terrifying shriek coming from the middle-aged sword cultivator drowned in the white fog only lasted less than the span of three breaths. It stopped entirely and the air turned dead silent.

The four demigods who were lagging behind had their guards up when the white fog drowned the middle-aged sword cultivator. Their hearts sank when they heard his devastating shriek that came later on.

The four stopped charging forward and attempted to step back.

However, it was too late for the ponytailed saber cultivator. He charged even faster than before, trying to attack before the middle-aged sword cultivator could since he had been one step behind earlier.

Although he rushed with all of his might to prove himself before the master of the clan, he was still slower than the middle-aged sword cultivator.

In the next second, the middle-aged sword cultivator drowned in the white fog, and he went into the white fog too.

Before the middle-aged sword cultivator's devastating shriek was cut off entirely, the man with the ponytail shrieked even more devastatingly.

Among the remaining three demigods, the female spear cultivator in silver armor looked gravely pale. She would have been covered in the white fog if she inched two meters forward, so she was fortunate to be stopping in time.

However, before she managed to step back, the white fog spread toward her.

Her pupils shrunk all of a sudden while she lifted her spear up without hesitation. She activated her Divine Power and shot out at the white fog, trying to scatter it.

The white fog retreated a little when the silver glow rushed out of the tip of the spear. However, the silver glow was soon engulfed. The silky white fog was flowing toward the spear from the tip.

White frost spread from the tip of the spear at a terrifying speed that could be seen with the naked eye. It reached to the silver-armored lady's arm in a flash.

At that very moment, the silver-armored lady felt a death threat. Determination flashed through her eyes as she turned her left hand into a saber and severed her right arm that was holding the spear. She channeled energy into both of her feet and stepped back quickly without thinking twice.

The white fog was coming after her like maggots eating a dead body.

She looked despair as she watched the white fog that was touching her ankle.

At that moment, the old man with the long staff swung it like a whip. The whip filled with Divine Power aimed at the white fog.

The speed of the white fog that had accelerated halted. The other old man picked the silver-armored lady up by her remaining left hand with his big, calloused hand. He then tossed him to the other side of the white fog.

The silver-armored lady was finally saved during the most critical time. She looked at the two old men who helped her with immense gratitude.

The white fog stopped expanding. It seemed to know it would not be able to chase her. Instead, it retreated slowly back into the body of the lady in the white dress.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged sword cultivator and saber cultivator with the ponytail, who drowned in the white fog, had turned into two crystal-clear ice sculptures. They were dead.

The remaining three demigods had fear written all over their faces as they looked at the lady in the white dress.

She looked very beautiful but her abilities were gravely terrifying.

The blow alone killed two out of the five perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouses while one was severely injured. The combat power of the team dropped by half.

"Another mythical-level monster!" Even Grandmistress Wei looked aghast now. Never had she thought that Lin Huang would have a third mythical-level imperial monster.

The one who attacked was a lady in a white dress. It was not Wu Mo. Instead, she was the Moon Fairy whom Lin Huang visualized from the Mysterious Frostwoman's God Figurine back then. She was also called the Enchanted Fairy who mastered the Ice Rule.

The Enchanted Fairy was a formidable fairy whose ability was just as strong as the Divine Sun Tree.

The white fog that could almost freeze air was the Moon Frost that she was born with. It was on the same level as the True Sun Fire in the Divine Sun Tree's body. Although there was no rule power in it at the moment, it could freeze the charging of Divine Power. One would not be able to escape from it as soon as it touched the person. Even Virtual Gods dared not touch it simply, let alone demigods.

"Don't go over anymore, the few of you. Activate your God Figurine's Combat Soul!" Grandmistress Wei said to the remaining three demigods through voice transmission directly.

"Can the God Figurine's Combat Soul fight the white fog?" asked the old man holding the staff immediately.

"Should be. That white fog has no rule power, so it shouldn't be able to break through the God Figurine's body." Grandmistress Wei was not sure herself. She had no idea what the Enchanted Fairy was, let alone the white fog.

"Let me try. Worse comes to worst, I'll just lose a God Figurine." The old sword cultivator contacted the Combat Soul in his body. A moment later, a monster with bulky muscles shot out between his brows.

It was a monster over five meters tall. It had three heads and six arms with bulky muscles all over its body. It looked gravely ferocious.

He only had a total of three God Figurines, but this one had the most powerful defense ability.

After summoning his God Figurine's Combat Soul, the old sword cultivator controlled the Combat Soul to go after Lin Huang.

"They're even using their God Figurine's Combat Soul now, so I guess they're beginning to show their trump card, huh?" Lin Huang was still calm.

He knew the difference between ordinary people refining God Figurine's Combat Souls and the Combat Soul that he refined after visualizing the True Spirit much earlier. It was the stone tablet who had told him that.

Although these demigods or Virtual Gods could activate God Figurines with Divine Power due to the absence of Divine Fire in their body, they were restricted to controlling only two types of God Figurines.

One of them would insert their consciousness into the God Figurine in order to control it to fight. Another would integrate the Combat Soul in their bodies into the God Figurine. However, due to compatibility issues, using even 30% of the God Figurine's combat strength was commendable. It was far from using it as a puppet directly.

Moreover, their God Figurine was restricted by their own combat strength. Since they had demigod-level combat strength, their God Figurine would only have demigod-level combat strength. If the person was a Virtual God, the God Figurine would only have virtual god-level combat strength. Unlike Lin Huang's God Figurine's Combat Souls, they could easily surpass his combat strength.

Most importantly, using a God Figurine drained a massive amount of Divine Power. A normal perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouse could only last no more than half an hour to activate a God Figurine with Divine Power. That was just the draining of Divine Power to activate the God Figurine alone. If they were to charge a powerful skill, the draining of Divine Power would multiply while the period during which the God Figurine would last would be gravely shortened.

In comparison, Lin Huang refined the God Figurines with Divine Fire completely and obtained perfect control over them instead of simply activating them. Moreover, the True Spirit that he visualized was perfectly compatible with his God Figurines. It was equivalent to giving the God Figurine's Combat Soul a complete consciousness of their own.

That was the reason why everyone thought those were Lin Huang's imperial monsters when they saw those God Figurine's Combat Souls. They did not think those were God Figurine's Combat Souls because they looked like individuals with their own minds, which gave one the feeling that they were more like imperial monsters. Moreover, Lin Huang's combat strength was only on immortal-level, so nobody thought he could activate God Figurines.

The naked three-headed monster appeared before Lin Huang in a heartbeat.

The Enchanted Fairy seemed to realize her frost could do nothing to a God Figurine's Combat Soul with a true god-level body, so she did not fight this time.

The rest of the God Figurine's Combat Souls also did nothing. However, the little black snake wound around Lin Huang's right arm lifted its head all of a sudden. Golden glows shot out of its eyes.

In the next second, black shackles flew out of the three-headed monster's body as if the shackles were alive. It was tied up like a dumpling in the blink of an eye. The God Figurine then fell onto the ground as if it had fallen asleep.

The little snake that was wound around Lin Huang's right arm was naturally his God Figurine's Combat Soul, the Shackle Serpent.

He visualized it from a True Spirit with sealing ability, the Hair Demon's God Figurine back then.

Legend had it that the Medusa Tribe among the Protosses which possessed sealing ability obtained the ability from a Shackle Serpent.

The Shackle Serpent on Lin Huang's arm was just a baby whereby its body could only loop a little more than one round of his arm.

Under normal circumstances, an imperial-level purple gold-rank Shackle Serpent possessed no ability to seal demigods or Virtual Gods. After all, demigods and Virtual Gods had Divine Power in their bodies.

However, it was a different case for a God Figurine's Combat Soul. A God Figurine's Combat Soul that was activated by demigods or Virtual Gods could only be counted as a puppet.

The Shackle Serpent's sealing could forcefully block the interaction between the God Figurine and its master whereby the energy supply for the God Figurine's Combat Soul would be cut off.

That was how the bizarre event happened.

The three-headed God Figurine that was being tied up lost contact with the old cultivator for a moment. It slumped onto the ground since the energy supply was cut off.

Far away, the old sword cultivator looked lost. He was suspecting if his God Figurine had obtained some new skill when he saw shackles growing on the three-headed monster's body. He only realized that it was attacked when it fell onto the ground. His effort was to no avail no matter how he tried contacting it. The connection he had with the God Figurine seemed to be cut off completely by the shackles that had grown on its body.

The rest of them, including Grandmistress Wei, was stunned to see that. She looked at Lin Huang with a terrified expression now.

'That's already the fourth mythical-level imperial monster he possesses! It seems like all of Lin Huang's nine imperial monsters are on mythical-level and they possess abilities that are on par with virtual god-level!' The few demigods were petrified as they thought to themselves.

'You're already so overbearing when you're only on immortal-level. How much more overbearing will you be when you elevate to Virtual God in the future?!'

The old sword cultivator was tempted to curse as he watched Lin Huang putting his three-headed God Figurine away in his own storage space while grinning.

"Don't use your God Figurine's Combat Soul. The snake on his arm has sealing ability! I can't even recall my God Figurine now," the old sword cultivator reminded the rest of them while looking grim.

'How are we supposed to fight him now?!'

The few demigods felt troubled. They would probably be frozen by that imperial monster in white if they were to fight by themselves. They could not use their God Figurine's Combat Soul either since it would be sealed by Lin Huang directly and he would even claim ownership to it.

Grandmistress Wei felt horrible. Her two puppets were completely suppressed by her opponent's two imperial monsters.

Her all-out effort and her few underlings fighting at full force not only did nothing to Lin Huang, but two of her underlings had died while one was severely injured.

Just when she was thinking of what to do next, the Ninetails Lynx slapped the dog-headed puppet that it was fighting towards Lin Huang.

The Shackle Serpent's eyes lit up once again while black shackles began to grow on the dog-headed puppet too. It was wrapped like a dumpling in the next second and it fell immediately.

Before the Destructive Divine Mammoth could react to it, the Ninetails Lynx appeared above his head and slapped the the Temple Squire's face hard.

The Temple Squire, whose body was over three meters tall, flew out like a spiral and landed less than 20 meters from Lin Huang with a crash.

Before he could get up, the golden glow in the Shackle Serpent's eyes lit up again and the Temple Squire was wrapped like a dumpling. He fell onto the ground and stopped moving.

"What's the deal with the Ninetails Lynx slapping others' faces?" Lin Huang glanced at the Ninetails Lynx and mumbled softly.

He then looked at the two puppets before him in satisfaction. As he picked them up with his Divine Telekinesis in an attempt to put them away in his storage space, he heard a ferocious scream coming from Grandmistress Wei.

"Lin Huang, don't you dare! They're my collection!"

Lin Huang raised his brow and put them away in his Emperor's Heart Ring without hesitation. "Well, they're mine now."

"Lin Huang, I'm warning you. Nobody can simply take my things away from me." Grandmistress Wei's face turned ferocious.

"Try me. Why don't you summon some more puppets and I'll show you whether I can take your things away from you?" Lin Huang snickered in a teasing manner.

"If that's what you want, I'll grant your wish. Let's see how many times that imperial monster of yours can perform the sealing ability in a day!"

Grandmistress Wei shook her sleeve after she was done speaking. Monster puppets of all forms crowded the place. There were thousands of them and most of them had a combat strength of imperial-level and there were over 20 demigods.

Anyone would have a dramatic change of expression when they saw such a formidable monster army.

However, Lin Huang remained calm.

"An army? That's rather few of them," Lin Huang mumbled to himself softly.

He had armies too but the Undead Styx's 100,000-strong army alone was tens of folds more than Grandmistress Wei's army, let alone if he compared it with Bloody and the Warlord's armies.

"Your arrogant bastard!" Naturally, Grandmistress Wei heard his comment and glared coldly at him.

At the same time, she secretly spoke to the three demigods and the housekeeper next to her through voice transmission, "Find the opportunity to kill Lin Huang when things get messy later! Leave the rest to me."

As she was done speaking, Grandmistress Wei then controlled the puppet army to advance toward Lin Huang.

Just when Wu Mo was going to involve herself in the battle, Lin Huang stopped her by stretching out his arm.

"Sister Mo Mo, just watch."

An inconspicuous blue butterfly on Lin Huang's collar flapped its wings all of a sudden when he was done speaking.

In the next second, a black wave spread out like a ripple.

All the puppets stopped moving wherever the wave passed by. Besides those imperial-level puppets, even those 20-odd demigod-level puppets stood still abruptly.

No, it was not only the puppets, but Grandmistress Wei, the housekeeper, and the remaining three demigods stopped moving too.

In the next second, Grandmistress Wei and the housekeeper spat a mouthful of blood out. They looked petrified at the blue butterfly on Lin Huang's collar.

Meanwhile, the thousands of puppets and the three demigods turned into dust as if their bodies had turned into sand. The wind blew, taking the dust far away as if they never existed.

"That's death spirit energy from the spirit realm… Who exactly are you?!" Grandmistress Wei had fear written on her face as she looked at Lin Huang again.

Even Lin Huang was a little shocked to see that himself. Initially, he thought it should be easy for the Death Butterfly to handle those imperial-level puppets while he might need to get the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the rest to kill the remaining demigods. Never had he thought that a single flap of the Death Butterfly's wings alone would have killed the demigods altogether.

"Didn't you say that the Death Butterfly isn't good in battle?" Lin Huang could not help but ask the stone tablet.

"I was just relatively speaking when I said it's not good in battle. All monsters that master the Death Rule are compelling. Compared to True Spirits such as the Black-robed Death God and the Golden Skeleton, the Death Butterfly's combat ability indeed considered weak," the stone tablet explained.

"Alright then."

Lin Huang visualized the Death Butterfly from the Coffin Carrier's God Figurine which was an Abyssal Protoss. Since there were quite a number of True Spirits that mastered the Death Rule, Lin Huang was having a hard time choosing which to visualize.

Eventually, he chose the Death Butterfly which combat ability was relatively weak because it guarded the Yin Yang Gate. It could travel between the material realm and the spirit realm when it reached true god-level.

Lin Huang did not know much about the spirit realm. He only knew that it should be the place spirits went to after they died.

Naturally, he had no idea what the death spirit energy Grandmistress Wei was talking about was at all. He could not help but ask the stone tablet when he heard Grandmistress Wei mention it, "What exactly is that death spirit energy she was talking about?"

"The death spirit energy is actually a special spiritual energy only possessed by spirits in the spirit realm. The unique fact about the death spirit energy is that not only does it possess a spiritual attack attribute, but it also contains a death attribute. Most of the living things will be dead as soon as they touch it. The reason how the two Virtual Gods survived is that they've Godheads protecting them inside their bodies. Moreover, this Death Butterfly of yours has a low combat strength. The death spirit energy it can use is on a low level."

"This lady knows about the existence of death spirit energy and the spirit realm. She must know many things about the great world too," the stone tablet reminded.

"It proves that she's in contact with the great world." Lin Huang nodded, but doubts rose within him at the same time.

'According to the information we got earlier, God Bless's Master God should've been born in this gravel world and he should be in this world at the moment. Why are they still in contact with the great world then? Could it be that Master God is just like me, a member from some organization from the great world?'

Lin Huang looked at Grandmistress Wei while smiling as the thought flashed in his mind. "You know quite a lot. You even know about the spirit realm?"

"Who exactly are you?! It's impossible for this gravel world has so many quadruple mutated mythical-level monsters. Even if there are, they wouldn't be captured by you so easily." Grandmistress Wei looked at Lin Huang grimly.

"Didn't you collect every piece of information about me? I'm just a normal person from Division 7," Lin Huang said while smiling, "Well, about the imperial monsters, I just got lucky. Is it so hard to believe?"

"Even a dummy won't believe what you said. I think you're more like an old devil from the great world who took over Lin Huang's body," Grandmistress Wei expressed what she felt.

Lin Huang raised his brow when he heard that. He was surprised that Grandmistress Wei could have guessed something right about him.

It was just that he was not some old devil, but a little guy with conduit.

"I'm quite curious about the Master God you guys are talking about. Which organization is he from in the great world exactly?"

"Why would I tell you such a secret?"

"You don't even dare to reveal the organization name. It seems like it's just an insignificant organization." Lin Huang showed disdain on his face. "Look at our Dynasty, we tell everyone that Royal is behind us. Even the Purple Crow dares to reveal that the Hundred-eyed Dark Crow Tribe is behind them. However, you don't even dare to mention the organization that's behind you guys. It only proves that the organization is an unrated organization."

"I think you guys can consider to join me. I'll be in Dynasty which is Royal's affiliate organization. Leave your so-called Master God behind. What I can give you guys is so much more than what he can offer!"

"Lin Huang, you don't understand how powerful the Master God is!" Grandmistress Wei remained firm. "Stop wasting your efforts. I'll definitely kill you today!"

Grandmistress Wei's hair began floating as soon as she was done speaking. The aura she had been hiding finally revealed itself. It was Virtual God rank-3 as suspected!

Naturally, she did not break through to this combat strength herself. Instead, she had gotten it from integrating with a Godhead.

However, it proved that this lady was compelled to be able to integrate Virtual God rank-3 Godhead successfully.

The housekeeper next to Grandmistress Wei revealed his aura too. He was on Virtual God rank-2.

Clearly, he had gotten the combat strength from integrating Godhead too.

'One Virtual God rank-2 and one Virtual God rank-3. I guess the coming battle won't be as easy as before…'

A surprising turn-of-events happened on the battlefield just when that thought popped into Lin Huang's mind.

The housekeeper in the suit attacked Grandmistress Wei.

The narrow blade in his hand pierced through Grandmistress Wei's back directly while the tip of the blade pierced through her chest.

However, Grandmistress Wei seemed to have sensed the attack coming in the moment of the attack She managed to dodge the attack from her heart, whereby the housekeeper's narrow blade was over an inch toward the right.

As the sneak attack took place, the housekeeper pulled the blade out and stepped back immediately.

"Grandmistress Wei turned around in rage and questioned him fiercely, "How could you betray me just to save your own life?!"

"You misunderstood. I didn't attack you to save my life. I've never been loyal to you and the Wei Clan, so I'm not betraying anyone here." The housekeeper removed the hat on his head while his suit turned into a military uniform gradually. He bowed to Lin Huang from a distance. "Your humble one is Guan Zhong, the Union Government's Agency EA member. Code name: Housekeeper."

"I hope that Master Emperor will work with the Union Government to capture the Wei Clan master whether it's capturing her alive or dead! Of course, it's best if we can capture her alive. We need information about God Bless from this lady's mouth."

"How do I verify your identity? With this uniform that I'm not sure is even legit?" Lin Huang raised a brow. In reality, he knew that the person's identity was mostly true. It was just that he was unhappy by the fact that the Union Government did nothing to the Wei Clan all this time. He could not help but suspect the person's identity.

"You're welcome to verify my identity after we're done with the Wei Clan," Guan Zhong said, showing neither inferiority nor superiority.

Lin Huang initially had two virtual god-level opponents and now he was only left with one. Not only that, he had gotten himself an assistant now. To him, the situation became more optimistic now.

"Madam Wei, it's best that you surrender. You'll be at a loss if we really fight," Guan Zhong advised her.

"You bastard, you've been plotting against me!" Grandmistress Wei was getting more enraged after hearing his advice.

Lin Huang did not even plan to give her the chance to surrender. He got the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth to attack right away.

The Ninetails Lynx appeared above Grandmistress Wei's head as it moved. It slapped Grandmistress Wei's face.

If the attack happened, Grandmistress Wei's entire face might be disfigured.

Meanwhile, the Destructive Divine Mammoth followed closely behind. He swung his trunk like a whip, so it swept towards Grandmistress Wei who was extremely pale. Although she dodged her vitals from being annihilated by Guan Zhong's attack earlier, her body was severely hurt by the god relic. The most she could perform was only 50% of her ability.

Not only that, but she was attacked by two monsters whose ability was nothing weaker than hers. She was also targeted by Guan Zhong like a hiding poisonous snake who would attack her anytime as well as seven terrifying imperial monsters that were just waiting to attack.

Grandmistress Wei felt she had no chance of winning at all.

Guan Zhong attacked again after seeing Grandmistress Wei dodge the two imperial monsters' attacks clumsily.

He appeared next to her without warning, and the narrow blade added an injury to her left arm.

A ferocious gleam flashed through her eyes upon seeing that she had no chance of even grasping for air as the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth were coming at her again. 'You guys made me do this!'

A crystal appeared between her fingers on her right hand as the thought flashed by. She crushed the crystal in her hand as she watched the Ninetails Lynx coming.

"Save me, Master God!"

A black vortex formed rapidly in the air as the Grandmistress screamed.

Lin Huang's expression was grim now as he could feel a gravely terrifying aura lingering in the entire canyon. Before the person within the vortex appeared, he clearly sensed that the person's aura was scarier than all the powerhouses that he had ever encountered in his life.

He secretly contacted the Warlord who was in the Star Titan airship. In the next second, the thousand of cannons on the Star Titan shifted their direction and pointed to where the vortex was.

A hand stretched out of the pitch-black vortex slowly. It looked as fair as snow but it was obviously a man's hand.

He pressed his palm to the edge of the vortex as if he was pushing something solid. He then stretched half of his body out of the vortex.

At that second, above the canyon, the Star Titan began firing.

The thousand naval cannons of all sizes fired almost at the same time. They targeted the man who was coming out of the vortex.

One must know that the naval cannons were charged with Divine Power. The one with the lowest power was comparable with a God Crasher from the gravel world while the powerful one could kill Virtual Gods.

The man who had extended half of his body out of the vortex drowned in the golden cannon fire together with the vortex in the next second.

Divine Power spread through all directions as the fire went on.

The entire canyon looked like Doomsday was coming. The ground was shaking violently under the fire as if it were fearful of the Star Titan's compelling power.

Within hundreds of kilometers around the canyon, the rivers evaporated while the mountains collapsed, turning into dust.

Grandmistress Wei, who was closest to the attack zone, stepped back immediately. At the same time, she released her Divine Power to fight the impact of the Divine Power.

Meanwhile, the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth that was chasing her were not that affected. Instead, they seized the impact of the Divine Power to go after Grandmistress Wei who had lost a portion of her strength to run.

On the other side, the Wei Clan's ancient castle which was a demigod relic was trembling from the impact. It looked like an ordinary house that was at the mercy of an earthquake at that moment.

On Lin Huang's side, naturally, the seven God Figurine's Combat Souls were all fine. After all, they possessed true god-level bodies. They would not be harmed even if they were attacked by the Star Titan head-on, let alone the impact.

Lin Huang was covered in a transparent sphere Wu Mo made with Witchcraft Rune. He defended the impact easily.

While for Wu Mo, Lin Huang did not even see her making the defense sphere for him. the impact of the Divine Power disappeared automatically when it arrived approximately 20 meters from her. She was not affected at all.

Wu Mo noticed Lin Huang looking at her curiously so she explained while smiling, "This bruised corpse isn't too shabby, its combat strength was already Virtual God rank-6 when it was alive. It's just that its consciousness was disconnected by force when it was decomposing and taken over by Wei Shan later on. Its combat strength dropped to only Virtual God rank-2 or Virtual God rank-3. Since Wei Shan has low ability, he couldn't showcase the best the bruised corpse has. That's why he was killed by your God Figurine's Combat Soul."

"I refined it with Wu Tribe's corpse refining technique when I got this body and enhanced it to Virtual God rank-9. I've also imprinted a lof of runes to make this body slightly more usable."

Lin Huang went speechless right after he heard that.

She enhanced the body to Virtual God rank-9 and even imprinted a lot of Witchcraft Runes on it?!

Would it not mean that this body was even more powerful than Virtual God rank-9 now?!

"Witchcraft Runes can be imprinted on the body too?" Lin Huang was shocked and could not help asking subsequently.

"Only a minority of them can be imprinted on living things," Wu Mo nodded and explained further, "But this corpse is already a puppet. It's equivalent to a tool, and basically all tools can be imprinted. It's just that we have to be careful with the type of runes to use to prevent the puppet from collapsing which happens easily."

"Refining corpse puppets is also one of our Wu Tribe's combat techniques. However, people use it less as time goes by because it's unethical. Imprinting runes on puppets is just a part of refining corpse puppet. Our Wu Tribe has come out with a complete system of which rune suitable for which type of corpse puppet. I can teach you if you'd like to learn when we get back."

"Sure," Lin Huang was already visualizing refining a Sword Dao corpse puppet for himself after hearing what Wu Mo said.

At the moment, his ability had been restricted due to his combat strength. If he could master a virtual god-level Sword Dao corpse puppet, he might be able to fight virtual god-level powerhouses.

As they were chatting, a tremor of aura came all the sudden from the vortex that was covered in smoke.

Lin Huang and Wu Mo both turned their heads towards the vortex.

The aura of the young who man walked out of the vortex was rising rapidly. He was clearly even more terrifying than before.

Lin Huang who was initially a little grim when he sensed the aura became a little playful as he looked at the vortex now recalling what Wu Mo said.

"You guys are asking for death…" a raging sound came within the smoke.

However, just when he said the word 'death', up to 1,000 golden bolts of lightning exploded again before he could finish the word. The man's voice halted all of a sudden.

"Bang…"

As the gold glows came, intense bangs as if tens of thousands of thunders exploded at the same time spread out.

It was the Star Titan that was above the canyon began firing again.

Lin Huang gave the Warlord a secret thumbs up, 'Hmm, I'll give him some metal materials as his snacks when we get back.'

On the other side, Grandmistress Wei was affected by the Star Titan's attack Divine Power impact and ran even slower now.

Her hair was so messy like she was a crazy person, her clothes were messy too. She had wounds all over her body. She even recalled the god relic armor back to her body, she only dared to use demigod relic armor to defend the two God Figurine's Combat Souls' attack. The reason being she was worried that she would drain too much Divine Power which would cause her to die even faster.

In reality, the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth were not playing with their opponent. Grandmistress Wei's ability was indeed great whereby she managed to survive while the duo chased after her until now.

However, there was not much Divine Power left in her body when the second wave of Divine Power impact came. She still had two monsters whose ability was more powerful than hers coming behind her.

Knowing that there was no way that she could escape, a ferocious gleam flashed in her eyes as she turned her head to look at the smoky area where the Star Titan had attacked earlier. She put on the god relic armor and shifted her direction, heading toward the middle of the attack zone quickly.

"Save me, Master God!" Grandmistress Wei shouted while heading towards the attack zone. She then went into the smoke.

Lin Huang did not bother stopping the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth from going after her.

He knew that his God Figurine's Combat Souls would be fine even if they could not defeat their enemy since they had true god-level bodies.

However, Guan Zhong did not go after her. Instead, he stepped back and stood next to Lin Huang.

Just when the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth went into the smoky area, two chimes rang from within the smoke. Subsequently, a white and a black silhouette shot out. They were hurtling toward the direction where Lin Huang and the rest were tens of times faster than the speed of sound.

Next to Lin Huang, Wu Mo lifted her arm lightly. As if the two silhouettes had fallen into a swamp, they slowed down immediately. They managed to stop when they arrived approximately a meter before Lin Huang and the rest, landing on the ground slowly.

The two silhouettes were the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth.

The Destructive Divine Mammoth seemed to feel a little dizzy, and it sagged onto the ground as soon as it landed.

Meanwhile, the Ninetails Lynx appeared on Lin Huang's shoulder in a flash, appearing exhausted too.

"Are you guys alright?" Lin Huang asked while feeling shocked.

"They're fine. It was just a little tremor," Wu Mo smiled while saying.

At that moment, a voice conveyed from within the smoke, "I never thought there'd be high-level Virtual Gods in this gravel world. No wonder you dare to provoke us, God Bless!"

A man walked out of the smoke slowly. In his left hand was Grandmistress Wei who was some kind of coma as if he was holding a chick. He then tossed her onto the ground carelessly.

The man who stepped out of the smoke had sustained no wounds on his body at all. Clearly, the Star Titan's power was not threatening in the least to him, which only proved how powerful he was.

The Warlord, who was in the Star Titan, seemed to have noticed this, so he stopped firing. Instead, he contacted Lin Huang secretly to ask if he should proceed with the attack.

Lin Huang told the Warlord to stop the assault. Since he already knew the attack could not do anything to the man, it was not necessary to waste the Divine Stones.

Seeing that the airship above his head had stopped firing, the man scoffed and looked at the two people across him.

A Virtual God rank-9, an immortal-level, and nine God Figurine's Combat Souls?!

The man glanced past the duo across him. He stopped when he saw Lin Huang and soon found out this immortal-level young man was one of the leaders of this battle.

'He's controlling God Figurine's Combat Souls to fight a Virtual God rank-3 powerhouse. This guy is really something. It's unfortunate that his combat strength is too low which limits his ability.'

He did not care much about the nine God Figurine's Combat Souls and skipped his eyes over them. Instead, he had his eyes on Wu Mo.

He realized something after some careful observation. 'I was wondering where this Virtual God rank-9 came from. Nevertheless, she's nothing but a vase. A soul remnant that's using a Virtual God rank-9 monster's body as a host.'

As the man was observing Lin Huang and Wu Mo, they were scrutinizing him as well.

Lin Huang finally saw how this man looked like then.

He had golden armor all over his body and was approximately 1.9 meters tall. His body was the kind that would look skinny in clothes and his muscles were lean instead of bulky. It was the kind of body that most girls appreciated.

His hair was slightly shorter than Lin Huang's, but his face was the most attractive part of him.

His face was drop dead gorgeous. It was not the feminine kind of beautiful, but a pretty boy sort of beautiful. His face was one that could get attention from the opposite sex easily.

If a picture of his face and body was posted on a dating app on Earth, he probably had up to 1,000 girls talking to him in every city he went.

Even Lin Huang was a little envious the moment he saw his face. "I'm sure he can get as many ladies as he wants with that face!"

However, Wu Mo, who was standing next to Lin Huang, asked while thinking otherwise, "Is he handsome?"

"Don't you think he's handsome?" Lin Huang was surprised by Wu Mo's judgment of beauty.

"He's as skinny as a bean sprout. You're more handsome," Wu Mo commented out loud instead of using voice transmission. However, she added through voice transmission next, "Our Wu Tribe men have muscular bodies just like this corpse that I'm using at the moment. To us, this is 10,000 times better-looking than that guy."

Lin Huang finally understood why Wu Mo wanted the bruised corpse to be her shell after hearing that.

He thought to himself, 'Did this girl do anything to this bruised corpse secretly?' He looked peculiar when he looked at Wu Mo as he thought about this.

The man looked disgusted upon noticing the duo ignore him completely and even discuss his features out loud. Most importantly, the lady had announced that he was not handsome.

As the Master God of God Bless, he had never been treated so coldly before.

"So, it's the both of you who are provoking my God Bless."

"To be exact, we aren't provoking since we're already here." Lin Huang thought about it and suggested another term, "I think 'challenging' is more accurate.'

'What challenge?! Do you think this is a dojo?!' Even the Master God wanted to scream at him.

Although the man's identity was obvious since Grandmistress Wei had called out to him twice earlier, Lin Huang asked anyway, "So, you're the Master God of God Bless?"

"Yes, I'm the Master God of God Bless," the man confirmed.

"You're only on virtual god-level and you dare call yourself Master God," Lin Huang mumbled softly hearing the answer, "I've always thought the Master God of God Bless would be a True God from some organization in the great world. Alas, you're not even a True God! I guess there's nothing impressive about your background. No wonder even your God's Messenger is unwilling to reveal anything about you. It's too embarrassing."

The man was enraged to hear Lin Huang's mumbling. "This is just a clone I left behind in this gravel world. I'm a ninth-rank True God!"

"Ah, so it's just a clone." Lin Huang looked like realization dawned upon him.

"Although this is just a clone, it's enough to kill you guys!" The killing intent of the Master God's clone rose.

"I'm not sure about that," Lin Huang shook his head while saying with a smile.

"What? Do you think you're invincible because of your nine God Figurine's Combat Souls?" Naturally, the Master God's clone saw through the God Figurine's Combat Souls' secret. "If I were to kill you, these God Figurine's Combat Souls alone can't save you!"

"You can't kill him in my presence," Wu Mo, who had been standing aside, finally spoke.

"You?" Master God's clone scoffed. "I didn't have a proper look at you earlier and thought you were a high-rank Virtual God. Now that I see you up close, you're just a soul remnant living in a puppet. Your life is in my hand. Where did you get the idea that you can defend this brat?"

"Won't you find out if you fight me?" Wu Mo grinned.

"Great idea. This brat will be left with nothing after I've killed you."

A playful expression flashed through Lin Huang's eyes when he heard what the Master God said.

The two silhouettes almost disappeared at the same time when the battle invitation was extended.

A glaring golden glow lit up in the air before Lin Huang could react. The golden glow that came out of nowhere was tens of times brighter than the sun at noon.

Almost the same time when the first golden glow appeared, the second, the third, and the fourth golden glow radiated. Blinding golden glows came one after another. In less than a few seconds, there were over 100 golden glows shining in the air.

Lin Huang tried his best to look, but he could not see the duo's fight at all. Apart from the explosive golden glows that came from the collision, he saw nothing else.

Flash grenades seemed to be set off flash grenades set off in each and every corner of the entire canyon. If there were ordinary people here, they would not be able to see anything at all. All they would be able to see was the golden lights that filled their field of vision.

If not for the Star Titan covering the top of the canyon, Fengtian City that was thousands of kilometers away might have been able to witness the phenomenon clearly.

The canyon was collapsing as a result of the duo's intense battle. Almost all the mountains, trees and plants up to a 1,000-kilometer radius that was bathed in the golden light collapsed.

The canyon could no longer be called a canyon since all the mountains were now flattened. Even the crust of the earth was trembling and giant cracks could be seen. Most of the terrain collapsed deep underground, forming a massive sinkhole which seemed bottomless.

Even the gigantic the Star Titan was trembling. The Warlord even turned the airship's defense system on to prevent the airship from being damaged.

However, the Wei Clan's ancient castle that was initially rooted to the ground was not in so much luck.

After all, the ancient castle was only a demigod relic. Moreover, the entire ancient castle would soon break down without Grandmistress Wei being conscious. It collapsed completely from the impact of the Divine Power that struck again and again.

The people in the Wei Clan's ancient caste vanished as a consequence of the shining golden lights immediately. The same happened to the people in the basements. None of them survived.

The battle between the two Virtual God rank-9 powerhouses was incredibly intense. Even the high-temperature radiation caused by the collisions could hurt a demigod-level powerhouse severely, let alone the impact coming from their Divine Power.

Grandmistress Wei, who had passed out on the ground, was similar to Lin Huang whereby she had a thin, semi-transparent sphere around her. Without that shield, she might have been killed by the battle impact earlier.

Naturally, Lin Huang was watching the battle safe and sound. The defense sphere that Wu Mo had made herself allowed him and Guan Zhong to watch the battle at a close distance although Lin Huang could not see anything the duo was doing. However, beside him, Guan Zhong watched in rapture while staring at the sky. He did not want to miss a thing.

The battle between the duo was growing intense in the air. The impact of their collisions was accumulating since they had been colliding for up to a thousand times.

The Master God's clone was looking more and more serious because Wu Mo's ability was much more powerful than he expected.

The duo's fight lasted for five to six minutes. All of a sudden, Wu Mo backed off after her punch landed on the Master God's clone, creating a distance between them.

The Master God's clone hesitated for a moment. Instead of going after her, he teased her from a distance, "It's only been a couple of minutes but you can no longer take it? You're just a sliver of a soul remnant. Why must you show off?"

"You're overthinking. I'm just not used to fighting in this disguise," Wu Mo responded and she removed her disguise. She revealed the bruised corpse with bulky muscles that was over three meters tall. "The disguise earlier had a vast difference in terms of height and arm length. It's odd to fight in that disguise."

Seeing Wu Mo reveal the bruised corpse in the air, Lin Huang looked rather sympathetically at the Master God's clone. He knew Wu Mo was serious about fighting now.

The disguise earlier was terribly different from this bruised corpse, causing Wu Mo many mistakes in battle sensing ability. For instance, the bruised corpse's arm should have been able to reach the opponent, but in her previous disguise, there was a larger distance for her arm to get to the opponent. The bigger difference in the body size, the costlier the mistakes in such senses which affected her battle performance more.

Wu Mo's female disguise was almost four times different from the bruised corpse she was now using. She probably could not even use 50% of her ability in the previous disguise.

Even Lin Huang knew that, so it was only natural that the Master God's clone knew that too. He turned grim again.

Now that Wu Mo had regained her original form, she must have experienced a boost in her abilities. He had no choice but to be more careful now.

"Ah, it's liberating to use this body." Wu Mo stretched her neck to her left and right as a crisp crack rang out. She then gazed down on the Master God's clone who was across her. "We shall begin the second round if that's okay with you."

Before the Master God's clone could answer whether he agreed with that, Wu Mo stomped into the air with her bare feet and shot towards her opponent like a cannonball.

The Master God's clone's pupils shrunk all of a sudden. "That's crazy fast!"

Wu Mo's speed was more than twice as fast than before.

Knowing that he would not be able to dodge her attack, the Master God's clone could only defend the attack forcefully by crossing both arms in front of his chest.

Almost the second when he did that, Wu Mo arrived before him. She grinned at him and swung a punch which landed hard on both of his arms that acted as a defense.

The Master God's clone could only feel an invincible force coming from his arms that were wrapped in a god relic and were crushed right away. The force even penetrated his chest plate and reached his fragile chest. Not only did his ribs collapse, but even his organs experienced a tremor.

The Master God's clone sailed out like a golden comet. He slumped hard onto the ground hundreds of kilometers away.

The single punch alone was terrifying!

"I think that was too much…" Wu Mo blinked twice after seeing what her punch did. She glanced down at her own fist.

The bruised corpse that she was currently using seemed to be almost comparable with a true god-level body after the enhancement which included refinement and runes inscriptions.

That was the reason why Lin Huang did not panic at all when she was fighting the Virtual God rank-9 Master God's clone.

Lin Huang, who was watching beneath, knew what happened as soon as he saw the golden glow while Wu Mo remained standing there.

"Don't let him get away!"

"Don't worry. He won't be able to do that." Wu Mo disappeared from where she was as soon as she said that.

Lin Huang was hesitating if he should go after her to watch the battle upon seeing Wu Mo go after the Master God's clone.

However, another golden glow shot through the sky before he could make up his mind. The golden glow landed less than three kilometers from him with a crash.

Wu Mo had hurled the Master God's clone back! She appeared again almost when the golden glow landed.

Before the Master God's clone managed to get up from the ground, she stepped on his lower abdomen, causing him to fly out.

However, Wu Mo did not wait for him to land this time. Instead, she arrived before him like a twinkling star and swung a punch at his face. The Master God's clone flew toward another direction without the ability to control himself. Once again, Wu Mo appeared in front of him without waiting for him to land. She attacked his recovering chest with her elbow.

Wu Mo did not use any fancy techniques at all. Even her close combat skills left no chance for the Master God's clone to fight back at all. He was almost always in an airborne state whereby he could not even manage to stand still.

Just like that, the Master God's clone remained airborne for over ten minutes. He finally could not take it any longer and summoned a God Figurine's Combat Soul. He managed to stand still as he got the God Figurine's Combat Soul to confront Wu Mo's attack. He stared at Wu Mo while his face was drenched in blood.

Lin Huang could finally see the Master God's clone's face now. His face was completely deformed. He bet that even his birth mother would not be able to recognize him now. If that had been an ordinary person, he must have been so marred that even the wounds on the face could not recover since all the bones on his face were crushed. However, a cultivator had powerful recovery ability. They could recover if they were given ample time as long as they were still alive, let alone virtual god-level powerhouses.

Apart from his face, his whole body was injured. His chest was now sunken and both his arms and legs were distorted in an irregular way.

Seeing that his crotch was still bleeding, Lin Huang even suspected that Wu Mo had destroyed his 'third leg' too.

Lin Huang was surprised to see his appalling condition. He could not really understand how Wu Mo managed to attack his flesh directly and bypass the god relic's defenses.

Theoretically, the Master God's clone would not have been beaten up so drastically as long as he provided sufficient Divine Power to his god relic. Unfortunately, it seemed like he had fought Wu Mo without any god relic on.

Besides Lin Huang, even the Master God's clone himself also could not understand why the god relic did not defend him when Wu Mo was beating him up.

"Do you think this little guy can stop me?" Wu Mo smirked as she looked at the Abyssal Dragon Turtle's Combat Soul that was growling at her. Even though the God Figurine's Combat Soul had a body like a mini hill and was hundreds of meters along, it was just a little chap to Wu Mo.

"Maybe one of them can't do anything to you, but what about nine?" the Master God's clone replied with his hoarse voice.

He summoned the remaining eight God Figurine's Combat Souls as soon as he was done speaking.

The nine God Figurine's Combat Souls had the same combat strength as he did whereby all of them were on Virtual God rank-9. All of them were the size of mountains, the Abyssal Dragon Turtle being the smallest.

"Aren't you talented at combat skills? I'll get my God Figurine's Combat Souls to compete in that with you." The Master God's clone scoffed when he saw Wu Mo being surrounded by his God Figurine's Combat Souls.

"Sister Mo Mo…" Lin Huang wanted to get his God Figurine's Combat Souls to help. Even though they were no match for the opponent's God Figurine's Combat Souls, at least they could be obstacles to buy Wu Mo some time.

However, Wu Mo interrupted him when he spoke, "I can handle this. Just enjoy the show where you are."

To be honest, Lin Huang was worried when he saw the Master God's clone summoning nine God Figurine's Combat Souls.

After all, all the God Figurine's Combat Souls had true god-level bodies. They were the best at fighting close-combat powerhouses. The combat skill that Wu Mo was using earlier was outranked entirely.

However, upon hearing Wu Mo's reassurance that she could handle it, he recalled she was not the best at combat skill, but at Witchcraft Runes. His concern was lifted right away, and he proceeded to watch the battle in relief.

The Master God's clone was secretly jolted when he heard Lin Huang's offer to help. Although Lin Huang's God Figurine's Combat Souls had a great difference in combat strength compared to him and he was no match to him at all, Lin Huang could stall the battle. After all, Lin Huang's God Figurine's Combat Souls too had true god-level bodies. Even though they were no match for him, they could fight his God Figurine's Combat Souls head-on.

The Master God's clone was secretly relieved to hear Wu Mo asking Lin Huang not to interfere.

He did not think that Wu Mo who was expert in combat skills could get away while being surrounded by his nine God Figurine's Combat Souls. In the gravel world, the body of a God Figurine's Combat Soul could be considered invincible.

However, he had no idea that combat skills were just one of Wu Mo's extra abilities.

The nine God Figurine's Combat Souls surrounded Wu Mo in the air. The Master God's clone was watching the battle amusedly while letting his body recover outside the battle ring.

He was already visualizing his nine God Figurine's Combat Souls trampling Wu Mo's bulky body at ease.

Wu Mo did not seem nervous at all despite being surrounded by nine Virtual God rank-9 God Figurine's Combat Souls. She glanced at the Master God's clone who was outside the ring through the gap between the God Figurine's Combat Souls.

"This guy's not paying attention at such a moment, huh?" Wu Mo smirked when she saw the Master God's clone outside the zone.

The Master God's clone was only distracted for a moment. He issued his order to the nine God Figurine's Combat Souls when he snapped back to his senses.

"Kill that bulky man!"

The nine God Figurine's Combat Souls moved as soon as they heard the order.

The first to attack was a giant red-haired ape.

It was up to 1,000 meters tall and it held a giant hammer in its hand. It smashed the weapon toward Wu Mo without hesitation. The crash of the giant hammer felt like a mountain was collapsing.

The second to attack was a spotted leopard. Compared to the rest of the God Figurine's Combat Souls, it was the smallest at only approximately five meters long.

It stretched its foreclaws and mauled Wu Mo. Black cracks formed in the air.

A red sparrow was the third to attack. It had red wings and red feathers along its back. Only its crest and tail were black while its abdomen was white. It was over 300 meters long when both of its wings spread open.

It flapped its wings in the air, shooting tens of thousands of bloody feathers at Wu Mo like a hailstorm.

…

The Abyssal Dragon Turtle was the last to attack.

The Master God's clone had summoned it to block Wu Mo from chasing him earlier.

Although the Abyssal Dragon Turtle was best at defending, it had a pretty powerful attack ability too.

Black flames were rushing out of its mouth as it opened its muzzle wide. The flames were pouring out like a pitch-black waterfall.

The nine God Figurine's Combat Souls attacking at the same time was almost no different than nine Virtual God rank-9s striking at once.

The Master God's clone, who was outside the battle ring, could almost see the bulky man being smashed into mush after the nine God Figurine's Combat Souls attacked him together.

However, in the middle of the battle ring, Wu Mo was at ease.

She stretched her hand out and summoned the Book of Sorcerer Dao. She then activated a few runes one after another in the air.

The set of runes appeared together in the air rapidly. They turned into nine little thumb-sized snakes, slithering towards the nine God Figurine's Combat Souls.

It was too late for the nine God Figurine's Combat Souls to dodge them by then as the nine little black snakes penetrated their bodies easily. Almost at the same time, the nine God Figurine's Combat Souls froze.

The Master God's clone was bewildered at that moment as his nine God Figurine's Combat Souls fell onto the ground and stopped moving. He had completely lost contact with them and could not even recall them back now.

"What did you do?! Why can't I sense my God Figurine's Combat Souls any longer?!"

"Nothing much. I'm just applying what I've just learned. I used some technique to block the interaction you have with your God Figurine's Combat Souls," Wu Mo smiled while explaining. She had learned that from Lin Huang's God Figurine's Combat Soul, the Shackle Serpent.

"You've lost all of your God Figurine's Combat Souls now, so just throw everything you have at me now," Wu Mo taunted, "If not, just be a punching bag and allow me to let it all out on you. It's been a long time since I've fought anyone."

The Master God's clone looked aghast. All of his nine God Figurine's Combat Souls which were his trump cards had just been beaten, and he could no longer use them.

An idea flashed through his mind after some complicated expressions flitted across his face.

"Come into my God Territory if you dare!" A black vortex formed out of thin air as he roared. The Master God's clone walked into it and provoked Wu Mo by asking her to come with his finger.

"Sister Mo Mo…"

Lin Huang attempted to advise Wu Mo to not go. After all, every Virtual God had a different God Territory ability. Entering another person's God Territory was highly risky.

Although Wu Mo's overall ability was much more powerful than the Master God's clone, it was a different story once she entered his God Territory. Some people had very odd God Territories.

However, Wu Mo turned her head and smiled at him. She then spoke to him through voice transmission, "Don't worry. I've encountered all kinds of opponents on the battlefield back then. I might not have entered others' God Territories 50 times, but I've gotten in at least 20 to 30 times. I know how to handle this."

Wu Mo went into the vortex in a flash as soon as she was done speaking. The vortex disappeared slowly, taking the duo along with it.

Lin Huang frowned upon seeing them vanish. He did not know much about God Territories. He had only heard about it from the stone tablet.

A God Territory was a product of a Life Palace. It had Godhead as its core, which was why it usually inherited the Life Palace's abilities.

Nonetheless, the God Territory's abilities could be enhanced and used in every part of the entire God Territory.

A God Territory was very effective on an opponent who had a slightly weaker ability.

The weaker one's ability was, the easier the person would be taken into the God Territory by force.

Especially when the opponent had a much weaker ability, one could open his God Territory and drag the opponent into it.

However, when both of them had the same combat strength, dragging the opponent into one's God Territory had a high failure rate. The more powerful the opponent's ability was, the more difficult it would be for the opponent to be taken into one's God Territory.

The Master God's clone had provoked Wu Mo into his God Territory to fight him because the failure rate of taking her in by force was very high.

"I wonder what is the ability of the Master God's clone's God Territory exactly?" Lin Huang felt slightly insecure that he could not watch the battle although he could not see Wu Mo and the Master God's clone's fight earlier at all either.

Meanwhile, in the Master God's God Territory, Wu Mo and the Master God's clone had begun fighting again.

The God Territory of the Master God's clone was a chilly snowfield.

Wu Mo felt a little lost when she saw the snowy land. She thought she returned to her Wu Tribe's floating land. However, she snapped back to her senses a moment later and looked confusedly at the Master God's clone.

When they were fighting out there earlier, the Master God's clone did not show any frost attribute abilities at all. However, his God Territory manifested such a scene, which proved that he definitely had a frost attribute Godhead.

The only explanation for him to not use frost attribute Godhead when he was fighting out there was that he did not refine this Godhead himself and it was not entirely compatible with him. Since it would not be effective when used in common battles, he put it aside entirely.

However, it was a different story in this God Territory.

The God Territory was equivalent to an independent mini world while the Master God's clone was the ruler of that world.

Even though he had low compatibility with the Godhead, he could perform almost 100% of the Godhead's ability.

'This guy didn't refine his own Godhead?' More doubts rose within Wu Mo.

Seeing that Wu Mo looked skeptical, the Master God's clone thought she was shocked by his Godhead's attribute and began teasing proudly, "I haven't been using the frost attribute ability out there because I've got low computability with it. However, that issue doesn't exist in this God Territory. This place will be your burial ground."

"I'm very curious. How did you manage to integrate a Virtual God rank-9 Godhead? Theoretically, Godheads above Virtual God rank-3 should have an integration success rate so low that it's beyond the imagination." Wu Mo ignored what he said and expressed her biggest doubt.

"This body is already on Virtual God rank-9, but there weren't any Godheads in it. I happened to find a frost attribute Virtual God rank-9 Godhead, so I used the Ice Rule to suppress the frost attribute ability in it for integration. Without the ability going haywire, it was much easier to integrate."

"Unfortunately, my body has low computability with this Godhead and I couldn't find any materials to boost the compatibility in this gravel world. I just had to deal with it," the Master God's clone told her right away since he did not think it was a secret.

"So, you've been in this gravel world before?!" Wu Mo thought it was rather unbelievable. She was merely a sliver of soul remnant now and she could faintly sense the gravel world's rejection. The difficulty of a ninth-rank True God coming to this gravel world should be no less than a person cultivating to attain Virtual God rank-9. Even if one were to travel via a normal dimensional gateway, one would feel the rejection from the world at all times. Furthermore, the rejection would build day by day.

"I came from this gravel wor-…" the Master God's clone realized he had revealed too much information when he was speaking halfway. "Our little chat will end here."

Although he did not finish what he was saying, Wu Mo guessed what he was going to say. She even wanted to ask if his body was left behind in this gravel world but the Master God's clone refused to talk further.

"Following me into my God Territory will be the biggest mistake you've ever made in your life."

The Master God's clone waved his hand after saying that to Wu Mo from far away. Chilly wind and snow swept toward Wu Mo.

The whistling chilly wind sounded like a lion's roar. Even the air turned into frost wherever it passed. The entire God Territory's temperature seemed to have dropped tens of degrees Celsius.

The low temperature the Master God's clone performed was even lower than the Moon Frost Lin Huang's God Figurine's Combat Soul, the Enchanted Fairy, had used to freeze the demigods earlier.

The sweeping chilly wind would not only turn demigods into frost immediately, but it might even freeze high-rank Virtual Gods including Virtual Gods rank-8 and rank-9.

A layer of frost began to form on Wu Mo's body as the chilly wind and snow drowned her.

It was just frost on different body parts in the beginning, but it began spreading rapidly. Toward all directions and eventually wrapped her entirely.

In less than half a minute, Wu Mo had turned into an ice sculpture.

With the snowstorm, the layer of frost covering Wu Mo was getting thicker and thicker. She was sealed within.

Sensing that Wu Mo's aura had vanished, the Master God's clone waved his right hand again. The snowstorm then faded away.

He stepped forward slowly upon seeing that Wu Mo had turned into an ice sculpture. "So what if you have powerful close-combat ability? In my God Territory, you wouldn't even have the opportunity to fight…"

Before the Master God's clone could finish talking, Wu Mo, who had turned into an ice sculpture, opened her eyes all of a sudden and grinned at the Master God's clone.

Almost at the same time, the ice that was wrapping her body exploded. A fist the size of a sandbag punched the Master God's clone, who appeared before Wu Mo, hard.

The Master God's clone flew out in a spiral.

Wu Mo then spoke to him through voice transmission, "Did you really think you froze me? I was just messing with you!"

The Master God's clone, whose head was spinning while he was airborne without having the slightest ability to control himself, was so mad that he almost spit blood when he heard that.

Wu Mo recalled the rune back beneath her skin when the Master God's clone attacked her in the beginning. It caused the layer of frost to seem like it was covering her skin, which resulted in her appearing like she was frozen.

She took the attack by force just to see what the Master God's clone could do in his God Territory. In the end, she realized she had overestimated him. Or rather, the set of runes that she had inscribed on this bruised corpse was too powerful. No matter what, she felt no chilliness penetrating the defenses of the rune at all although the frost was stuck to her skin.

"How is that possible?!"

The Master God's clone took some effort and finally managed to stand still hundreds of kilometers away. Although his face was sunken from Wu Mo's punch, the emotional damage he had experienced was more severe than the damage on his face.

"Isn't it simple?" Wu Mo appeared less than 20 meters across the Master God's clone directly. Her expression seemed like everything was pure common sense. "Don't force it when the compatibility is low!"

"Those who have sufficient compatibility and might not be able to perform 100% of their ability out there after integrating a Godhead can perform at least 80% of their ability. In their God Territory, they might be able to perform 150% to 200% or even 300% of their ability. However, in your God Territory, you can only perform at 100% by force. That's the difference.

"You think a God Territory would be the remedy for the low compatibility. However, to others, God Territory isn't merely a remedy, but a tool to perform beyond 100% of your ability."

Naturally, the Master God's clone knew that. However, he was unwilling to accept it.

He waved both hands, controlling the snow storm in his God Territory to travel toward Wu Mo's direction.

Giant snowy mountains that were thousands of meters tall slammed toward Wu Mo. A hard punch from her alone crushed the mountains into pieces.

Icicles shot out like flying daggers. A slap was all that was needed to form an invisible shield before her. She blocked all the icicles from touching her body.

Icy mist blew at her, but it did not stop her at all. She waved casually, and an invisible forcefield took the icy mist away directly.

Iced walls solidified one after another, blocking Wu Mo from moving forward. They exploded right away upon her pointing her fingers.

The Master God's clone did everything he could but he failed to stop Wu Mo from approaching him.

He had just realized a fact then and exclaimed out loud, "You're not a Virtual God, but a True God!"

"You got it right on a certain level." Wu Mo smiled without denying it.

"Since you're a True God, you'll have to go to the great world sooner or later. If you kill me, my real self won't forgive you. My real self is a ninth-rank True God, so you are definitely no match for me even if you recover to your peak."

"Are you threatening me?" Wu Mo scoffed.

"If you let me go now, I'll guarantee that my real self won't do anything to you when you get to the great world in the future." The Master God's clone's tone was rather soft.

"Even dummies won't believe what you're saying. Do you think I'd believe you?" If Wu Mo had a clone, she would definitely not forgive a clone who bullied her and destroyed her people.

"My real self left a trump card in this body. You wouldn't be able to live if you killed me."

Wu Mo had a slight change of expression hearing what the Master God's clone said. She was not sure if he was telling the truth. However, looking at the Master God's clone's behavior, it seemed to be true.

She was only a third-rank True God at her peak. If the Master God's clone's real self was really a ninth-tank True God, the trump card that he left behind should not be underestimated although he was in another world.

Wu Mo made up her mind after a short reflection.

If she let him live now, he might contact his real self in the future and it would bring her bigger trouble by then. She would rather destroy his organization now and get rid of him at the same time to prevent any consequences in the future.

No matter what trump card he left behind, as long as her soul remnant survived, she would have the opportunity to recover in the future.

Soon, Wu Mo made up her mind after the thoughts flashed by in her mind. Killing intent rose in her eyes.

"It's too risky to spare your life. I choose to take the bet."

Wu Mo pierced her hand through the Master God's clone's chest as soon as she was done speaking. A cold blue Godhead appeared between her fingers a moment later.

Fear was written all over the Master God's clone's face. He only managed to utter a single word, "You…" His body froze and turned into a corpse falling onto the ground.

The massive snowy God Territory began fading automatically since the Master God's clone was killed.

It was not collapsing but fading away on its own due to the lack of a master controlling it.

Wu Mo and the Master God's clone's corpse were finally visible again as the God Territory faded away.

At the moment, Grandmistress Wei had just woken up. She was slightly stunned when she saw the golden-armored silhouette falling from the sky. She lifted her head to look up immediately and saw Wu Mo hovering alone in the air.

"Has the Master God lost?" Grandmistress Wei fell into devastation completely. She had never imagined that the Virtual God rank-9 Master God would lose.

Lin Huang could not help but smirk when he saw Wu Mo hovering alone in the air.

However, he had goosebumps all of a sudden while his body turned stiff. His nine God Figurine's Combat Souls moved almost at the time, blocking him in a flash. Their guards were up like never before.

They locked their eyes on the corpse that had just landed.

A terrifying aura was rising slowly from the Master God's clone's corpse…

Wu Mo hung her head down and looked at the corpse of the Master God's clone with a frown. It was clearly a True God's aura. She would never get that wrong.

"Take Lin Huang away!" Wu Mo shouted at the Ninetails Lynx without hesitation.

The Ninetails Lynx patted Lin Huang and Guan Zhong immediately and sent both of them into its alternate dimension.

Lin Huang also recalled all the remaining eight God Figurine's Combat Souls. He glanced at the Star Titan battleship above, aware that it was too late for him to recall that now. He could only get the Warlord to activate the maximum defense before recalling him into his card from.

In the air, Wu Mo put the Godhead in her head away and held her head as she peered down at the corpse of the Master God's clone.

A black vortex quickly formed in the middle of the corpse's chest.

It was just the size of a fist at the beginning, but it soon expanded a couple of meters wide. Within the span of a few breaths, the entire corpse turned into a vortex which was over three meters wide. It looked like a mini black hole.

The aura that gave Lin Huang goosebumps originated from that vortex.

It was extremely weak in the beginning, but the aura was getting more and more prominent as the vortex expanded.

The powerful aura even penetrated the alternate dimension where Lin Huang was. He could feel it clearly.

For safety purposes, the Ninetails Lynx dragged Lin Huang up to 1,000 kilometers away until he could no longer feel the ominous aura.

Since he could not watch the battle from where he was, Lin Huang got Bloody to project the battlefield.

The vortex did not stop growing on the ground. It only stabilized when it expanded up to approximately ten meters in diameter.

In reality, it only took merely the span of two to three breaths for the vortex to appear and form completely.

In the air, Wu Mo summoned the Book of Sorcerer Dao. She was ready to fight and she had her guard up.

A thunderous voice roared out of the vortex on the ground as soon as it was completely consolidated. It echoed all over the sky.

"Die!" The voice sounded like millions of thunderbolts setting off next to their ears at the same time.

The ground was collapsing as if there was an earthquake. Even the Star Titan that was covered in a shield in the air was trembling.

A blue finger emerged out of the vortex as soon as the word was heard. It then turned into a massive finger coming at Wu Mo.

Everything froze wherever the massive finger passed by. The entire area seemed to turn into a snowy land.

Strong gales blew within thousands of kilometers as snow fell. Even the sky turned dim now as if Doomsday had come.

In the intense snowstorm, the gigantic Star Titan in the air was shaking. It looked like a tiny boat in a raging sea as it was hard for it to get hold of itself. There was even a layer of frost on the airship's shield. The flickering lights made it look like it might collapse anytime.

If Bloody had not attached its Leech Pods at the bottom of the airship which was protected by the shield, they might have been destroyed by now.

Wu Mo, who was not far beneath the airship, shifted in expression. She moved both of her hands, forming runes in the air before her. There were layers of shields of all forms and colors that consolidated in an attempt to stop her opponent's attack.

As a True God, she clearly sensed that the finger alone was at least the attack from a third-rank True God.

Clearly, due to the unstable dimension and the rejection of the gravel world towards true god-level power, most of the power of the Master God's attack was taken away, causing the impact to drop.

Even though that was the case, the layers of defense before Wu Mo were as fragile as paper when the finger advanced. The defense layers made out of tens of thousands of Witchcraft Runes froze wherever the massive icy finger passed. The layers then cracked and collapsed like glass being smashed mercilessly. They shattered into pieces and vanished.

There was a slight change of expression in Wu Mo's eyes when she saw that the defense she set up was crushed entirely. The attack was much more powerful than she expected.

Since she could not run away, determination flashed through her eyes.

"Since I can neither defend it nor can I run away from it, I'll just have to fight it head-on!"

Wu Mo gave up on defending as she reached this point. She activated all the attack runes she had on her right arm. Then, she swung a punch at the massive blue finger.

Her fist and the finger collided in the blink of an eye. A glaring white glow lit up in the middle of the collision, illuminating the entire sky.

The glow caused by the collision was so bright that it looked like thousands of suns exploded at the same time. The white glow soon drowned everything.

The massive blue finger collapsed slowly in the middle of the explosion where Lin Huang could not see.

The bruised corpse's entire right arm exploded directly, splattering blood all over the place. Her frozen body was falling to the ground far away like a comet. A giant sinkhole formed in the ground tens of kilometers away as if a meteorite had struck.

Sensing that her back collided against the ground after being flung out by the great force, her body came to a stop at the moment.

Wu Mo woke up from the pain and spat a mouthful of blood out. She looked around her.

"I'm still alive!" She thought she would die the second they collided earlier.

The opponent's finger attack was clearly the doing of a third-rank True God while her combined abilities were merely on first-rank True God.

Among true god-level powerhouses, the difference between each rank was vast.

She was very fortunate to be able to survive the attack.

Although Wu Mo was grateful that she survived, a voice that came out of the blue made her heart drop. "I've never thought there'd be a vessel that I can use here."

Wu Mo thought the gateway that was opened temporarily would close right after the attack. Never had she thought the Master God would still be there.

She also knew that the vessel the person meant should be Grandmistress Wei.

At the moment, the white glow caused by the collision was fading slowly. Lin Huang, who was 1,000 kilometers away, finally saw the battlefield through the Leech Pods again.

A blue fog was churning out of the black vortex. The fog turned into a few threads and penetrated Grandmistress Wei's nostrils and mouth while she was unconscious.

Lin Huang could not help but frown when he saw that. He had seen the Crow God Ceremony before, so it was only natural that he knew what the opponent was doing.

Kilometers away, the dust around the sinkhole was fading away.

By then only did Lin Huang see that the bruised corpse, who had lost its entire right arm, was lying in the sinkhole. She looked like she was dying as she lay in her blood. Half of her body was frozen and she looked extremely weak.

"Sister Mo Mo!"

Although Wu Mo could not see what the Master God was doing, her Divine Telekinesis sensed the Master God transforming Grandmistress Wei's body clearly. She also sensed Bloody's Leech Pods.

She then looked at the Leech Pods and said through voice transmission, "Lin Huang, leave me behind. The Divine Power in me is all drained from the collision earlier. I won't be able to run. You must leave Division 2 as soon as you can before he finishes transforming his vessel."

"You're still alive?" A voice came into Wu Mo's ears from a distance. "And there's a little rat hiding in the alternate dimension, huh? I almost missed you out."

Never would Wu Mo have expected the Master God to leave a dimensional god relic that was similar to the Crow God's Eye in his clone. It even had a higher grade than the eye, so she figured it was a true god relic.

This gateway built by the dimensional god relic did not only come with the Master God's third-rank True God attack, but it even provided the tools to create a new clone.

After blasting Wu Mo off with a finger, the Master God noticed Grandmistress Wei as the ready-made vessel. He then began making his clone by transforming Grandmistress Wei's body right away.

Although he sensed that Wu Mo was still alive, he did not care and all he did was glance at her direction because he knew very well that she had lost her walking ability. Fighting aside, she could not even run if she wanted to.

He did not even bat an eyelid about Lin Huang who was hiding in the alternate dimension up to 1,000 kilometers away. To a ninth-rank True God like him, Lin Huang, who was below virtual god-level, was no different from an ant. Naturally, his existence was deemed nothing compared to making a clone.

Wu Mo spoke to Lin Huang through voice transmission, asking him to run since the Master God was busy making his clone.

She had lost her ability to fight completely. The collision with the massive blue finger had drained all of the Divine Power in her body. She did not even have the strength to get rid of the frost on her body, let alone fight.

Lin Huang was only on immortal-level after all. The Master God might not even bother to attack him, thus his chances of escaping were very likely.

However, a slight wave came next to her as she spoke through voice transmission via the Leech Pods. Lin Huang appeared right next to her.

"You…" She was very tempted to scream at Lin Huang when she saw that he did not run away and had come to save her instead. "Are you dense? You had the chance to run. Look what you've done! We're going to die here. Nobody will avenge any of us in the future."

"He's already found out about me. Do you really think I can run?" Lin Huang lifted his head and glanced at the direction of the dimensional gateway.

"This brat is right. Although he's just an ant, he might have the potential to grow. I'd never leave anything behind. He'd be a dead man now had he chosen to run earlier." The Master God's voice rumbled in the air eerily. He sounded like he was chatting with a friend.

Lin Huang shrugged at Wu Mo. "You heard him."

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have spoken to you. If I hadn't done that, he wouldn't have found you." Wu Mo felt a little guilty.

"Stop saying all that." Lin Huang squatted down. "How are you feeling now?"

"My Divine Power is drained, and my right arm is gone while my body is frozen. Apart from my head, I can't move most of my body now," Wu Mo said out loud instead of using voice transmission. She wanted to let the Master God know that she was no longer a threat. It might be able to buy her some time.

Lin Huang frowned when he heard her admission. He looked down and began thinking. Then, he secretly contacted Xiao Hei. "Is there any card that we can use to solve this crisis now?"

"You can use the Escape Card which can send you out of the opponent's sensing range randomly within a second, but it's hard for you to do that if you're bringing Wu Mo with you. Wu Mo has the opponent's remnant energy on her, so he can locate her right away no matter where she is."

"Do you have another suggestion?"

"Nothing else works apart from running away."

"Your combat strength is too low. The opponent is at third-rank True God at the moment. There's no card that can solve the current crisis."

Lin Huang fell into silence for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he looked at the bruised corpse.

"The bruised corpse is on Virtual God rank-9. Can we use the Provisional Combat Strength Upgrade Card to boost the bruised corpse's combat strength? I remember the card has no restriction on the user's combat strength."

"Indeed, the Provisional Combat Strength Upgrade Card has no restriction on the user's combat strength, but it can only be applied on you, your Monster Cards, your clones, puppets, or special items such as the Combat Souls.

"There are two conditions to apply the card on a specific target. One is that the target must have combat strength. The second is that the host must own the target."

"So, you mean the card is applicable as soon as I own the bruised corpse?" Lin Huang found a solution right away.

Xiao Hei only replied after a moment of silence, "Sure."

Lin Huang had a plan as soon as he got the answer from Xiao Hei. He looked at Wu Mo again.

"Sister Mo Mo, you can't use this bruised corpse for now. Please remove yourself from it."

Just when Wu Mo was surprised by Lin Huang's request, he winked at her.

She was stunned. Although she had no idea what Lin Huang was thinking, she agreed while nodding anyway. She left the bruised corpse and retreated her consciousness back into the soul jewel by penetrating between Lin Huang's brows.

Naturally, the Master God saw that but he did not care. He thought Lin Huang was attempting to run, so he warned him, "I told you that you'll die even faster if you run. If you stay here obediently, you'll at least live until I'm done with my clone."

Lin Huang spread his arms. "I'm not running. I just want to study this corpse." He pressed his palm to the bruised corpse's head, inserting his consciousness and Divine Telekinesis.

A moment later, he took over the body and owned it entirely.

Just like Wu Mo said, this body was severely damaged whereby most of it was frozen. Apart from the head, almost every part of the body was unable to move.

"Xiao Hei, is it possible to fix this body?" Lin Huang asked while frowning.

"The sea of Divine Power will replenish this body when the combat strength is boosted. It'll recover automatically by then."

Lin Huang was determined after hearing that answer and he gave his order right away, "Use three Provisional Combat Strength Upgrade Cards! The bruised corpse will be the target!"

Three golden glows that only he could see penetrated the bruised corpse as soon as he issued his order.

As the golden glows penetrated the corpse, the frost that covered the body began fading rapidly. Flesh grew on the damaged right arm at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye.

At the same time, the bruised corpse's combat strength was skyrocketing. It broke through its initial Virtual God rank-9 to true god-level in a heartbeat!

However, that was not all. The bruised corpse's combat strength was still rising after getting to true god-level.

First-rank!

Second-rank!

Third-rank!

It only stopped when it elevated to the third-rank.

The entire transformation happened within the span of a breath.

Just when the Master God noticed the odd aura coming out of the bruised corpse, Lin Huang had already controlled the recovered bruised corpse to stand up from the sinkhole.

His consciousness that was controlling the bruised corpse felt like there was no limit to this body. Lin Huang even had an illusion. 'I think I'm invincible now!'

"What exactly did you do, brat?" The Master God sounded rather shocked and mad. Never had he thought that a kid who was not even on virtual god-level would do something like that in his presence.

He could not understand what Lin Huang had done at all. He could not understand how he managed to transform a Virtual God rank-9 virtual god-level puppet to a third-rank True God. One must know that the gap between Virtual God to True God was vast and achieving it was not easy.

However, Lin Huang completed the three-rank boost in less than the span of a breath. It seemed even easier than drinking water. He even doubted that a heavenly god-level, which was the equivalent of god sequence-level, could do that.

Lin Huang had no idea what the Master God was thinking about at that moment. He felt like he was invincible in his brand new puppet.

"This puppet even masters the Champion Strength Rule under the Strength Rule?!"

"A powerhouse can only elevate to god order-level (true god-level) when he masters a rule of any kind. Although the card only provides a provisional combat strength boost, it'll automatically apply a rule that's most compatible with your puppet to get it to god order-level instead of merely an upgrade in Divine Power."

Lin Huang gave Xiao Hei a thumbs-up secretly after hearing its explanation. "Awesome!"

The bruised corpse lifted his head and looked kilometers away after building himself a layer of Divine Power defense. He was looking at the black vortex.

This puppet possessed third-rank True God combat strength. Although the card could only last for an hour, he was a legit third-rank True God at that moment.

Meanwhile, the Master God arrived via the dimensional god relic. He was merely a projection.

Although his combat strength was also on third-rank True God, Lin Huang had the confidence to beat him.

He stretched his neck and shoulders to his left and right, revealing a cunning grin on his face.

In the next second, the bruised corpse disappeared from where he was without warning. He appeared next to Grandmistress Wei directly.

He swung his muscular arm at the cold, blue silhouette's face.

Lin Huang held nothing back. The punch was fuelled with Divine Power as well as the Champion Strength Rule. His entire arm was covered in a layer of ominous red glow as if it contained boundless terrifying power.

Space would be torn wherever the punch passed by.

The true god-level power had exceeded what this gravel world could attain.

His punch had truly rent the space. It was not the illusion that was caused earlier on. Terrifying spatial turbulence spread from the torn space, engulfing everything around it.

Even Grandmistress Wei flew towards the crack, unable to control herself.

The Master God frowned when he saw that. He picked Grandmistress Wei up and flew out. Meanwhile, he swung his other hand at Lin Huang's punch.

His palm turned cold blue immediately as if it was made completely of ice.

Everything the palm passed by was frozen. The ground, dust, wind and even the air turned into white frost.

Clearly, he dared not underestimate the current version of Lin Huang whereby he performed his Ice Rule without hesitation. He did not hold the Divine Power in his body back at all.

The attack this time was at least ten times more powerful than the finger attack that had defeated Wu Mo earlier.

The punch and the palm collided together in the air in a flash.

In that second, red and cold blue glows occupied half of the sky like a clearly divided river.

The Ice Rule that had drowned the bruised corpse easily earlier could not do anything to the bruised corpse at that moment.

Although it was ice and snow, there was nothing that it could do to such a powerful ability.

However, the match that resulted in a tie only lasted less than three seconds.

In the air, the red glow grew and suppressed the blue completely. In the blink of an eye, it drowned the blue silhouette entirely.

Almost at the same time, a blue silhouette shot out like a comet and smashed hard into the ground a couple of kilometers away.

Although both of them had third-rank True God combat strength, the Master God's projection was slightly inferior.

He was just a projection, after all, so his ability was provided by his real physique that was currently in the great world.

Meanwhile, Lin Huang's corpse puppet was on the peak of third-rank True God at the moment. He had boundless Divine Power while the Champion Strength Rule definitely provided an upper hand in close combat.

The superiority was clear when it came to the comparison.

Lin Huang's confidence skyrocketed as he suppressed the Master God's projection with merely a punch.

"What kind of Master God are you? You're not impressive in the least!"

"You're seeking for death, brat!"

The Master God rose from the gravel slowly. Another thing that was rising at the same time was his killing intent that was as sharp as a blade.

He began performing rule sigils with both of his hands a couple of kilometers away.

The temperature was dropping rapidly in the entire land. Within a few seconds, the area within a 1,000-kilometer radius turned into a snowy land.

Dark clouds filled the sky and black snowflakes tumbled down.

Lin Huang frowned slightly when he saw that. He had no idea what the black snowflakes were, but he knew it was definitely bad news.

He stepped into the air and flew towards the Master God was like a lightning bolt.

However, the Master God waved as soon as he approached. A giant, crystal ice wall was formed and blocked Lin Huang who swung a punch without even thinking.

The ice wall turned into dust right away.

Subsequently, forming in front of him was the second wall, the third, the fourth… More and more giant walls were formed and connected.

Lin Huang was too lazy to go around the walls. He swung his punch, again and again, turning all the ice walls into dust. He was finally irritated after smashing many ice walls.

However, the Master God behind the ice walls was smirking.

Lin Huang just noticed that he had many black snowflakes stuck on him.

The black snowflakes had penetrated his body and began engulfing the Divine Power in his body.

He did not notice that in the beginning, but he now picked it up since his Divine Power started to drain.

"Seems like you've noticed that." The Master God's voice came from behind the ice walls. "Each of my Inked Snowflakes will engulf the Divine Power in your body and transfer them to my body. The more Inked Snowflakes stick to you, the more Divine Power will be drained. As long as I stall enough time, all the Divine Power in your body will be drenched. I'll win without even having to fight."

Lin Huang scowled when he realized the snowflakes would still engulf his Divine Power even if he covered his body with a layer of Divine Power.

He put a god relic armor on, but it was futile. The black snowflakes penetrated the battle armor and got to his body.

"It's useless. The snowflakes will penetrate even if you put a hundred battle armors on," announced the Master God proudly.

Wu Mo's voice came into his ears just when Lin Huang was going to ignore his draining Divine Power and crash through anyway.

"Why are you so dumb? He modified this technique from our Witchcraft Rune. The black snowflakes will penetrate through your soul, but they'll turn into merely physical corrosion when they get into your body. It's very easy to break. Just add a layer of spirit defense with the Witchcraft Rune on your body. They won't be able to penetrate your body by then."

Lin Huang came to a realization after hearing Wu Mo saying that. He then summoned the Book of Sorcerer Dao and activated a couple of runes. Three layers of spirit and physical shields were formed on his body. He then put the Book of Sorcerer Dao away.

He stretched his hand out and grabbed a snowflake. As expected, the black snowflake did not penetrate his body.

Lin Huang then crushed the snowflake and grinned at the Master God who was ten meters away.

The grin gave the Master God goosebumps.

"You'd better run now. If I catch up to you, hehehe…"

Pale blue ice crystal walls erected in the air, blocking Lin Huang and the Master God.

Lin Huang was too lazy to walk around the walls, so he swung his punch one after another instead. The sky was shaking from all the blows. The giant ice crystal walls were collapsing. They broke into pieces and turned into dust.

The speed of the collapsing walls was just as fast as them solidifying. The giant walls would collapse almost as soon as they were formed.

The Master God, who initially wanted to depend on the black snowflakes to beat Lin Huang, soon noticed that something was off. There was no more Divine Power filling his body.

As the Master God's projection spread his Divine Telekinesis, he realized the peculiar phenomenon going on in Lin Huang's body. The black snowflakes could no longer penetrate his body.

"What's happening?!"

"Do you find it strange? I've seen through your technique," Lin Huang mocked with a grin, "It's a soul-penetrating method, but you changed the effect to physical energy corrosion, making me think that it's a physical attack, so I failed to find the way to break it. Not anymore!"

The Master God's expression turned grim upon hearing what Lin Huang said. Never had he thought that his almost sure-win technique would be broken by Lin Huang so soon.

The upper hand from the Inked Snowflake soon faded, and the Master God's projection fell to the losing side.

His energy source came from his real self in the great world. Sending energy via the dimensional tool was draining to him. Most importantly, the duration that the dimensional gateway could stay open was limited.

Furthermore, the more energy it provided, the shorter the dimensional gateway could be opened.

Looking at the current energy transmission, he figured that the dimensional tool could only stay open for less than ten minutes.

The Master God stopped Lin Huang from coming closer while coming up with a plan.

'I'll need at least five more minutes to transform my vessel to Virtual God rank-9. The problem is, even if I get the five minutes and successfully create the clone for my projection to stay here, my clone will just be on Virtual God rank-9, which is no match for him at all.

'Therefore, I'll have to kill this brat first before I'm done with the clone. In other words, I only have less than five minutes of battle time.' The Master God was thinking quickly. He looked at Lin Huang's real body behind the bruised corpse all of a sudden and came up with a plan.

Naturally, Lin Huang noticed the Master God looking at him and he added a couple more defense runes on his real body.

The Master God scoffed while his blue projection waved his hand. A pale blue vortex soon appeared in the air like a gigantic blue pupil hanging in the sky.

"God Territory…" Lin Huang frowned slightly. He did not want to enter this God Territory that his opponent had summoned.

However, as soon as he had that thought, his body hovered into the sky out of his control. He was sailing toward the vortex at an alarming speed.

He controlled the bruised corpse to hold onto his real body immediately. However, they were both pulled towards the vortex anyway.

He realized what the opponent's plan was at that instant.

As a God Territory could engulf any living thing that had lower combat strength than itself, the Master God's projection used this to suck Lin Huang in.

If the bruised corpse clone did not follow, Lin Huang would be killed soon even with the shield.

Under such circumstance, the bruised corpse clone could only follow suit, which meant that they were entering the opponent's stage.

Although Lin Huang knew nothing much about the God Territory, he knew that it was the opponent's stage. The opponent's ability would definitely be much more powerful in the God Territory.

He had no other option since the Master God did this. He could only allow the Master God to pull him and the bruised corpse into the God Territory.

In a flash, Lin Huang and the bruised corpse turned into two bright gleams and shot into the blue vortex, disappearing altogether.

Seeing them vanish, the Master God's projection followed behind and entered the vortex.

As the three of them entered the blue vortex, the color of the vortex in the sky began fading and it disappeared eventually.

The God Territory of the Master God was a chilly snowfield.

Lin Huang could feel the cold faintly although he had double protection from the physical and spirit shields.

The bruised corpse stood there waiting for the Master God to show up patiently. He appeared again a moment later.

His form was no longer the cold blue human form whose features were unclear earlier. He was a complete human in this cold snowfield. He looked almost the same as the clone that Wu Mo had killed earlier.

"This is my stage and it's also your burial ground."

"So, you admit that you can't defeat me unless you're in here?" Lin Huang teased.

"The God Territory has always been a battle technique." The Master God's projection scoffed.

"In reality, you wouldn't be able to defeat me under normal circumstances. That's why you used this stupid trick to pull me in. I can't do anything else apart from following you to fight on your stage. Naturally, it'd have been better if I don't come in. You'd be able to kill my real body like a piece of cake," Lin Huang told the truth directly, "Isn't this your plan?"

"No matter how eloquent you are with your words, you won't be able to change your destiny of dying here." The Master God's projection did not bother to fight back.

"You're thinking too much. I can still kill you in here!" Lin Huang launched his attack first as soon as he was done speaking.

He stomped hard with his feet, forming a massive sinkhole in the thick snow on the ground. He charged himself at the Master God's projection like a lightning bolt.

The Master God's projection grinned in a teasing manner. He waved the sleeve of his white robe as hundreds of similar silhouettes appeared.

Lin Huang could not tell which was real and fake since there were hundreds of Master Gods that appeared before him.

The hundreds of Master Gods performed hand seals rapidly. Tens of thousands of ice blades of all forms consolidated in the air, aiming for Lin Huang like a storm on a summer.

Lin Huang stomped both his feet and squatted in a firm stance. He inhaled deeply and opened his mouth all of a sudden. The Divine Power that combined the voice in his lungs spread out.

Roar!

A loud roar made the land tremble. Countless ice blades were crushed into dust as a result of the deafening roar.

Even the fake Master Gods disappeared like melting snow.

Naturally, Lin Huang did not come up with the lion-like roar. It was a technique that was already in the memory of the bruised corpse.

Lin Huang performed that with the activation of just his simple Divine Power.

The Master God was dismayed to see that his technique was ruined again almost immediately.

"It seems like you're no more powerful on your stage than you are out there." Lin Huang laughed while looking at the Master God's projection.

A ferocious gleam flashed in the Master God's eyes.

"There are some techniques that I didn't plan to use on a brat like you, but since you're so full of yourself, I'll show you my real ultimate move!

The Master God's projection began performing a hand seal quickly as soon as he finished speaking.

The entire snowy God Territory looked like it turned from day to night within the span of a short few breaths. The sky turned completely dark.

The ground under Lin Huang's feet that were covered in snow began shaking intensely as if there was an earthquake.

Lin Huang and the bruised corpse puppet hovered from the ground immediately.

'This stance really looks like an ultimate move,' Lin Huang thought to himself.

Just when he was going to interrupt, blue ice sculptures that seemed alive began rising from the ground.

There were a total of 12 ice sculptures. Three of them took on human forms while the remaining nine looked like monsters.

Lin Huang had never seen the nine monster-form ice sculptures in the monster guide before. Clearly, they were not from this gravel world.

'What's all this?' Just when doubt rose in Lin Huang, the Master God's projection was almost done with the hand seal. The 12 ice sculptures were formed completely.

The 12 ice sculptures opened their eyes almost at the same time when the Master God's projection performed the last hand seal. Their cold, blue bodies began transforming into flesh and blood. Combat strength aura started flowing out of their lifeless bodies.

Lin Huang narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw that.

All of the 12 ice sculptures had third-rank true god-level aura!

"These 12 ice sculptures are my collectibles. I love collecting powerhouses that I've killed, then refine them with God Territory and make them a part of my God Territory when they're dead. They are my slaves. These 12 ice sculptures before you were on third-rank true god-level when they were alive."

"Initially, only ninth-rank true god-level powerhouses would see this move of mine. If not for me being in such a rush today, I wouldn't even use this on you. Pal, dying by this move is an honor for you."

The Master God's projection waved his hand as soon as he was done speaking.

The move seemed to be a way of him giving his order, whereby the 12 ice sculptures shifted almost at the same time.

A feline monster with stripes charged like a streak of lightning. It appeared before Lin Huang in a flash and mauled the air with its sharp, blade-like claws.

The mauling left black traces in the God Territory's space.

Lin Huang was no slower than it. He dodged to the side slightly and avoided the attack that could tear his body open. He swung a hard punch like a cannon at his opponent's abdomen.

Knowing that these 12 ice sculptures were tough, Lin Huang did not hold back at all. He used all of his Divine Power, and the Champion Strength Rule turned his entire arm red.

The feline monster dodged immediately after sensing the life-threatening danger. It was extremely agile. A teasing gleam flashed through Lin Huang's eyes just when the feline ducked his punch.

His fist turned into a sword, and he swung it at the monster.

The crescent-like sword glow glided through the feline monster's soft, white abdomen. Red blood spurted out of the wound.

Lin Huang hovered into the air and got closer to the cat. His hand turned into claws and he reached deep into its abdomen through its wound. With a hard yank, out came all of its intestines.

"That's the first!" Just when he had gotten rid of the feline monster, a monster that looked like a T-Rex charged at him with its mouth wide open. It attempted to devour him alive.

Sharp teeth like steel filled the space between its jaws, and there were hundreds of them. If he was really bitten, he would probably turn into mush.

Lin Huang did not want to test how powerful the opponent's bite was. He swung both his fists at the opponent's muzzle and threw hundreds of punches in the blink of an eye.

With the help of the Champion Strength Rule, Lin Huang could launch the Master God, who was a third-rank True God, out with merely a punch. One could imagine how powerful the consecutive hundreds of punches were.

Hundreds of red fists fell like raindrops, breaking the sharp-toothed monster's head open right away. Lin Huang rushed forward and appeared behind its broken head.

"And the second one."

Just when Lin Huang muttered that, a sword glow came toward his neck directly.

His eyes lit up when that happened. He pointed his finger into the air, and a red glow in the form of a finger collided with the sword glow's weakest point. It wiped out the white sword glow like a piece of cake.

"This one uses a sword?!"

Lin Huang was elated when he found out there was a sword cultivator among his enemies. As a sword cultivator himself, fighting another sword cultivator opponent was what he desired most.

He lifted his head and looked at the sword cultivator. It was a young man who looked distant. With mediocre features, he exuded a cold aura that was rather intimidating.

As he took his time observing the sword cultivator, the fourth attack came.

It was a Bug Tribe monster with three pairs of scimitar-like sharp blades. It had grayish-black bug armor over its slender body and it was swift in its attack.

Six blade arms sliced up to 1,000 razor traces in the air. They were sweeping toward Lin Huang like a spider web.

"Out of my way!" Lin Huang yelled. He was upset that the bug had interrupted his battle with the other sword cultivator.

He gazed up, holding his fist and swinging his arm with the momentum from his spine. Then, he threw the punch with all of his strength!

Bang!

An intense detonation exploded, and the web-like blade glow broke like glass under Lin Huang's punch.

Lin Huang charged and passed through the gap of the blade glow. His hand seemed to have torn through at a speed no one could imagine and grabbed the Bug Tribe monster's neck.

A crack followed by a tear shattered the air as green blood shot into the sky like a fountain. The Bug Tribe monster turned into a headless monster.

"The third…"

As Lin Huang was tearing the Bug Tribe monster's head off, a sharp spike pointed at Lin Huang's back.

The attack was as quick as a lightning bolt and was silent without warning.

The sharp pitch-black spike was hard for one to catch sight of in this dark God Territory that appeared like it was night.

Just when the spike arrived less than 20 centimeters behind Lin Huang, a hand appeared out of nowhere. It grabbed the weapon that was going to pierce through Lin Huang's heart, preventing it from being unable to move an inch closer.

Subsequently, Lin Huang turned around slowly and grinned at the dark.

"A female monster with a scorpion's tail? I wonder how she tastes like."

He stretched his other hand out after mumbling to himself. He grabbed onto the other side of the scorpion's tail and crushed it.

Crack!

A devastating groan came almost at the same time.

The arm that was in the form of a scorpion's tail was crushed directly. Pale white liquid shot out of the wound and spilled all over the place.

The lady with the scorpion's tail was dragged over beyond her control as Lin Huang crushed her tail. Even though the lady had a bombshell body, he had no sympathy in his eyes at all. He threw a punch which penetrated her fragile chest directly.

"That's the fourth one!"

Crack, crack…

After breaking the red dragonkin's wings, Lin Huang stepped on the giant dragonkin's back that was falling onto the ground.

The second before the dragonkin created a sinkhole on the ground, Lin Huang leaped high with hammers in both of his hands. He then smashed them on the dragonkin's head.

Bang!

The bruised corpse's silhouette hopped off almost at the same time that the dragonkin landed.

The dragonkin's whimper that sounded like a stray dog came to a halt merely a second later.

"The eleventh one!" Lin Huang, who had blood splattered all over his body, wiped his face while glaring at the black silhouette that flashed through the air.

"You're the only one left!" Lin Huang stood on the dragonkin's head that had turned into mush while patiently waiting for the perfect timing. It was the last monster and although it was not powerful, it was great at hiding and running. Lin Huang decided to handle it last because he was worried that it would take too much time for him to find it and kill it.

However, Wu Mo's voice came into his ears two to three seconds later. "Right now!"

Lin Huang stretched his arm without hesitation, grabbing the air. Almost at the very moment he did that, a black silhouette appeared and collided against his palm.

Lin Huang held onto the black silhouette and squeezed hard without thinking twice. A devastating shriek was released as the black silhouette in his palm exploded.

He threw the black silhouette onto the ground casually. Looking at the mushy black carcass, he guessed that it was a bird monster.

"Twelfth one!" In less than half a minute, Lin Huang completed a dozen kills. The process was terribly gory.

In the beginning, he was surprised by where this brutality came from. Soon, he found out that it came from the bruised corpse.

Not only were his emotions affected, but even his battle mode was also influenced by the bruised corpse's overwhelming battle instinct.

This bruised corpse was a born warrior.

As Lin Huang snapped back from the battle, he turned his head to look at the Master God's projection and revealed a teasing smile. He leaped from the dragonkin's squashed head and walked towards the Master God's projection slowly.

"Your little pets are all gone. If I'm not mistaken, you shouldn't be able to summon any ice sculptures that are more powerful, should you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have summoned ice sculptures that are merely on third-rank true god-level." Lin Huang guessed that the items which the opponent summoned must have been restricted by his current combat strength. Otherwise, he would have summoned ice sculptures on fifth or sixth-rank which could totally suppress Lin Huang if ninth-rank was a no-go for him.

Seeing Lin Huang approaching, the Master God's projection's face remained calm. There was no change in his emotions at all despite Lin Huang destroying his 12 collectibles.

Instead, he spoke to Lin Huang smoothly, "Do you really think you've killed my collectibles?"

Lin Huang was stunned to hear that question. He spread his Divine Telekinesis around and realized that the 12 carcasses that were initially there were all gone.

"I forgot to tell you something earlier." The Master God's projection grinned mockingly. "In my God Territory, these collectibles… can't be killed."

The blue ice sculptures rose from the ground around him slowly as soon as the Master God's projection said that.

The ice sculptures looked alive. They were the 12 third-rank True Gods that Lin Huang had just killed.

They opened their eyes when they were completely formed. Subsequently, their bodies began turning into blood and flesh.

Lin Huang thought that entire scene was familiar.

"Isn't this what happened when he first summoned the 12 ice sculptures earlier? It's exactly the same!"

Lin Huang looked at the Master God's projection, feeling a little speechless after his redundant ridiculing. "I've already killed these 12 pets of yours. Can't you be more creative?"

The Master God's projection looked at Lin Huang calmly and said nothing.

"So, you're just stalling me?" Lin Huang scowled in disdain.

"I'm just getting them to buy me some time for me to prepare my next move to kill you." The Master God's projection stepped back immediately.

Almost at the same time he did that, his 12 collectibles began attacking Lin Huang.

"Ugh, this is boring!" Lin Huang pouted and took a god relic battle sword out from his storage space.

The bruised corpse grabbed the battle sword and filled it with Divine Power. He then went after the 12 third-rank true god-level opponents.

Divine glows of various colors lit up in the air, illuminating the entire God Territory.

However, they turned dim one after another. Only a red sword glow remained eventually.

Lin Huang spent less than 20 seconds eliminating the dozen third-rank true god-level monsters this time.

What he had no idea about was that there was a silhouette standing on a cliff hundreds of kilometers away.

Each time he killed an ice sculpture monster, the soul of the monster's God would appear before the Master God directly. They were then swallowed by him.

The Master God's projection's aura peaked after swallowing 12 third-rank true god-level God's souls. Although he was still on third-rank true god-level, his aura was close to perfect-stage third-rank true god-level.

Even Lin Huang sensed the odd aura almost immediately.

'How did the Master God's projection's aura boost all of the sudden?'

Just when Lin Huang felt the skepticism twist in his stomach, the Master God's projection in a white robe appeared less than 20 meters from him.

"Lin Xie, I really don't want to use this move, but you left me with no choice."

Lin Huang raised his brow. "Did it cost you?"

"That's right. This move cost me my third-rank true god-level collectibles forever." The Master God's projection nodded lightly, not seeming to be in a rush to attack at all. "But it's alright. It's worth it because I'm trading them for a collectible like you. To me, your value is much higher than theirs."

"So, it sounds like you're confident that you can defeat me, eh?' Lin Huang smirked in a teasing way.

"My combat strength has reached the peak of third-rank true god-level. I even have all of the powers and talents the 12 collectibles have mastered at the moment. Furthermore, this is my stage. There's no way that you can run."

"Why should I run? Isn't the peak of third-rank true god-level still third-rank true god-level?"

"I killed your 12 little pets. In fact, I killed them twice. Do you think I'm scared of their abilities? Moreover, this has always been your stage. Wait, from what I remember, you're the one who has been running from your life clumsily."

The Master God's projection could not argue with Lin Huang because he was telling the truth. There was no way that he could fight back.

"We'll find out who will be running for his life very soon. I'll suppress you with close combat that you're best in!"

"I think you've mistaken. I didn't master close combat. I'm a sword cultivator!" Lin Huang corrected him in all seriousness.

An ice battle armor soon formed on the Master God's body. He was just a will projection when he came here. He had no weapon or armor.

However, apart from the Ice Rule, this battle armor that was created in the God Territory at the moment had a defensive ability that was even more terrifying than an ordinary god relic's.

Tens of meters away, Lin Huang's bruised corpse puppet remained with no armor on. He was only holding a bright silver god relic sword in his right hand.

He wanted a god relic with rule power of a higher grade (true god relic). Due to the rule power in rule power god relic, it could not be compared with an ordinary god relic.

However, a sword was the only rule power god relic Lin Huang had at the moment.

Meanwhile, the god relic battle sword in the bruised corpse's hand was just an ordinary god relic. It was also the only god relic battle sword that Lin Huang owned at the moment. He had many demigod relic battle swords, so many that he auctioned them off. However, he only had that one and only god relic battle sword.

Nevertheless, although it was just an ordinary god relic, it could kill a True God since Lin Huang had covered it in rule power.

The silver battle sword was soon covered in a bloody glow. It was the sign of the Champion Strength Rule engulfing the sword.

Lin Huang had used this battle sword to kill the 12 third-rank True Gods earlier himself.

And now, the sword tip was finally pointing at its real enemy — the Master God's will projection!

In endless time and space away, the ninth-rank True God in the great world projected its will onto this gravel world. His only attempt was to destroy the guy who had killed his clone, then get himself a new clone.

Theoretically, it should be two things that were extremely simple. Never had he thought that he would have encountered an obstacle that he had never come across before.

This little guy that was as insignificant as an ant in this gravel world attacked with an ability that was no less powerful than its will projection, forcing him to show his trump cards one after another, just like the move that he was currently performing. He was engulfing the God's souls in his God Territory to give him a temporary boost in ability. Many ninth-rank True Gods had never come to such a predicament that they were forced to do this.

'What a scary brat!' The Master God could not help but exclaim secretly. Lin Huang's performance piqued his interest greatly.

In the air, the two silhouettes finally collided.

Covered in ice battle armor, the Master God threw a hard punch out.

Due to the Ice Rule, boundless chilly wind blew, going after Lin Huang at a critically low temperature.

Lin Huang's eyes were clear and bright. There was no fear in those eyes at all, only enthusiastic battle intent that raged like fire.

Red flames lit up on the bloody sword.

As the sword was swung in the air, the fountain of flames burning even brighter. It grew so brilliant until it collided with the giant fist.

The battle sword in Lin Huang's hand turned into a bloody sun, tearing through the sky with endless heat and power.

A cold blue and a bloody red glow occupied hundreds of kilometers in the pitch-black sky.

A moment later, a white glow lit up in the middle of the collision. As if a star had exploded, a glaring glow spread and covered the entire God Territory in the blink of an eye.

The white explosion grew rapidly. Soon, it engulfed the two colors in the air, taking the two silhouettes that were battling along with it.

The icy crystal ground that was as tough as steel collapsed like a piece of glass wherever the white glow passed by. The entire land trembled as if it was whimpering in cowardice.

A big hole burned in the pitch-black sky, turning the entire God Territory from night to day.

Lin Huang retreated hundreds of kilometers back and smashed hard onto the crystal ground. A sinkhole that was tens of kilometers wide gaped in the ground as if an asteroid had struck.

He knew very well that the attack was a tie. His opponent was just as powerful as he was.

"It's a shame that I haven't perfected my sword skills. I suppose I'll need to break through to level-6 Sword Dao which is Sword Dao Divinity to be able to kill a True God with this sword!" Lin Huang's soft mumble showed his secret ambition.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Master God, who lay in a sinkhole hundreds of kilometers away, could not help but exclaim, "That brat wasn't kidding! His Sword Dao is really close to divinity!"

Climbing out of the sinkhole, the Master God looked at the ice glove covering his palm. There was a crack even thinner than a strand of hair on his cold, blue glove. It was so tiny that it was almost invisible to the naked eye.

"It sure is worthy of being a sword cultivator, one of the most powerful occupations in attacking." Cold, blue mist flowed out of his palm. As the Master God stretched and wiped the crack on the glove, the crack disappeared almost immediately as if it had never been there before.

Lin Huang, on the other hand, shifted about after climbing up from the sinkhole. He checked if his body was severely impacted.

He spread his Divine Telekinesis directly and targeted the Master God who was standing in the sinkhole hundreds of kilometers away. In a flash, he disappeared.

A white glow sparked in the next second.

The two silhouettes separated as soon as they came in contact, but they collided again in the next second.

Lin Huang swung his sword again and again while the Master God threw his punches one after another.

Dazzling white glows lit up like fireworks in the sky and disappeared rapidly. Billions of deafening bangs echoed in the sky.

Terrifying Divine Power spread everywhere. Even if there was a ninth-rank True God there, he might not be able to fight it head-on.

Space was torn where the duo collided while the cracks were like spider webs. The God Territory was repairing itself at its best speed, but it could not catch up with the duo's damaging rate.

There were more and more cracks in the space, causing turbulence all around.

Up to 1,000 kilometers in the air, wherever the duo passed became danger zones. Even a True God dared not go any closer.

The entire God Territory was trembling from their collision that exploded one after another. It felt like it might collapse anytime.

Naturally, Lin Huang was enjoying the battle. After all, an opponent which he could prove his ability entirely was hard to come by. It gave him the opportunity to perfect his sword skills at true god-level.

However, the Master God did not look very well. Although he was just as powerful as Lin Huang at the moment, it was his God Territory. He only had such ability in the God Territory. As soon as the God Territory collapsed, his temporarily boosted ability that came from his secret skill would be taken away.

On the other hand, Lin Huang would not be affected at all since he would still be just as powerful then.

'No, I can't let this go on. I'll lose if I do!' The Master God thought to himself while locking his Divine Telekinesis on Lin Huang as a ferocious gleam flashed through his eyes.

He turned his spirit power into a few arrows and shot it at Lin Huang's spirit.

Lin Huang's expression changed slightly. The spiritual attack came out of nowhere, so the bruised corpse did not have time to react at all.

The few spiritual arrows collided against the spiritual defense made of Witchcraft Runes one after another. The arrow would penetrate a layer of defense every time it shot before it vanished. Three arrows later, the three layers of defenses that Lin Huang had built were destroyed entirely.

Seeing that the last few arrows were going into his spirit, a blue gem that looked like a droplet shot out between Lin Huang's brows all of a sudden, blocking the last remaining arrows head-on.

The blue gem-like soul jewel had cracks all over it. With a loud crack, the soul jewel was broken.

"Sister Mo Mo!" Lin Huang could not help but yell out loud. However, a weak white glow shot in between Lin Huang's brows in the next second.

"I'm alright. My soul is just severely hurt now…" Wu Mo murmured weakly and fell into a deep sleep as she penetrated the Sorcerer Goddess's blood.

"You're asking for death!" Lin Huang was completely enraged now.

The bruised corpse puppet swung the sword again. Divine Power and rule power stretched out with each swing of the sword.

The Master God dodged clumsily. The spiritual attack earlier had drained a lot of his strength. He would lose his chance to turn the tables around as soon as he missed the attack.

A loud bang exploded a few breaths later.

The God Territory finally could not take it any longer, and it began to collapse.

The Master God's aura was dropping at an alarming rate. Losing the support of his God Territory, not only did his secret skill lose its effect, but his ability also went back to normal.

Lin Huang did not care what was happening to the God Territory at all. He brandished the sword continuously, not giving the Master God a chance to breathe.

The Master God, whose ability was dropping, could not take Lin Huang's intense attack at all. He was defeated after trying to hold it up strenuously for merely a few haggard breaths.

Lin Huang's killing intent was boiling as he mercilessly swung the sword like a lightning bolt. Blood spurted out of the headless corpse.

"Congratulations, you've killed a True God. You've won the title Godslayer!"

"Congratulations, you've obtained a rule power — God-slaying Power!"

Ignoring Xiao Hei's notifications, Lin Huang glared coldly at the Master God's projection that was turning into a cold, blue mist and vanishing.

The dimensional gateway that seemed like a black hole was shrinking rapidly. A thunderous deafening roar came from the other side of the black hole.

"I'll remember you, brat!" Almost at the same time that the voice came, a blue ferocious glow shot out the black hole. The blue glow was extremely fast as it penetrated Lin Huang's body almost at the same time it detached from the dimensional gateway.

Lin Huang saw a black mark appearing on his chest when he snapped back to his senses.

A giant tentacle made of black fog appeared out nowhere in his body. It looked like a gigantic black boa that attached itself to the blue glow that penetrated his body. It then tugged hard. Soon, the blue glow was crushed and vanished right away.

The Master God exclaimed from the dimensional gateway that was closing, "What did you do?!"

In a surprise, Lin Huang looked into his body to see what exactly the Master God had done to him. However, he did not see anything odd in his body.

Even the black mark on his chest had disappeared on its own accord as if it had never been there.

As he snapped back to reality, Lin Huang happened to see the dimensional gateway close completely. It turned into a bronze token hovering in the air.

The bruised corpse stepped forward in a flash and grabbed the token, putting it away in Lin Huang's storage space casually. He then shifted his focus onto Grandmistress Wei who was not far away.

Since the Master God's projection was dead, the defense around Grandmistress Wei dropped automatically. However, she was still unconscious.

Lin Huang lifted her up by grabbing her neck before he injected a gush of Divine Power into her body to wake her up.

Grandmistress Wei was in despair when she saw the bruised corpse before her. She had no idea that the Master God's will projection had been there. The last thing she saw before she passed out was the bruised corpse killing the Master God's clone.

One must know that the Master God was her god. Upon witnessing her god collapse before her, she lost all strength to fight Lin Huang.

"Look into my eyes," commanded Lin Huang as he lifted Grandmistress Wei's chin. As if a pebble was tossed into the water, a ripple spread in her bloody pupils.

Grandmistress Wei lifted her head without fighting back, locking eyes with Lin Huang.

She froze in the next second. All she could feel was that she had fallen into a bloody sea. She was deep in the water and could not get out of it.

The bruised corpse's eyes had continuous ripples spiraling within then. In less than two minutes, he retrieved all the information in Grandmistress Wei's head.

After retrieving everything in her head, the killing intent in Lin Huang surged even more.

Wei Clan had done many dirty jobs for God Bless. Human trafficking, smuggling young girls, and drug trafficking were just the tip of the iceberg.

Under Grandmistress Wei's control, every business the Wei Clan had ever transacted became God Bless's source of income. They would do anything that could get them money since there was no moral baseline for them at all. Almost everyone in the Wei Clan was involved in dirty business.

'All of you deserve it,' Lin Huang condemned secretly peeping at the Wei Clan's ancient castle that had turned into ruins. He then shifted his focus back to Grandmistress Wei.

In torn clothes, she actually looked pretty attractive. However, Lin Huang was disgusted by her face.

The bruised arm stretched out and pierced through Grandmistress Wei's chest. A moment later, a Godhead appeared between Lin Huang's fingers.

At that second, Grandmistress Wei snapped back to her senses. She stared terrified at the black Godhead in Lin Huang's hand as her vital signs faded.

She heard the bruised corpse talking to her before she lost consciousness completely, "Since little fatty died by your order, you'll pay for his life with yours."

After removing Grandmistress Wei's Emperor's Heart Ring and picking up the god relic battle armor and sword, Lin Huang tossed her corpse aside casually.

Lin Huang summoned Bloody and the Warlord, getting them to summon their armies to clean up the battlefield.

In less than 20 minutes, the two armies swept all of the loots. They did not let go of the buried items in the Wei Clan's ancient castle which had collapsed.

After putting the loots and the Monster Cards away, Lin Huang got the Ninetails Lynx to release Guan Zhong from its alternate dimension.

Guan Zhong could not help but gulp after glancing at Grandmistress Wei and the Master God's clone not far away as well as Lin Huang who appeared unharmed and the bulky bruised corpse next to him.

He was sent into the Ninetails Lynx's alternate dimension when the Master God's clone showed up. He did not see what happened in the battle later on. However, Lin Huang, who stood intact before him, and the dead bodies scattered on the ground proved the result of the battle.

"Master Emperor…" Although he was the vice president of the Union Government's Agency EA, who was on the same rank as the leaders of many organizations, he could not help but hang his head down in shame before Lin Huang at the moment.

"I've taken the loots. Do you have anything to say about that?" Lin Huang looked at Guan Zhong and spoke calmly.

"Nothing. So, the bodies…"

"Since you're investigating God Bless, I'll leave the bodies to you while I take the Godhead. Also, I'll leave the Wei Clan's information for you guys. You'll have to find out the rest on your own."

"Thank you, Master Emperor!" It was Lin Huang who had killed the people after all. He did not even manage to cheer for him earlier.

Even if Lin Huang took the bodies with him, there was nothing he could say. After all, Lin Huang had the power and ability, hence there was no reason for him to give the Union Government any face.

Lin Huang knew that Guan Zhong must have a high-ranking position in the Union Government since he was a Virtual God, so he said, "Also, I hope that you can tell the Union Government not to interrupt my next mission."

"Could you reveal what your next mission is?" Guan Zhong asked immediately.

"I'll head over to Division 1 to kill the other two God's Messengers directly and destroy God Bless's headquarters. You guys can't do anything to them without any valid reason. Am I right? I'll do it for you guys then."

"That's… against the rules…" Guan Zhong looked aghast.

"It'll be days later by the time you guys are done getting the shreds of evidence. The news of the Wei Clan being destroyed will definitely spread today. If we don't get rid of God Bless's headquarters right now, their people will definitely destroy all the evidence when they hear the news. By then, it'll be difficult for the Union Government to do anything to them.

"In order to eradicate a cancer such as God Bless, you sacrificed your time to spy on the Wei Clan for so many years. Isn't this what you want? You guys just have to turn a blind eye and let me handle this. You guys will only be responsible for cleaning up later. I don't see why not!

"Furthermore, this is the last time I'll get involved in this. You guys will handle their divisions after I get rid of the headquarters. I don't have the time for that."

Guan Zhong fell into silence for a moment and nodded eventually. "Sure! We'll do as you say, Master Emperor."

The sky had turned dark when Lin Huang returned to Division 1.

He did not have the time to look at the loots or to go through Xiao Hei's notifications properly.

Instead of returning to Emperor City, he went straight to where God Bless's headquarters was — the Golden City.

Lin Huang knew that the news of the Wei Clan being destroyed would get to God Bless's headquarters very soon. He had to seize every second.

The No. 1A8 Golden City was a grade-A foothold under the Union Government's territory. It was also one of the most prosperous footholds in Division 1.

The main reason for the Golden City's development was that this foothold was the only grade-A foothold that allowed businesses to be run by underground organizations.

In the Golden City, the Union Government would turn a blind eye to underground businesses as long as it did not do anything against the Union Government's laws publicly. In other words, the Union Government would ignore the businesses as long as they did not do anything inappropriate openly.

Perhaps many did not believe that there was such a shady foothold in Divison 1, but it was the truth. It was an agreement between the underground organizations and the Union Government.

The Golden City sounded like a wonderland filled with gold, but in reality, it was a dirty land with a clean surface. There were all sorts of corrupt and unbearable events secretly happening every day.

In the Golden City, God Bless was called the Blessing Trading Company on the surface. Its main business covered all sorts of genetic elixirs manufacturing and sale. Apart from that, they covered hospitals, medical equipment, and health products.

They had land in the middle of the expensive Golden City and it occupied approximately 800,000 square meters of space.

According to Grandmistress Wei's Memory, God Bless's headquarters was hidden under the land.

Lin Huang saw the Blessing Trading Company's building tens of kilometers away as soon as he stepped out of the dimensional portal.

The Blessing Trading Company's headquarters that was more than 800 meters tall was the third tallest building in Golden City. It stood out even in the middle of Golden City. One could see it clearly from far away.

"Master Emperor, please wait for approximately 20 minutes. I'll prepare the energy shield to prevent the battle impact from reaching the people," said Guan Zhong who came with Lin Huang as soon as they stepped out of the dimensional portal.

Lin Huang nodded by way of permission. God Bless was his target, thus it was unnecessary to harm others.

The entire Golden City might be destroyed if he were to allow his God Figurine's Combat Souls to fight as they fancied without any energy shields. Most people below demigod-level might not be able to take the first impact of a battle among Virtual Gods.

Seeing Guan Zhong summon a dimensional portal and step into it, Lin Huang flew in a flash toward the Blessing Trading Company's building.

He arrived in a business district two blocks from the Blessing Trading Company's land in the blink of an eye.

Since he promised Guan Zhong that he would wait for 20 minutes, he did not want to alert the enemies before that.

After all, his face was familiar to the people from God Bless. He would be detected easily with Divine Telekinesis if he got too close.

Meanwhile, the business district before him was a place that many cultivators frequented. Even if he was within the sensing range of the two God Bless God's Messengers, the duo would not use to Divine Telekinesis to scan for nothing.

As he walked into the crowded business district, Lin Huang soon blended in with the people, appearing like a tourist who had just arrived.

He arrived at a sophisticated-looking medicine store when he was halfway through the street. He could not help but lift his head to look at the sign. The word 'Blessing' was written on it.

Lin Huang hesitated. A silhouette came out of nowhere in the alley next to the store just when he was thinking if he should go in.

"Brother, are you looking for genetic elixirs?" A voice came into Lin Huang's ears all of a sudden.

He turned his head and looked to see a skinny, middle-aged man waving at him in the alley next to Blessing's store.

He walked to the middle-aged man with a raised brow. "Do you sell genetic elixirs?"

"That's right. It's Blessing's elixir, but it's 30% cheaper than the store." The middle-aged man took out a few tubes of elixirs in various colors from his storage space.

"It's so much cheaper. It has to be fake!" Lin Huang raised his suspicion.

"I can guarantee that they're all authentic. It came from Blessing's production line directly. They're cheap because there's no tax and operating fees. To be honest, the profit I'm making from selling to you at a 30% discount is even higher than selling them in the store."

"You said they came from the production line. How would I know if they're authentic?" Lin Huang questioned suspiciously.

"We support product authenticity verification. The store is just next door, so you can verify them after purchasing the product."

"You'll be gone after I've paid and gotten the product. How can I possibly find you if they happen to be fake after the verification?" Lin Huang stood his ground.

"How about this? I'll bring you to Blessing's production line to collect the stuff if you're buying in bulk. They have to be authentic that way, right?" the middle-aged man said.

"So, how many do I have to purchase to be able to collect them from the production line?" Lin Huang asked immediately.

"At least 100 tubes." The middle-aged man named his number.

"100 is a little too much… How about 80? I don't have that much money." Lin Huang looked troubled.

"Alright then, 80. Follow me!" The middle-aged man nodded right away and waved at Lin Huang. He then turned around and walked into the alley.

Lin Huang followed him immediately.

He wanted to see what the man was doing exactly. He did not believe that Blessing had such a sales model.

Although the tax and operating fees were high, the daily traffic at the store would be so much higher than the man soliciting sales that way. It was impossible for Blessing to make such low-efficiency sales for the sake of a measly profit.

In the beginning, Lin Huang thought the man was not someone from Blessing. He must be someone who had Blessing's products for some reason and was selling them secretly.

However, he just realized it was not as simple as he thought while he walked to Blessing's building with the man and entered the factory.

The man was clearly from Blessing. However, theoretically, it was impossible that Blessing would do such soliciting. The only possibility was that the middle-aged man had another purpose of getting him into Blessing!

What surprised Lin Huang was that the man really did take him around the production line. His act was thorough.

As they were done visiting the production line, the middle-aged man smiled and said to Lin Huang, "What do you think? I told you that I work at Blessing and you didn't believe me. Do you believe me now?"

"Yes, yes, I believe you," Lin Huang assured immediately, "So, how do we go about the deal?

"The goods in the production line haven't been sent to the warehouse yet. Follow me to the underground warehouse. We'll deal there. If you're still unconvinced after the deal, you can bring them to test at the store since it's nearby," the middle-aged man said.

"Sure!" Lin Huang agreed right away and followed him to the elevator.

The middle-aged man pressed 'B1', but the elevator was still moving after descending for half a minute. Lin Huang figured that something odd was happening.

"Isn't it B1? Why is it taking so long?" Lin Huang asked on purpose. Anyone else would definitely be suspicious if it took so long.

"Due to the cargo demands, this elevator is a little slow. Our underground warehouse is massive, so it takes a long time to get there. Don't worry. We'll arrive soon." The elevator finally stopped just when the middle-aged man was done speaking.

Lin Huang walked out of the elevator behind him.

He looked around to find that it was empty. It was clearly not a warehouse.

"Didn't you say we're going to the warehouse? This can't be the warehouse."

"Of course, this isn't the warehouse." The middle-aged man turned around and grinned maliciously.

At that moment, a silhouette sneaked up behind Lin Huang. Almost at the same time, a burgundy silhouette with a sword appeared behind Lin Huang out of thin air.

When the man swung his sword, the sneaky assassinator was killed from the attack that came without warning. His body was sliced into half and he fell onto the ground.

The man in burgundy armor holding a sword then turned around and stood next to Lin Huang. He looked at the middle-aged man before him smugly.

"So, can you tell me why you've brought me here now?" Lin Huang put both of his hands into his pockets and revealed a harmless smile.

"This room in the underground is exclusively for people to take care of those who they've deceived. When people are lured here, they'll be beaten until they're unconscious, then their clothes and Emperor's Heart Ring will be taken away. They'll be sedated, cleansed and sterilized. Eventually, they'll be given a Life Power inhibitor shot and put into custom-made cages as test subjects.

"The people who are captured can't fight back at all since they'll be given a Life Power inhibitor shot every day. Moreover, the cages are made of monster bones and metal. Even an imperial-level powerhouse could hardly break it.

"The stubborn ones who fight back will be killed in front of the rest. The rest of them will feel numb eventually and give up fighting, accepting their fate of being test subjects."

Lin Huang finally found out the middle-aged man's real purpose after getting Bloody to read his mind.

There was a specific bunch of people in the Blessing Trading Company who would use the excuse of selling genetic elixirs at cheaper price as bait. The victims who were lured would be trapped by the company like lab rats, allowing them to run all sorts of tests on them.

Naturally, the baiting act was not the Blessing Trading Company's main supply of test subjects. Their main test subjects came from the human trafficking business through black markets. They would look for sources from other channels if the black markets had insufficient supply. The con job Lin Huang encountered was merely one of the supply channels.

The killing intent in Lin Huang spiked after finding that out.

Just when he was going to kill the middle-aged man before him, Bloody's voice came into his ears through voice transmission all of a sudden. "Don't destroy him just yet. The God Messengers' territory will definitely sense something off if you kill too many. We should think of a way to get to the B2 floor to save Chan Dou before our identity is exposed."

Bloody's urging soon calmed Lin Huang down. He put the battle sword in his hand away after taking a glance at the middle-aged man who looked blank before him.

Bloody then began explaining to him through voice transmission, "According to this middle-aged man's memory, there are a total of three floors in the underground of the Blessing Trading Company.

"The first floor is the one that we're currently on. It's mainly for experiments and the modification of living things. The main purpose is to create human warfare weapons that will obey orders. The second floor is a prison for living materials. Not only is it a prison for humans with special skills, but there are also some unique monsters. The third floor is the core floor where God Bless's headquarters located. All major God Bless meetings are held here and all the core information are also stored in this floor. The Master God's clone and the two God Bless God's Messengers live here too.

"Looking at Grandmistress Wei's memory, Chan Dou should be kept on the second floor. Only a handful of people in the entire the Blessing Trading Company has access to the second floor."

"Can't I just go there in specter form?" Lin Huang asked.

"You can't. The Master God set up many barriers in the entire underground. Besides blocking out the Divine Telekinesis detection coming from the ground, each underground level is blocked. Specter's spirit form can't pass through these barriers. Furthermore, the two God's Messengers who control the barriers will sense it as soon as you touch the barrier. The only way of not getting exposed is through the regular channel, which is the elevator."

"So, we need someone who has access to the second floor? And go there with his identity?" Lin Huang figured Bloody's plan out.

"Yes, there happens to be someone like that on this floor."

Lin Huang nodded and agreed after hearing Bloody's plan.

After putting the body on the floor away, he recalled Lancelot into its card form.

Bloody controlled the middle-aged man, who was parasitized, to get a white coat for Lin Huang. As Lin Huang put on the face mask, his eyes were the only thing that was showing, so nobody knew how he looked like. He walked out of the room just like that.

He turned left as he came out of the room and walked straight along the corridor.

He stopped walking when he arrived at the end of the corridor before a room on his right. He said to the people inside, "Is Sir Chen here?"

"He went to the cage room," a man in white coat replied casually.

"You need an ID card to enter the cage room," Bloody reminded him through voice transmission.

"Oh, thanks." Lin Huang thanked him while smiling. He stretched his Divine Telekinesis out and stole the person's ID card from his chest secretly. He then turned around and walked to the cage room.

The Sir Chen that he mentioned was the person-in-charge of the current floor they were on. He was also the only person who had access to the second floor. Apart from that, he was also the disciple to the person-in-charge of the second floor, Wang Lao.

The cage room the man in the white coat mentioned was the lab to test living things on the first underground floor.

Soon, Lin Huang arrived at the entrance of the cage room according to the middle-aged man's memory.

After he scanned the ID card he stolen on the sensor at the door, the door to the cage room opened automatically. He walked in and clipped the ID card on his chest casually.

The room was massive with endless black metal cages stacked in the room. There were at least 10,000 cages in his field of vision.

Most of the cages were empty. Only a quarter of them had living things in them. The living things captured in the cages were riled up when they heard someone coming in.

It was the cage room on the first underground floor. Apart from the regular eating and shitting time twice a day as well as the occasional lab test, these test subjects were kept here at all times.

As Lin Huang scanned through the cages with his Divine Telekinesis, he found out that there were over 3,000 living things in there. Most of them were in human form, and some of them even retained their human parts.

He saw a few female monsters who obviously had pert breasts. Some of the monsters clearly had human faces and skin, making them appear like humans with abnormal growth. However, most of them had lost their human characteristics.

Furthermore, the living things in those cages seemed to have experienced severe intelligence deterioration as they moved like wild beasts. All of them looked like they had an instinct to attack.

"None of these living things in the cages are in the monster guide. They're most probably new species modified from humans," Bloody voiced its speculation.

"God Bless!" Lin Huang clenched his fists angrily. Although he had heard of such organizations in the Golden City much earlier, he was boiling in rage when he witnessed these modified monsters with his own eyes.

At that second, a silhouette walked out of the darkness not far away. Lin Huang contained his emotions and walked up to the person.

He called out before the person spoke, "Sir Chen, you're here."

"You are…?" A man wearing golden-framed glasses looked at Lin Huang in confusion. Although Lin Huang was wearing a mask, his voice and face were unfamiliar. However, he did not figure that an outsider had invaded. Instead, he was trying to figure out who the person was.

Lin Huang arrived in front of him just when he was contemplating to himself. Bloody stretched a tentacle from Lin Huang's sleeve and wound it around his neck.

In the next second, it released its tentacle. The man in the glasses froze.

Lin Huang removed his face mask and took out a golden mask from his storage space. When he put the mask on, his appearance soon looked exactly like the man in the glasses.

Lin Huang removed the man's golden-framed glasses and put them on. He then removed the ID card on the man's chest and clipped it on himself.

Just when he was done with the disguise, Bloody stretched a tentacle out and put it on his forehead. It transferred the man's memory to Lin Huang after arranging it.

The door to the cage room opened a moment later. A man in glasses wearing a white coat walked out and headed towards the elevator.

After entering the elevator, Lin Huang scanned the ID card, then verified his fingerprints and irises of both eyes. The elevator descended to the second floor.

He was relieved to have passed through all the verification processes.

Approximately ten seconds later, the elevator arrived at the second underground floor. Lin Huang then walked out of it.

Following the memory of the man in the glasses, Lin Huang walked towards the observation room where Chan Dou was captured.

He bumped into a few men in white coats along the way. Lin Huang followed the man in the glasses' habit whereby he ignored them directly.

He saw an old man with gray hair and two middle-aged men working on something as he walked into the observation room.

"Sir," Lin Huang greeted the old man and turned his head to look at the room behind the observation glass.

There was a naked, muscular man who had all his limbs bound by black shackles in the room. Even his neck was locked.

There were all sorts of wounds on his body. He had clearly gone through inhumane torment.

There was a black monster that looked like mud stuck on his shaved head. It seemed to be hurting him, causing him to struggle and groan.

Lin Huang's eyes turned bitter upon seeing Chan Dou's devastating state.

"Why did you come today?" Wang Lao's voice echoed behind Lin Huang. He sounded pretty surprised.

"The new toxin lab report is out. I went to your office earlier, but you weren't there, so I figured you should be here." Lin Huang swiveled around while smiling. "How is it so far? Is there any progress?"

"It's progressing really slowly. The god item in his body is very powerful and has been protecting his consciousness, preventing him from collapsing. I've been getting the Rotten Soul Beast to insert all sorts of spiritual toxins into his body. However, with that god item, the corroded part of his soul has been regenerating each day.

"But I heard the new spiritual toxin that you guys have developed has a pretty astounding effect. I'll take a look at the report later and see if I can add it in."

"I'll send you the report," Lin Huang responded and walked to Wang Lao while grinning.

Bloody stretched a tentacle from Lin Huang's sleeve all of a sudden when he stood still before the old man. It turned into a pile of gooey mess stuck on his face directly. It sealed his mouth and nose, stopping him from releasing any sound.

Wang Lao stood at an angle where his back was facing the two other people in the lab. He blocked Bloody's action completely, so the two researchers who were not cultivators did not notice anything off at all.

After casting a parasite on Wang Lao, Lin Huang walked past him and headed toward the two people in the lab.

He patted their shoulders while smiling. "Thanks for your hard work."

Almost at the same time, Bloody stretched its tentacle again and completed the parasitization.

The reason Bloody used close-range parasitization instead of Leech Pods was that Leech Pods could be detected within the territory of powerhouses above imperial-level. To prevent their identities from being exposed, Bloody could only perform close-range parasitization which was slightly more troublesome.

The parasitized Wang Lao opened the door to the room where Chan Dou was captured under Bloody's control. Lin Huang followed behind him.

Almost at the same time that the duo walked into the room, the Rotten Soul Beast extended its tentacles toward the both of them. However, it was immediately swallowed by the Undead Styx that Lin Huang had summoned.

Lin Huang removed the shackles on Chan Dou's body and took a blanket out from his storage space to cover his body up. He then got the Ninetails Lynx to send him into its alternate dimension.

The Rotten Soul Beast was dead, but the remnants of the spiritual toxin in Chan Dou's body did not vanish right away. It would take time for it to get out of his system, so Chan Dou would be unconscious for a while.

A voice came out of nowhere just when Lin Huang sent Chan Dou into the alternate dimension.

"I thought some rat came to our base. I didn't know it's someone so important!"

Lin Huang did not expect to be exposed, but he was not entirely surprised. The person must have done something to Chan Dou and found out that something was off as soon as Chan Dou disappeared. Lin Huang did a quick check on himself with his Divine Telekinesis and found that his disguise was perfectly fine.

Two silhouettes soon appeared not far away from him.

One of them had a muscular body with a stiff expression and a strong aura. The other looked sullen with an unfathomable aura.

Lin Huang soon found out about the duo's identity through Grandmistress Wei's memories.

The muscular one was called Gao Ming while the sullen one was called Qi Shihan. The duo had a combat strength of Virtual God rank-3 which was even more powerful than Grandmistress Wei.

"If I'm not mistaken, you should be the Emperor Dynasty, aren't you?" Qi Shihan's tone sounded like he was taunting Lin Huang. "Why are you here in my Blessing Trading Company in the middle of the night?"

"Ah, it's great that you recognize me. I can save time introducing myself." Lin Huang had to stall since Guan Zhong had yet to come back to him. Clearly, he was not done building the energy shield.

"Did you ask why I'm here in the Blessing Trading Company in the middle of the night? I didn't want to come, but it was your staff who invited me here. I saw a store in the business district earlier, and I wanted to go in. There was a guy in the alley next to the store who told me that he's your staff and that I could get 30% off on the elixir if I buy it from him. He even enthusiastically invited me to visit your production line. In the end, he brought me underground after the visit was done. Someone even attacked me, so I killed the person. I couldn't find the exit for a long time and ended up on this floor for some reason."

"It seems like both of you are the Blessing Trading Company leaders. You guys should know how do I get out of this horrible place. Am I right?"

The duo looked dumbfounded after being mocked by Lin Huang. They finally found out how he had sneaked in, and they also knew that he was playing dumb.

"He's stalling. He might have partners," Gao Ming spoke through a voice transmission, "His partners might have blended in with the staff, so it'll take time for us to check one by one."

"Lock the place down to prevent them from escaping. I'll bring him up to lure his partners out! His identity is rather sensitive. We must kill everyone who came with him. Spare nobody's lives!" Qi Shihan replied through voice transmission.

The voice transmission ended with them merely locking eyes.

Gao Ming disappeared right away while Qi Shihan forced a smile. "I see. Let me send you out, Master Emperor." Qi Shihan brought Lin Huang to the elevator as he spoke.

With plans of their own, Qi Shihan and Lin Huang remained silent in the elevator. None of them spoke again.

Lin Huang's Emperor's Heart Ring vibrated all of a sudden when the elevator arrived on the first floor and they walked out.

It was a message from Guan Zhong whom he just added into his contact list. There were only two words in the message: 'It's done!'

Next to him, Qi Shihan peeped at the screen. He did not understand what the two words meant. However, he had a bad omen upon seeing the smirk on Lin Huang's lips.

At that moment, Lin Huang turned around and looked at him. He smirked. "Your Master God asked me to send his regards. He wants to tell you that he's doing great down there, but he's lacking two strong men to serve him."

Qi Shihan and Gao Ming were petrified when they heard what Lin Huang said.

Both of them knew that the Master God's clone had left to handle something not long ago, but they had no idea where he went.

They did not think of much when they saw Lin Huang. However, they were concerned when they heard him mention their Master God.

The Master God had just left less than 20 minutes ago and Lin Huang came to them coincidentally. Besides exposing the existence of God Bless and the Master God, he even knew where Chan Dou was captured. They could not help but suspect that something had happened to the Master God.

'Could Mr. Fu be the one who attacked?' The duo looked at each other with the same thought flashing through their minds almost at the same time.

They knew that the Master God's clone had a combat strength of Virtual God rank-9, and there were very few powerhouses in this gravel world who could fight him. Among those countable powerhouses, Mr. Fu, who was Lin Huang's master, was the only person who was related to him.

The duo spread their Divine Telekinesis as they thought of this detail. They were searching for all the possibilities.

Naturally, they could not detect Mr. Fu from the hunt. However, Guan Zhong and the other two Union Government Virtual Gods were completely exposed.

Qi Shihan and Gao Ming were getting more and more concerned after sensing three Virtual Gods hiding nearby.

Lin Huang summoned three God Figurine's Combat Souls which were the Destructive Divine Mammoth, the Ninetails Lynx, and the Enchanted Fairy as soon as he was done speaking.

However, what Lin Huang did next confused Qi Shihan and Gao Ming.

'Is he using his few imperial beasts as bait? I guess the three Virtual Gods hiding nearby will attack us as soon as we move an inch.'

The duo saw through Lin Huang's plan like a piece of cake. They had their guard up against the three Virtual Gods hiding nearby, and they did not want to attack first.

Lin Huang had no idea that Guan Zhong and the rest were exposed. He felt puzzled when the two God Bless God's Messengers did nothing to him despite what he said earlier.

The confused thought flashed by his mind and vanished. Lin Huang then gave the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the Ninetails Lynx his orders right away.

He could unleash hell since Guan Zhong had completed the setup of the energy shield.

The Ninetails Lynx could no longer wait and disappeared in a flash as soon as it heard the order.

The Destructive Divine Mammoth did not go after it. Instead, he stood where he was and lifted his front feet high. He stomped hard after releasing a long, deafening shriek.

The gigantic feet came from the sky like two pillars, they were stomping above the two God's Messengers' heads.

Until then, Qi Shihan and Gao Ming, who initially ignored the three God Figurine's Combat Souls, had a dramatic change of expression.

The duo clearly sensed the intense danger coming from the Destructive Divine Mammoth's attack. Just when they were about to dodge, they realized they could no longer move.

It was the effect of the Destructive Divine Mammoth's power. As long as the opponents were not more powerful than him, they basically could not break away from the seal.

As the grayish-black gigantic feet that seemed like pillars consolidated in the air, a white silhouette passed by the duo.

Almost at the same time, Qi Shihan and Gao Ming's clothes were all torn. The god relic battle armors in their bodies were revealed automatically, protecting their bodies.

Divine Power was rushing into their god relic battle armor as the deafening noise of thousands of dense metal colliding roared. The armor blocked the attack head-on.

The attack that came out of nowhere jolted the both of them, and their backs were drenched in sweat.

They only saw a white silhouette pass by, but they did not see how it attacked at all. What was even scarier was that the silhouette's single blow had drained close to a fifth of the Divine Power in their bodies.

The white silhouette that zoomed by was naturally Lin Huang's God Figurine's Combat Soul, the Ninetails Lynx.

Clearly, the little white cat was upset that its maximum effort attack was obstructed by the god relic battle armor on their bodies. It wanted to defeat them before the Destructive Divine Mammoth did.

The Ninetails Lynx manifested itself in the air when its attack was to no avail.

It had hair as white as snow, and it was only the size of a palm. It looked like a cute, harmless animal that any animal lover would want to pet.

However, Qi Shihan and Gao Ming had no intention of petting the cat at all. They looked terrified and worried when they looked at this cute, little creature.

Just when the duo was shocked by the Ninetails Lynx's ability, two giant pillars came from the sky. They stomped above the duo's heads, and it was as if an elephant was trampling on two ants.

The grayish-black silhouette came down like a mountain collapsing. The duo's Divine Power rushed out and collided with the two gigantic legs above their heads.

The enormous legs collided with their sword glows in the blink of an eye.

Two dazzling white glows lit up at the collision point. The impact of the Divine Power and Life Power spread towards all directions as endless wind energy blew all around.

The buildings within the Blessing Trading Company's property were crushed into dust. However, thanks to a layer of energy shield outside the land, nothing else was impacted at all.

Meanwhile, a white crystal arc wall consolidated around Lin Huang's body that was situated in the middle of the battlefield. All the impact of the energy and the wind were blocked.

It was naturally the Enchanted Fairy next to him who had done that.

The jaws of the two Virtual Gods, who were responsible for holding up the shield, dropped as they witnessed the battle outside the shield.

Never had he thought that the two imperial-level purple gold-rank imperial beasts could fight two God Bless Virtual God rank-3s head-on. Furthermore, they clearly had the upper hand.

Watching the battle aside, Guan Zhong had a rather complicated expression on his face. He had witnessed Lin Huang destroying the Wei Clan before. Although he did not watch the battle with the Master God, he did witness the ability of Lin Huang's 'imperial beasts'. He was shocked to watch the 'imperial beasts' fight again as an outsider.

Apart from that, he secretly exclaimed about how Dynasty had played their cards right by getting Lin Huang to be their Emperor.

Although he did not want to see Dynasty rising in the Union Government's shoes, that was almost a sure case. He just hoped that Lin Huang could take everyone into consideration as an Emperor because he did not want a war to break out among the people.

For the sake of building a solid relationship with Lin Huang, he ignored the Union Government's rules and allowed Lin Huang to carry on with his mission secretly. He even became an accomplice, getting people to help build the energy shield. If the Emperor was just a mediocre person, prohibiting the mission aside, it would be nice of him not to put the person into the Union Prison.

In the battlefield, Lin Huang was not sure if he should laugh or cry. The opponents were Virtual God rank-3s after all, which was the reason why Lin Huang had gotten both his God Figurine's Combat Souls, the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth, to fight them. His initial plan was to get them to fight one-on-one. In the end, the two God Figurine's Combat Souls chose to fight both of them. In addition to that, they went all out as soon as they attacked.

Qi Shihan and Gao Ming's performance rendered him speechless. Their jaws dropped upon seeing the two imperial beasts' ability at the beginning of the battle. Almost half of their Divine Power was drained after merely one match.

"We can't be slacking like this. The duo is clearly quadruple mutated mythical-level monsters. Their abilities are too terrifying. Our Divine Power will be completely drained if they attack again! We must kill Lin Huang as soon as we can!" Qi Shihan hissed to Gao Ming in a panicked tone through voice transmission.

"There's another monster guarding him. It's probably also a quadruple mutated monster. I'm afraid it'll be hard to kill." Gao Ming frowned, seeming rather beaten. Both of them never expected Lin Huang's imperial beasts to be so powerful.

"I'll distract the guard and lure the three imperial beasts to attack me. However, you'll only have one chance to attack. I won't have any Divine Power left to defend the next attack if you fail. They won't be lured the second time." Qi Shihan's expression was extremely grim as he warned him.

"Understood!"

The two dazzling white glows dimmed gradually. The two God Bless God's Messengers did not look like they were in the best shape.

The two God Figurine's Combat Souls' single attack had drained almost half of their Divine Power.

Qi Shihan moved before the white glows faded completely. He was going after Lin Huang.

Although the Enchanted Fairy was guarding the front of Lin Huang, the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth left Gao Ming behind anyway and went after Qi Shihan in an attempt to stop him.

Qi Shihan shook his body and released hundreds of clones that charged at Lin Huang from different directions.

The Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth attacked the hundreds of clones one after another, but they did not find Qi Shihan himself.

The Enchanted Fairy waved her sleeve upon seeing that the clones were arriving before Lin Huang. The area hundreds of kilometers before Lin Huang turned into a snowfield.

The clones turned into ice sculptures, and only one silhouette broke out among the ice sculptures. It was running away quickly in the opposite direction, appearing to flee.

The Enchanted Fairy went after it without hesitation.

Right at that moment, a muscular silhouette appeared behind Lin Huang. The battle sword in his hand turned into a bloody glow and aimed towards Lin Huang's waist.

The bloody sword glow froze all of a sudden when it was approximately a meter away from him.

Then, he stepped out and flashed hundreds of meters away.

Only then did the frozen red glow penetrate where Lin Huang was originally standing.

Lin Huang, who was completely unharmed hundreds of meters away, turned around slowly with a smirk at Gao Ming who had attacked him sneakily.

"Did you really think I didn't take my personal safety into consideration? You thought I only got the Enchanted Fairy to protect me, didn't you?" Lin Huang stretched his palm out as he spoke. A golden clock hovered above his palm.

It was Lin Huang's God's Figurine's Combat Soul, the Creation Clock.

He did not actually just summon the Creation Clock. Instead, he had summoned it at the same time when he summoned the Ninetails Lynx in the beginning. It was just that he got the Ninetails Lynx to send the Creation Clock into its alternate dimension.

The Creation Clock had been watching the battle in the alternate dimension. When it saw Gao Ming attack, it penetrated the alternate dimension with the Ninetails Lynx's paw print and blocked the attack.

Due to restriction on its combat strength, the Creation Clock could not use many of its powerful abilities at that moment. However, its limited abilities could constrain many powerhouses.

The technique used to defend Gao Ming was called the Time Gully. It targeted the area behind Lin Huang and slowed time down by a million times. That was the reason why the sword glow froze in the middle of the action.

After Lin Huang dodged the attack, the Creation Clock removed the effect, so the sword glow went back to its normal attack speed.

Naturally, Lin Huang would not mention the Creation Clock's secret to his opponent.

Just when Gao Ming was going to attack again due to his missed shot, the Ninetails Lynx began attacking him. It slapped his face hard and shot him out.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Qi Shihan, whose Divine Power was drained, was completely frozen into an ice sculpture by the Enchanted Fairy. Although he was not dead yet, his vital signs were deteriorating.

His earlier attack was fancy as he had released the clones first to pretend to attack Lin Huang and pretended to run to lure the Enchanted Fairy away.

As he was chased by the three God Figurine's Combat Souls, he managed to summon his God's Figurine's Combat Soul in time. He defended himself from the three God Figurine's Combat Souls' fierce attack, preventing his death on the spot.

However, his fancy technique did not stop the three God Figurine's Combat Souls from suppressing him together. His Divine Power drained eventually and the Enchanted Fairy turned him into an ice sculpture.

After tossing the frozen Qi Shihan at Lin Huang's feet, the Enchanted Fairy followed behind the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth to join in the fight against Gao Ming.

Gao Ming ran for his life looking troubled. He knew that the battle on Qi Shin's side had ended when he saw the Ninetails Lynx.

Qi Shihan merely held on for less than three seconds under the duress of Lin Huang's three imperial beasts.

Without even thinking, Gao Ming gave up the thought of fighting Lin Huang and fled immediately.

However, in the next second, he realized that the area around the Blessing Trading Company had been sealed. The layer of shield killed his last hope of running for his life. He swung his sword at the shield, appearing ferocious as he attempted to shatter the shield to run for his life.

As the sword glow powered up, the shield went through a tremor as if there was an earthquake. However, it did not shatter.

Gao Ming's eyes lit up when he saw that. So, the shield was not as powerful as he thought.

Just when he was going to swing his sword to break the shield again, a giant pillar locked onto him from the sky.

The Destructive Divine Mammoth in the black armor that was not far away stared at him coldly. It then stomped both its feet.

At the same time, the Ninetails Lynx and the Enchanted Fairy tore forward at the same time.

The god relic armor on Gao Ming's body merely held on for approximately a second and went back into his body. His Divine Power drained out and he turned into an ice sculpture from the white crystal-like snow.

In less than three minutes, Lin Huang had killed two Virtual God rank-3 powerhouses.

Watching this, Guan Zhong forced a smile. The two Virtual Gods, who were responsible for holding the defense up, were shocked.

In the beginning, they thought Gao Ming was weak since he had been suppressed by three imperial beasts. However, the sword Gao Ming charged earlier proved that he was definitely one of the top powerhouses in this gravel world.

The shield was made of a god item. The duo was only responsible for maintaining it by inserting Divine Power.

However, Gao Ming's single swing of his sword drained half of the Divine Power in their bodies. One could imagine that his ability surpassed the duo by heaps. However, such a powerhouse could not even hold on for a minute when facing the three imperial beasts.

Looking at the two ice sculptures that were tossed in front of him, Lin Huang summoned the Warlord. "Grab the loot."

The Warlord released thousands of mechanical puppets and began searching for loots.

Meanwhile, Lin Huang took the bruised corpse out and synced his consciousness with it.

The bruised corpse soon opened its bloody eyes and pressed the frozen Gao Ming's head. The white ice melted right away, exposing the head.

Gao Ming heard a voice in his ears as his weak consciousness just woke up. "Look into my eyes."

In the next second, his consciousness was completely drowned in a bloody sea.

A moment later, Lin Huang stretched his arm out, penetrating the ice directly. He pierced his hand into Gao Ming's chest and took a gray Godhead out.

As he let go of his hand that was squeezing Gao Ming's head, the half-frozen body collapsed to the ground.

The bruised corpse then turned around and held onto Qi Shin's head, pulling it up. After repeating the same steps, he let go of his hand and tossed Qi Shin's body onto the ground.

Lin Huang spread his Divine Telekinesis out after getting the Enchanted Fairy to defrost both bodies. He took out the duo's Emperor's Heart Rings and god relic battle armors that came out. He picked all of the weapons up and put them away in his storage space.

A Virtual God outside the shield could not help but ask Guan Zhong, "I'll turn a blind eye to him killing everyone, but how are we supposed to get the information from the God Bless God's Messengers if he's taking the Emperor's Heart Rings?"

"I've already discussed this with the Emperor. He'll take the loot while we'll have the information. He'll send us the information after the unlocking is done," Guan Zhong explained, feeling rather helpless. He had no authority in the matter at all, so he dared not ask for it even if Lin Huang refused to give him the information.

The Virtual Gods said nothing else after hearing that.

Saved A Sum of Processing Fee

Destroying God Bless's headquarters was much easier than Lin Huang imagined.

After all, Wu Mo and he had gotten rid of the biggest trouble in the battle back in Division 2, which were the Master God's clone and the Master God's will projection.

The most powerful beings at God Bless's headquarters were just the two Virtual God rank-3 God's Messengers. Their ability was pretty similar to the Grandmistress. Naturally, it was easy for Lin Huang to kill them.

Meanwhile, the Blessing Trading Company and God Bless's headquarters were completely destroyed as a result of the virtual god-level battle. Not only did the Blessing Trading Company's building which was the third highest in Golden City collapse, but the other buildings around also turned to dust. Even the three levels deep in the underground were completely destroyed.

The God Bless members in the buildings were killed by the impact of the battle. Lin Huang scanned the structure with his Divine Telekinesis, but he did not find a single living thing around the entire property.

Approximately half an hour later, Guan Zhong only walked in after seeing that Lin Huang was done searching for the loot and had even recalled his imperial beasts.

"Like always, I'll take the loot and you can have the bodies and the information." Lin Huang nodded at Guan Zhong. He knew Guan Zhong was fulfilling his promise since he only walked in after he was done searching for the loot.

"God Bless only has their branch broken at the moment, but their roots are much deeper than we can ever imagine. It's not news that they're scattered in all of the other organizations with their influence. It's best that you guys check your Union Government departments and get rid of the spies. We'll have to eradicate everyone in God Bless, or else, they'll bounce back again.

"God Bless's ultimate goal is to bring their Master God back. Their Master God is a ninth-rank True God, so it'll definitely be a deadly catastrophe for us if he really comes. Even if he's rejected by this gravel world, he should be able to stay until he has killed all the rebels."

Guan Zhong responded to Lin Huang's reminder.

"We'll take note of whatever Master Emperor said but is it possible if you provide us some help?"

"What kind of help do you need?" Lin Huang asked while raising his brow.

"The spies name list." Guan Zhong did not bother to beat around the bush and told what he most desired. "I suppose you've retrieved the memories of the three God's Messengers before you killed them, haven't you? If I guessed correctly, there should be a list of spies who went into the Union Government in their memories."

"Won't you retrieve their memories when you brought back the bodies? Is it necessary to get a list from me now?" Lin Huang asked.

"It's necessary indeed." Guan Zhong nodded while explaining in all seriousness, "It takes time to break into a corpse's memory. There might be a loss of information during the process of memory retrieval. In comparison, the memories that you read are much more complete."

"I'm just worried what those spies will do when they hear about God Bless being destroyed."

"Will you believe the list that I give you? Aren't you afraid that I'll give you a fake list to sabotage the Union Government?" Lin Huang asked while grinning.

"We'll verify it. It's impossible for us to execute with one name list alone," Guan Zhong explained honestly.

"Alright then. I'll give you the list but it's not free," Lin Huang said and named his condition, "After you guys are done investigating God Bless, send me a complete copy of the report. I want the report with the highest authorization."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I can promise you that," Guan Zhong agreed.

"I'll send you the list after I've sorted it out."

"So… Shall we take over the rest now?" Guan Zhong asked Lin Huang.

"Please take over," Lin Huang replied.

Just when he was summoning his dimensional portal to leave, he stopped walking out of the blue and turned his head to ask Guan Zhong, "The intel department of your Union Government should be able to unlock Emperor's Heart Rings. Am I right? Can you unlock a batch of rings for me for free?"

Guan Zhong looked puzzled upon hearing the request. He thought to himself, 'Do you really lack money to pay for the processing fee?'

However, it was merely a thought. Guan Zhong still promised to do that for him.

Unlocking Emperor's Heart Rings was not difficult, and the Union Government would do it once almost every month. It was no different adding Lin Huang's batch to the monthly activity line-up.

Lin Huang was delighted to hear the firm answer. He had gotten quite a number of Emperor's Heart Rings from God Bless this round, and there should be a load of good stuff in them. After all, those were everything God Bless had accumulated for hundreds of years. The processing fee would definitely be high if he got someone to unlock them for him. Getting the Union Government to do it for him for free would mean him saving a hefty sum of processing fees.

"I won't disturb your work. Remember to contact me to unlock the Emperor's Heart Rings when you're done with your stuff," Lin Huang said and summoned a dimensional portal which he stepped into.

Guan Zhong only called out to the two Virtual Gods after seeing that Lin Huang had disappeared, "You guys can remove the energy shield now. Change it to an illusion shield to prevent people from coming in. Also, the longer the shield can maintain, the better. Don't tell anyone about God Bless being destroyed. Just drag it out as long as you can."

"Then, get people to clean this ruins as soon as possible and sort out the information from here."

Guan Zhong then fell into busy mode.

It was midnight when Lin Huang returned to Emperor City. Huang Tianfu was relieved to see him finally return after having gone missing for a day.

However, he looked rather surprised when he took the Star Titan's ring from Lin Huang because the Star Titan was damaged pretty badly.

However, since it was a god relic airship, it would fix itself as long as sufficient Divine Power was provided.

Huang Tianfu was not upset that the airship was damaged. He was just surprised and wondered what kind of opponent Lin Huang had encountered which resulted in such destruction.

He did not know that the Star Titan was not attacked since the beginning until the end. It was just 'baptized' by the impact of the two true god-level powerhouses' battle.

After returning the airship filled with Divine Stones to Huang Tianpu while feeling sorry, Lin Huang turned around and returned to his Emperor Palace.

The first thing he did as soon as he sat on the throne was neither to look at the loot nor glimpse at the card. Instead, he got the Ninetails Lynx to release Chan Dou from its alternate dimension.

Lin Huang frowned slightly after seeing that Chan Dou, who was wrapped in a blanket, was still out of it.

"Is Chan Dou going to be okay?"

"His soul has been corroded by the Rotten Soul Beast's spiritual toxin for a long time. Judging by the speed of his recovery, it'll take at least half a month for him to wake up. Moreover, due to his soul that's so severely damaged, he might suffer from a certain level of memory loss," the stone tablet's voice came calmly.

"Memory loss…" Lin Huang scowled. "Can it be recovered?"

"I'm not sure about that. Soul damages are rather complicated. If the memory root is affected, it's impossible to fix no matter what.

"Theoretically, it can be fixed if it's just the projection of memory root in his consciousness, but determining how long it would take to recover depends on his body and the level of damage. Maybe a few days if it's short and decades if it's long. It could even go up to 100 years."

Lin Huang fell into deep thought after hearing the stone tablet's uncertain answer. He gave up the thought of sending Chan Dou home.

He figured there might be God Bless spies in the Chan Clan when Chan Dou had been attacked back then.

Now that he was in a coma, it would mean that he had lost the ability to protect himself. If Lin Huang were to send him back just like that, Chan Dou would be at risk, so it would be safer to keep him in Dynasty instead.

Lin Huang had made up his mind to place Chan Dou at Dynasty for the time being. He would decide if he should send him home when he woke up. He then asked two guards to come after glancing at the man wrapped in the blanket with a filthy face.

"Clean him up and bring some clean clothes. The fewer people know about this, the better."

The reason why Lin Huang added the last sentence was that Chan Dou's face was familiar to many. If too many people saw him, the news might spread outside Dynasty. By then, Chan Dou's presence in Dynasty would be exposed and it might even cause many to think it was Dynasty who had captured him.

However, the two guards had no idea about that at all. They realized it was a man wrapped in the blanket and he obviously was not properly dressed. They gawked rather awkwardly at Lin Huang.

After getting the two guards to bring Chan Dou away, Lin Huang thought about it and asked Xiao Mo to come.

As he chatted with Xiao Mo for a while, the guards brought Chan Dou, who was cleaned up and dressed, back to the Emperor Palace.

Lin Huang only said to Xiao Mo after getting rid of the guards, "You'll be responsible for this guy's safety for the next half a month or so. I don't trust anyone else to do that."

Xiao Mo turned his head and looked at Chan Dou who was lying on the stretcher. He was stunned when he saw the man. He asked doubtfully, "Is he Chan Dou?!"

Lin Huang nodded. "You know him too?'

"Of course, I do. He's one of the Five Princes, the most powerful powerhouse among the young generation. Everyone in our generation knows him, and many of the Purple Crow's female members are fans of the Five Princes. Many of them are Chan Dou's fans," Xiao Mo explained while smiling.

"But I heard he went missing a few months ago. It created a stir on the Heart Network. Why is he in Dynasty?"

"God Bless took him, but I've just rescued him today." Lin Huang waved his hand as he spoke after noticing Xiao Mo was going to ask more, "We'll talk about this in the future when there's time."

"This guy's soul is damaged, thus he might only wake up at least half a month later. It's not entirely safe to bring him back to the Chan Clan. I thought about it and thought it's better to keep him in Dynasty and figure out what to do next when he wakes up. His identity is rather sensitive, so I don't trust others to take care of him and I'm afraid that the news might leak. I only trust you to take care of him. I'll leave him in your hands for the next half a month."

"Sure, I'm on it," Xiao Mo responded and promised right away.

"Notify me as soon as Chan Dou wakes up."

"Also, I'll get Xin Er to cultivate properly during this period of time and we won't disturb you. Somebody else will take care of her safety," Lin Huang added.

"It's alright. I can take up more responsibility." Xiao Mo saw Lin Huang taking a careful look at him while smiling as he spoke. The entire Emperor Palace fell into a dead silence. He could not help but gulp nervously. "I think Sister Xin should really spend more time on cultivating."

"Alright, that's settled." Lin Huang patted Xiao Mo's shoulder in satisfaction.

After sending Xiao Mo off with Chan Dou, the doors of the Emperor Palace were shut.

Lin Huang summoned Bloody and shared the memories he had retrieved from the three God's Messengers with it.

It was a little unfortunate that he did not manage to read the Master God's memory.

When the Master God's clone was killed, its will projection arrived before Wu Mo could read his memory. Later on, when the will projection was killed, it faded into energy and vanished. Wu Mo fell into a deep sleep while the bruised corpse could only read a living being's mind through their eyes. Therefore, Lin Huang did not retrieve the Master God's memory.

Fortunately, there was quite some information on the three God's Messengers' memories. It covered almost every secret about God Bless.

Soon, Bloody sorted out the list of spies and shared the complete list with Lin Huang.

Fulfilling his promise, Lin Huang sent the list of the spies in the Union Government to Guan Zhong after adding encryption to it.

Approximately five to six minutes after he sent the list over, his Emperor's Heart Ring began to vibrate. It was Guan Zhong calling.

As the video call connected, Guan Zhong's upper body was projected clearly. His expression was rather grim.

"Master Emperor, are you sure that everyone on the list is a God Bless spy?"

"That's the complete list I compiled after reading the three God's Messengers' memories. Of course, I only gave you those who are in the Union Government. I guarantee you that all the names on the list came from the three God's Messengers' memories. I made none of them up." Lin Huang gave a firm answer.

"I know you're in disbelief that your superior, the president of Agency EA, who is also its founder, is a God Bless spy. However, I must tell you that this is the truth. The man named Zhuge Feifan has been a God Bless member since 700 years ago. He received the Master God's order directly to become a spy in the Union Government. He founded Agency EA later, which was also the Master God's order."

"I'm sure it's not hard for you to guess what Zhuge Feifan's position is."

Guan Zhong fell into silence for a moment and spat two words out forcefully, "God's Messenger."

"That's right. He's the most secretive God's Messenger in God Bless whereby only the Master God and the other three God's Messengers know his name in the entire organization."

"He's my master…" Guan Zhong clenched his fists so hard that they were going to bleed.

He had been working with Agency EA for years, so he had read through everything about Lin Huang ever since he became the Emperor of Dynasty. He knew how Lin Huang was like, and he also knew that it was impossible for Lin Huang to do such a thing.

"You guys can verify and check through the authenticity of the list. No matter what, everything that happens next is on the Union Government. I won't be interfering unless you want me to."

"I'm happy to kill a God's Messenger again. I've already killed three after all, and I won't be at peace if the last one is still alive."

The reason why Lin Huang did not go after this fourth God's Messenger after ending God Bless' headquarters was that this particular God's Messenger had a sensitive identity. There was no way that he could kill him recklessly.

"There's no need to trouble you, Master Emperor. We'll handle it on our own. It's the Union Government's internal conflict after all." Guan Zhong's heart sank. He hung the phone up after some small talk.

Lin Huang could not help but say after sighing as he hung up. "I hope the Union Government will execute this guy as soon as possible so that he won't be able to do anything disastrous."

Lin Huang glanced at the time after his call with Guan Zhong ended. It was almost 9 p.m. He shook his head while forcing a smile, feeling helpless.

He did not even have the time to go through Xiao Hei's notifications due to his busy day earlier.

Now, he finally had the time to look at the notifications that had popped up earlier.

"Congratulations, you've killed a True God. You've won the title of Godslayer!"

"Congratulations, you've obtained a rule power — the God-slaying Power!"

"Congratulations, you've obtained a god item — the Origin God's Heart!"

Killing humans did not earn any cross-ranking reward. There was an extremely low probability of the deceased's items falling off including their skills, secret skills, divine abilities, divine skills, items, equipment, and cards.

However, Lin Huang had terrible luck this time. He did not even obtain a single Skill Card or Equipment Card from killing a True God, three Virtual Gods (excluding the puppets) and at least 20 demigods who were killed by the impact of the battle.

Apart from the two notifications Lin Huang had seen earlier, he realized he had obtained a god item which he considered a reward.

He ignored the new notification and asked Xiao Hei the question that he had been wanting to, "What's this title thing?"

"You'll be given a relevant title after achieving a certain special condition. Different titles have different effects. Some give you the ability to master a rule power, some might be a divinity ability, and some might allow you to comprehend a certain true meaning besides some other special effects.

"For instance, for those who have extraordinary luck, they may obtain the title of Destiny's Child and the world will take care of them. Not only will they encounter all sorts of fortuitous circumstances, but they can also get out of any threats. Basically, they won't die no matter what they do. Furthermore, there'll be a spillover effect on the people around them and they'll become lucky."

"I'm envious of him!" Lin Huang's eyes lit up when he heard that. However, he knew that he was born to have bad luck. Although his luck had gotten better since he traveled there, he was far behind from getting extraordinary luck. He would never win a title such as Destiny's Child in this life. If he did, he would be able to draw any cards he wanted from Xiao Hei. He would not have to spend endless cards to trade them for a specific card he desired.

"So, what's the effect of this Godslayer title that I've received? Did I obtain the rule power of God-slaying Power?" Lin Huang could not help but ask upon observing that the second notification seemed to be related to the first.

"Yes, the title Godslayer means that you've obtained the God-slaying Power. The God-slaying Power is a god rule under the Kill Rule. It's an attack rule power that's suitable for battles. Under normal circumstances, god rules are rule powers that are only mastered by True Gods. However, since you've obtained the title of Godslayer, it means that you've mastered the rule power in advance."

"Does that mean I've got the ability to kill True Gods now?" Lin Huang felt a current of excitement run through him.

"Of course not. Theoretically, you possess the ability to harm True Gods, but you're still far from having the ability to kill god order-level (True God) powerhouses.

"The vast difference in speed and strength aside, it's hard for you to break a True God's defense even if he were to stand still and allow you to do so because god rule power can be charged from both sides. Those True Gods obtain god rule power as well just like you do.

"Furthermore, there's almost no way for you to elevate your God-slaying Power before you get to god order-level. You'll stay on level-1, which is the lowest level. The other true god-level powerhouses will block you like a piece of cake."

"Then, how about killing Virtual Gods? It shouldn't be a problem, should it?" Lin Huang continued to ask, "Don't talk about the difference in strength and speed."

"Without taking the difference in strength and speed into consideration, killing Virtual Gods is child's play. God rule power falls under the rule power. To virtual god-level powerhouses who don't the master god rule power, they won't be able to defend your attack just like ordinary people who can't defend against steel, blade or swords cutting into their body. Of course, that's based on the premise that your opponent has no rule power god relic on.

"It's good enough to kill Virtual Gods. Killing True Gods is something too farfetched. There's no need to worry about it at the moment." Hearing Xiao Hei's explanation, Lin Huang was pretty satisfied with the god rule power he had obtained. He then looked at the third notification.

"So, what's this Origin God's Heart?"

"The Origin God's Heart is a Protoss's heart. Owning this god item will give you a Protoss's body. Due to the combat strength restriction before, you can't use Divine Power while the power created from the Divine Fire in your body is merely Life Power. Although your Life Power has a higher quality than the rest due to the refinement of Divine Fire, it's still Life Power after all. It's nothing compared to the real Divine Power. To describe it as you would back in your hometown, the difference between Life Power and Divine Power is almost the difference between coal and nuclear energy.

"After integrating the Origin God's Heart, being able to use Divine Power isn't the only advantage. Due to the Protoss's body that you've been given, though restricted to a combat strength whereby your body will be far behind the real Protoss, you'll be much more powerful than anyone who is on the same level as you. Your strength, mobility speed, and attack speed will break through the limits that you possess at the moment.

"The abilities of your God Figurine's Combat Souls will also be transformed further. All of them have perfect power systems in their bodies. However, in reality, their abilities have been restricted due to the power you've provided. They haven't been showing what they really have got. Now that there's Divine Power, their abilities will be recovered by heaps."

"So, are you saying that I'll obtain Divine Power and the god power rule with my current combat strength which is immortal-level rank-10? In other words, I'll become a True God whose combat strength is only immortal-level rank-10. Is that right?" Lin Huang could not help but tease Xiao Hei after hearing its explanation.

"You've no Godhead or God Territory. You haven't even refined your Life Base. Your god rule is only on level-1, which is the lowest level. You can't even break a True God's defense…" Xiao Hei corrected him honestly, which was rare.

"Alright then, I was full of myself. Thanks for popping my bubble." Lin Huang became a little depressed after his two-second bout of excitement.

"Would you like to activate the title of Godslayer?"

After Ling Huang had read through the notifications and Xiao Hei had explained everything to him, another notification popped up.

"Activate!" Lin Huang nodded without hesitation.

"Activating Godslayer!"

"Activating god rule — God-slaying Power!"

Lin Huang raised his brow as he realized there was no significant change to his body after the two notifications echoed in his ears.

He gathered the Life Power in his body onto his palm. His Life Power was now mahogany in color like molten lava.

He gazed into his body immediately. He realized that the ten Divine Fires that were pitch-black like ink were now mahogany.

An unknown power was hiding within the Divine Fires. Lin Huang could only feel the power faintly but could not catch it clearly. He knew that it should be the legendary god rule power.

A golden card appeared in his hand when he snapped back to reality.

There was a heart that looked like a golden gem in the middle of the Origin God's Heart card. He flipped it over to look at the details. It was the same as what Xiao Hei said but more detailed.

Lin Huang crushed the card after reading the description.

"Activating god item Origin God's Heart!"

"Beginning integration: 1%, 2%, 3%…"

As soon as the integration began, Lin Huang could feel the changes in his body obviously. Until the 'integration completed' notification came, he felt much more powerful now. Almost each and every cell in his body had transformed. The feeling was more intense compared to the time he had elevated from holy fire-level to immortal-level, crossing a whole new level. It felt more like the time he had elevated to transcendent-level back then which was a transformation in his life level.

He looked through his body immediately as soon as the integration was completed. He realized he did not transform to level-3 on the life level.

"As expected, it was just an illusion…"

"Actually, it wasn't an illusion. Your body indeed transformed deep down in your core, but it'll only show when your combat strength fulfills the transformation condition," Xiao Hei explained.

"Alright then." Lin Huang accepted the fact begrudgingly. "But my ability has indeed elevated. Before this, with my immortal-level rank-10 combat strength, I should have the ability on par with an ordinary imperial-level white gold-rank powerhouse when I had no combat strength boost technique. I could fight them head-on, but it was hard to defeat them. Now, I should have the ability on par with an ordinary imperial-level purple gold-rank powerhouse even without using the Divine Power and the god rule power."

Lin Huang thought of a question all of a sudden after the Origin God's Heart integration was completed.

"Xiao Hei, isn't the Origin God's Heart something in a Protoss's body? I didn't kill any Protoss today, so where did this Origin God's Heart come from?"

"The system retrieved it randomly from the Master God when you killed the Master God's will projection."

"Isn't the Master God human? Where did he get the Origin God's Heart?"

"Perhaps it's a treasure he stored in his storage space."

Lin Huang called out to Bloody that was in his sleeve after activating the card reward on Xiao Hei's side.

"Bloody, what's the loot today like?"

Bloody reported the data it had compiled calmly, "We've gotten a total of 3,021 Emperor's Heart Rings, 20 god relics, 34 demigod relics, two god-level puppets, 11 demigod-level puppets, 74 God Figurines, four Godheads, and 23 broken Godheads."

"That many God Figurines?" Lin Huang was stunned. He had spent some effort obtaining God Figurines earlier and ended up accumulating ten, which was not an easy feat. However, now he had just obtained 74 God Figurines in merely a day.

"The God Figurines fell off when the Virtual Gods and demigods were killed. The Master God's clone alone had nine. Seven from Grandmistress Wei, and five and six respectively for the other two God's Messengers. Meanwhile, the 20 or so demigods basically had one or two God Figurines refined for emergencies while a few of them even had three," Bloody explained. The Warlord had compiled the data for it when he was gathering the loot.

"Seems like I went to the wrong places before. So, the fastest way to obtain God Figurines is by killing human demigod-level and virtual god-level powerhouses. Too bad it's a tad bit late that I've only found out about this now," Lin Huang mocked himself.

As he visualized his God Figurines into True Spirits, all of them possessed a strong sense of territory, resulting in one Life Wheel being able to only contain one God Figurine. Now that he had surpassed the life wheel-level, the number of Life Wheels were fixed to ten. Ten Life Wheels would mean he would only be able to contain ten God Figurine's Combat Souls, so it would be redundant to have more God Figurines.

'I'll get Sister Mo Mo to pick one of these God Figurines to be her vessel when she wakes up. Apart from that, it seems like I can only use them as battle puppets.' Lin Huang thought about it thoroughly and figured there was nothing better that he could use them for.

He asked Bloody after setting the God Figurines' matter aside, "Are there any sword and telekinetic weapons among the 20 god relics?"

"There's a battle sword among the god relics but no telekinetic weapons. However, there are two sets of telekinetic weapons among the 34 demigod relics."

Lin Huang nodded and mumbled to himself, "I can give the puppets to Grimace and the Witch as their toys. For the four complete Godheads, I'll refine them together with the broken Godheads. I wonder if I could build a Life Palace after this round of refining."

In order to build a Life Palace, Lin Huang had been refining the broken Godheads in the demigods' bodies with Divine Fire, mainly because it was cheap to purchase broken Godheads and rather easy to refine them.

Meanwhile, a complete Godhead was expensive and the price to performance ratio was low. Moreover, with the speed of the Divine Fire in his body, refining a complete Godhead had extremely low efficiency. The time taken to refine a complete Godhead would be hundreds of folds more than refining broken Godheads.

Due to the various reasons, he had never thought of refining complete Godheads before this.

Now, he happened to have four complete Godheads whereby three of them were on Virtual God rank-3 while another was on Virtual God rank-9. Although it would take a long time to refine all of them, the refinement by Divine Fire was automatic. It would not affect Lin Huang in any way, so it would be a waste if he did not do so.

Lin Huang took action instead of hesitating any longer as he thought about this. He tossed the four Godheads into his body together with all of the broken Godheads that he had been accumulating. Then, he began to refine them by activating his Divine Fire.

As the Godheads entered his body, the ten Life Wheels in his body began shaking at the same time out of nowhere. The Godheads seemed to be pulled by an invisible force and all of them gathered together in his body.

Subsequently, the ten Life Wheels formed a circle rapidly and surrounded the Godheads in the middle. Divine Fire was shooting out of the Life Wheels, drowning the Godheads completely.

Approximately an hour later, cracks were showing on the broken Godheads. As time went by, the cracks on the broken Godheads expanded. Around two hours later, the first broken Godhead finally turned into tiny, dark gray gravel.

Since the first broken Godheads disintegrated, the second one soon followed suit, then the third… The broken Godheads disintegrated one after another. Now, all of them had taken the form of tiny, dark gray gravel. The gravels formed a cloud of mist as if they were alive and floated within the ten Life Wheels.

Lin Huang had been observing the process until past midnight. He watched the last broken Godheads disintegrate and become one with the cloud of mist. The four complete Godheads experienced no changes from the beginning until the end.

He felt helpless and snapped back to reality. Just when he was going to wash up and sleep, his Emperor's Heart Ring vibrated out of the blue.

He checked and realized it was Guan Zhong who was calling. When he peeped at the time, he frowned. It was already 12.41 a.m. It was definitely bad news for Guan Zhong to be calling him at such an hour.

He figured what Guan Zhong was going to say roughly as he clicked the pick-up button.

Guan Zhong's upper body was projected when the video call was connected. He clearly looked terrified.

"Master Emperor, Zhuge Feifan has escaped. I'm calling you just to tell you to be careful. He found out that it was you who ended God Bless all by yourself, so he might seek revenge."

Lin Huang had already guessed what Guan Zhong was going to tell him when he saw him calling. He grimaced upon hearing the news. However, he did not mention the Union Government and Guan Zhong's neglect of duty. Instead, he asked, "Can you tell me more about it?"

"It's my fault. After you destroyed the Wei Clan, I sent a brief to Agency EA to give a short report on the situation. Perhaps he found out that his identity was exposed when he saw the brief.

"I contacted the Union Government president as soon as you gave me the list of spies. He had also given me the search warrant immediately. However, just when I was going to search for him as soon as I got the warrant, he disappeared.

"Everything in his office was cleared and the surveillance was wiped. His few accommodations were completely burned down, so there was no evidence left. Even his Emperor's Heart Ring's account was deleted and his messages were reformatted. A special virus, which destroyed all of the information he stored in the cloud, was planted."=

"Since I couldn't find anything from him, I thought I'd go for the people who are close to him on the list. I later found out that everyone on the list you gave me were all dead overnight. All of them were killed as a result of their brains having exploded. I can't even retrieve any information in their heads.

"The autopsy shows that these people died almost at the same time. The cause of death is an energy bomb that was installed in their heads going off. That should be some special ability that Zhuge Feifan has never revealed to anyone."

"So, you guys have zero clues on where he might be hiding now?" Lin Huang concluded after what Guan Zhong told him.

"That's right," Guan Zhong admitted that feeling helpless.

"Maybe I'll drop by the Union Government tomorrow. Perhaps I might be able to help," Lin Huang suggested.

"I think that's alright. It's a mess over here. You won't be able to help with anything if you come. Let's not complicate things."

"What if I tell you that I have a secret image playback skill that shows what happened within 24 hours?" Lin Huang initiated assistance because he would feel uneasy as long as the fourth God's Messenger was still alive. He was not afraid to be assassinated, but he had a sister and he did not want Lin Xin to be dragged into this for no reason.

Guan Zhong was stunned to hear Lin Huang's offer. "Do you really have such a secret skill? It's not the right time to joke now."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Lin Huang raised his brow and asked him back.

"It'll be great if you weren't. When can you come?" Guan Zhong asked rather frantically after confirming that Lin Huang indeed had such an image playback ability.

"I'll drop by after breakfast tomorrow morning."

Guan Zhong was speechless and mocked him secretly, 'You still have the mood for breakfast!'

"What? Where did you say you're going?"

Huang Tianfu thought he was experiencing a hallucination when he saw Lin Huang greet him early in the morning and say he would drop by the Union Government headquarters.

"I'm going to the Union Government headquarters." Lin Huang thought it was odd. Was he not being clear earlier?

"Why are you going to the Union Government headquarters?" Huang Tianfu was rather irritated as he glared at Lin Huang's face as if it was not odd that he was going to the Union Government headquarters. He remained calm on the outside, but he thought to himself secretly, 'Why do you put it like you're buying groceries? Do you think the Union Government headquarters is a supermarket? Since when does our Dynasty have such a great relationship with the Union Government?!'

In reality, Huang Tianfu could not be blamed for having such a stirred reaction at the moment. Dynasty was a top underground organization, and the two parties were completely against each other. Especially in Division 3, the opposition was gravely severe.

Furthermore, almost all of Dynasty's core members were on the Union Government's blacklist. One would win a handsome reward for capturing them.

If the relationship was put in an Earthly context, the Union Government was the equivalent of a country's government while Dynasty would be a massive terrorist group. Lin Huang going to the Union Government headquarters as the Emperor of Dynasty was almost the same as a terrorist group visiting the White House.

However, Lin Huang sounded like he was going shopping. "Something happened at Agency EA and they asked me to help"

"Agency EA?!" Naturally, Huang Tianfu knew what that agency was. A thought flashed through his mind when he heard the name. 'Could Lin Huang be a part of the Union Government's Agency EA?'

He got rid off the ridiculous thought a second later and asked Lin Huang, "Master Emperor, how did you come to know people from Agency EA?"

"I just got to know one yesterday." Lin Huang waved. "I'll tell you the details when I get back. I'll have breakfast and I'll go straight to First City."

Huang Tianfu wanted to say he would follow out of habit, but he jolted when he realized they would be going to the Union Government. He changed what he was going to say instantly. "Master Emperor, it's not safe for you to go alone. Why not… I get Tufu to go with you?"

"Alright then, ask him to come to me at the breakfast place, the one with the soup dumplings. He knows where it is."

…

There was a food street called Huangfan'er less than a kilometer from Dynasty's headquarters in Emperor City.

This food street was crowded from morning until night because there were night markets and many breakfast stalls.

The one that Lin Huang most frequented on the street was the plump aunty's soup dumpling place.

The owners of the stall were a plump couple. The husband was a fatty who was at least 200 pounds in his early 40's. His wife, on the other hand, was at least 160 pounds and looked 35 or 36 years of age. One could tell that she was a beauty when she had been slimmer.

The couple was just ordinary and they were always beaming no matter who they met. Not only were they friendly, but they also had amazing cooking skills too.

Lin Huang's favorite was their crab meat soup dumpling.

The main ingredient of the soup dumpling was a type of exclusive soft shell crab which was only the size of an adult thumb.

The soup and crab roe would spill at the same time as soon as one took a bite after dipping the dumpling with soft shell crab with a little vinegar. Every bite of the chewy texture of the pork and crab meat within as well as the tantalizing taste from the vinegar was heaven on earth for Lin Huang.

Soon, he inhaled the serving of dumplings. Lin Huang could not help but order another serving.

Huang Tufu arrived when the second serving of dumplings came.

"Boss, give me ten servings of crab meat dumplings," Huang Tufu called out to the owner as he sat across Lin Huang.

The plump owner ran over, feeling rather bad. "Sir, we only have five servings that are ready for now. You'll need to wait for ten minutes if you want ten servings."

"I'll have five servings then." Huang Tufu thought about it and figured he should not let Lin Huang, the Emperor, wait since he had something to do. If not, he did not mind waiting for ten minutes at all.

"Do you usually eat that much?" Lin Huang could not help but ask.

"In reality, demigods basically don't have to eat, especially perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouses. We can live even if we don't eat or drink for a year. We only need to replenish ourselves with Divine Power," Huang Tufu explained while grinning, "So, I only eat something that I want and I'll only stop when I'm satisfied."

The plump owner served the dumplings as they chatted for a short while.

Huang Tufu could not resist shoving a dumpling into his mouth immediately. He asked inaudibly while chewing, "Where are we going later?"

"To the Union Government headquarters."

"Pu!" Huang Tufu spat a mouthful of dumplings out just when Lin Huang was done speaking.

Fortunately, Lin Huang reacted in time and held up the Dark Mirror as he moved his finger slightly. The dumpling Huang Tufu spat out bounced back onto his face.

Huang Tufu wiped his face with a paper towel, looking speechless. He then looked at Lin Huang in confusion.

"Why are we going there? Aren't we walking right into the trap?" Huang Tufu expressed what Huang Tianfu thought honestly.

"Remember I told you guys about God Bless before?" Lin Huang swallowed the dumpling in his mouth and said calmly, "The Union Government found out that the founder of Agency EA is God Bless's spy last night. He's missing now, so they've asked me to help them find him."

"Why are you helping them? Is it related to you?" Huang Tufu was even more confused now.

"It was me who told them that the guy is a spy." Lin Huang picked up a dumpling and dipped it in the vinegar sauce. "I'm a little worried that he might seek revenge, so it's better that I find him as soon as I can and kill him."

'Couldn't you have just not exposed him from the beginning?' Huang Tufu thought to himself, 'That guy wouldn't have gone looking for trouble if you didn't expose him.'

He had no idea that Lin Huang had destroyed God Bless's headquarters. Even if he did not expose that guy, it was only a matter of time the guy would seek revenge.

"Must we go?" Huang Tufu looked petrified. He was really reluctant to go to the Union Government.

"I can go by myself if you don't want to.," Lin Huang did not mind if Huang Tufu decided not to follow him.

"Will the people from the Union Government attack us, seizing the opportunity since we are going to them?"

"I'm not sure if they'll attack you but I didn't do anything to them, so why would they attack me?" Lin Huang thought he was a moral citizen who obeyed the law.

"You're the Emperor of Dynasty. If they manage to capture you, it's enough for the people from the Union Government to boast about it for centuries," Huang Tufu said with a pout.

"You're overthinking. They don't have the time to bother whether I'm the Emperor or not." Lin Huang shoved the last dumpling into his mouth. He then asked Huang Tufu after swallowing the dumpling and putting the chopsticks down. "So, you aren't going? I'll go by myself if you're not."

Huang Tufu thought about it and agreed while clenching his teeth. "I've never been to the Union Government headquarters in my life. I'll visit them today with Master Emperor then!"

"Wait, I haven't finished my dumplings…"

The No. 1A1 foothold in Division 1 was the very first city the humans built outside the Land of Origin since the new era. Therefore, the Union Government named this foothold the First City.

The First City was the oldest city among the 12 safety zones in the human world. It had expanded and developed throughout 800 years, it was the city with the biggest surface now. Its population exceeded 1.8 billion people and it occupied 80 million square kilometers of land. This massive city even surpassed half of the surface area of Earth.

The Union Government's headquarters in Division 1 was located in the middle of this foothold.

Before 8 in the morning, Lin Huang and Huang Tufu passed through the dimensional portal and arrived in First City.

Lin Huang did not stop looking around as soon as they walked out of the dimensional portal.

"I heard there's a stall that sells pretty good pancakes near First City's dimensional portal, but I don't know the exact location."

"Shouldn't we get to the Union Government now?" Huang Tufu asked.

"I think the government organization here isn't opened yet." Just when Lin Huang was done speaking, two men walked towards him. Both of them had demigod-level combat strength.

Huang Tufu, who was standing next to Lin Huang, had his guard up as soon as he saw the duo.

"We're Silver Fox and Viper from EA.4. It's our pleasure to meet Master Emperor and Mr. Tufu." The duo introduced themselves as they approached.

Huang Tufu let his guard down when he heard that. He looked puzzledly at Lin Huang, clearly in disbelief that people from the Union Government had come to escort him. The duo who came were two demigod-level powerhouses.

"So early? What time did you guys get here?" Lin Huang knew Guan Zhong must have sent the duo to pick him up.

"We've just arrived too," responded the gray-haired young man, who called himself the Silver Fox, while smiling when he saw the Viper attempt to speak.

Naturally, Lin Huang noticed that but he did not dwell on it. "Do we go there now? It's not even 8 a.m. I suppose your office building isn't opened yet, is it?"

"I think you're talking about the office building that's opened to the public. Our real office building runs almost 24 hours every day. We'll have people in each department at night handle unforeseen circumstances," the Silver Fox explained while smiling.

"24 hours every day? That's dedication right there!" Lin Huang raised a brow. "Bring us there then."

Seeing the Viper bring out the dimensional portal, Lin Huang could not help but say, "Since you guys are here, I want to ask something. I heard there's a pancake place that everyone talks about. Where's the exact location?"

"You must be talking about the pancake place runs by an uncle, Master Emperor. His pancake is amazing indeed." The Silver Fox pointed at an alley not far away. "Walk into that alley. You'll see it when you walk about 200 meters to the left."

"Thanks, I'll go when I have the time." Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction after getting the exact location.

"You can buy some now if you'd like. We'll just wait here. It's a stall by the street and it's only available in the morning. The owner is pretty capricious. He runs his business according to his mood. He sometimes closes his stall for a few days when he's having a bad mood. He would close after 10.30 a.m. even if he's supposed to be open. You might not see him when you come the next time."

"Alright then. Please wait for us here. We'll go over to buy some pancakes. We should try the pancakes since we're here," said Lin Huang and he ran towards the alley with Huang Tufu.

A moment later, Lin Huang saw the stall the Silver Fox had mentioned after passing the alley.

The stall owner was an uncle who had a beard and looked rather messy. He did not look in the best of health as though he did not get enough sleep.

For some reason, Lin Huang thought of the plump uncle and aunty at the dumpling stall earlier. He figured the uncle before him must be single.

"Boss, give me a pancake. I'd like to add an egg, pork tenderloin, sliced cucumber, lettuce, pickles. No parsley, no sweet sauce. Make it a little spicy." Lin Huang was actually full, but he just wanted to try how the pancake tasted like.

"Give me five. I want to go all out since I'm eating." The gluttony Huang Tufu, who was standing next to Lin Huang, was obviously not full from eating five servings of dumplings earlier. "I want two servings of eggs, two servings of pork tenderloin with sliced potatoes, pickles, bean curd skin, and green onions. Oh, more parsley. Put as much as you can. I want garlic sauce and make it super spicy. Put all of that on all five pancakes."

Lin Huang thought to himself after hearing Huang Tufu's order, 'I'll stay away from him later.'

Since Huang Tufu ordered five pancakes, it took some time for the order to be done.

The Silver Fox and the Viper came to them since they did not see them return after waiting for a while.

Huang Tufu's order happened to be ready just when the duo passed through the alley. The duo thought that Huang Tufu had packed the pancakes for them. They were slightly touched.

However, Huang Tufu did not give them the pancakes when he walked up to them. They then realized they were overthinking.

"We can go now." Lin Huang did not plan to waste any more time since they were done buying the pancakes. After all, they had made the two people who were picking him up wait for quite some time.

The Viper summoned the dimensional portal again.

The four of them walked into the dimensional portal one after another. They arrived at the Union Government headquarters building when they appeared again.

Lin Huang did not even bother with mocking when he saw the building that looked similar to a toilet bowl.

"Master Emperor, do you think the shape of the building looks a little like a toilet bowl in the late era?" Huang Tufu honestly said what Lin Huang had in mind.

The Silver Fox and the Viper, who was standing aside, looked horrified when they heard that.

"This is our office building that is open to the public. The office for internal staff is the block at the back."

The duo brought Lin Huang and Huang Tufu around the toilet bowl building and walked towards the real office building.

However, Lin Huang was even more speechless when he saw the building.

Meanwhile, Huang Tufu spat the pancake from his mouth as laughter consumed him. He cackled to the point that he almost could not stand straight.

"Doesn't this office building's shape look like a male…?"

"Eat your pancake," Lin Huang interrupted Huang Tufu directly.

Huang Tufu recalled that this was the Union Government's territory as he was interrupted by Lin Huang. He finally shut his mouth. However, he was still stifling his laughter while eating the pancakes.

The Silver Fox and the Viper looked extremely embarrassed now.

The office building not far away was divided into three parts. The section in the middle was tall while the two buildings next to it were spherical.

Looking at the building, Lin Huang could not help but recall a joke he had heard on Earth back then. 'Isn't this the legendary Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon? The resemblance is astonishing!' Lin Huang only thought to himself and did not say that out loud.

"Follow me. Our Agency EA office is the short building on the left." The Silver Fox ignored Huang Tufu, who was trying his hardest to hold back his laughter and changed the subject.

Lin Huang and Huang Tufu were greeted by eye salutation when they followed the Silver Fox and the Viper into Agency EA's building.

People did not recognize Lin Huang and Huang Tufu, but because the Silver Fox and the Viper were the bosses of EA.4, almost everyone in the agency knew them. The people could not help but peep at Lin Huang and Huang Tufu twice as they were brought in. They wanted to know who were the duo both the bosses had escorted in themselves.

Even Huang Tufu who had been there done that, felt a little uneasy as he walked into Union Government office building. One must know that he was the Third Grand Duke of Dynasty. Furthermore, since Dynasty was against Division 3's Union Government, his name was on top of the Union Government's blacklist.

He had never thought that he would walk into the Union Government headquarters leisurely during this lifetime. He was glancing around as he walked to the point that he even forgot to eat the pancakes in his hands.

Lin Huang, on the other hand, was not nervous at all. He strolled while eating the pancake, seeming so relaxed like he was walking in a night market.

Nobody knew that the current thought he had on his mind was, 'This pancake's really great!'

The people in Agency EA began discussing among themselves after the four of them walked away.

"The two men are EA.4's Silver Fox and Viper, am I right? Why do the two people who were walking with them look so familiar?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the young man is the newly appointed the Emperor of Dynasty. His face was all over the headlines two days back."

"You got it right! The young man is the current the Emperor of Dynasty, Lin Huang. Meanwhile, the muscular man next to him is the Third Grand Duke of Dynasty, Huang Tufu."

"Am I dreaming? I think I saw the Emperor of Dynasty and Third Grand Duke walked into our Union Government office building leisurely!"

Apart from the Agency EA's upper echelon, nobody else knew that Zhuge Feifan had escaped. They were working on their own stuff as usual. In reality, the upper echelon above EA.4 was in a messy situation.

Soon, the news of the Emperor of Dynasty visiting the Union Government spread through the entire Agency EA.

Lin Huang, who was the newly appointed underground boss, had been the most talked about person in the cultivation world. Almost all the media headlines were about him these few days and almost every cultivator had heard of his name.

Many Agency EA members let their imaginations run wild since this the Emperor of Dynasty visited the Union Government all of a sudden after merely a few days since his coronation.

Many girls tried to approach him, dying to see if this legendary Emperor was as good-looking as they had seen on the news.

One of them even took a sneaky photo of him.

In the photo, Lin Huang was eating a pancake with his mouth wide open. The photo was taken at the perfect moment when he had just shoved the nicely folded pancake into his mouth and was just going to bite into it.

The girl sent the photo to Agency EA's group chat. It was then forwarded and shared by up to 1,000 people.

Lin Huang had no idea that a picture of him eating a pancake had created a stir on the Internet.

Soon, they arrived at the top floor, which was the 99th floor with the guidance of the Silver Fox and the Viper via the elevator.

The duo was brought into an office as they walked out of the elevator.

Then, the Silver Fox and the Viper walked away as soon as they were done with their duty.

In the office, Guan Zhong was chatting to a middle-aged man on the couch. He stood up as soon as he saw Lin Huang and Huang Tufu walk in.

"Master Emperor, you're finally here!" Guan Zhong smiled while greeting them. "This is Qian Rui, our Vice President. His code name is Fortune God."

"Hi, Fortune God," Lin Huang responded, "I suppose everyone knows this person next to me, the Third Grand Duke, Huang Tufu."

Huang Tufu clearly sensed that the duo were virtual god-level powerhouses. He walked up and greeted them immediately.

"Take a seat." The four of them took their seats after some small talk.

Lin Huang threw the packaging of the pancake into the trash can casually. He had finished it before getting out of the elevator.

Huang Tufu ate faster than he did, having already wolfed two and a half pancakes down. He finished the other half pancake when he walked into the room and put the remaining two away.

"How's the investigation going?" Lin Huang asked directly as Guan Zhong poured him some tea.

"The same as last night. Nothing much." Guan Zhong shook his head and served the tea to Lin Huang.

Qian Rui, who was sitting next to him, could not help but pipe up, "Zhuge Feifan is thorough in destroying all of his traces. We hit a dead end after investigating through a few sources."

"Aren't you guys Diviners? Can't you tell where he is?" In reality, Lin Huang had been curious about that when he heard the news last night.

"The most powerful Diviner in our Union Government is Mr. Ke Lai who only has a combat strength of demigod-level. It's extremely difficult for him to tell the fortune of a Virtual God. He tried three times last night, and he's still unconscious until now. He didn't get Zhuge Feifan's exact location, but he told us that he's in a safe place."

"How is that different from not fortune telling at all?" The straightforward Huang Tufu pointed out with a wry smile. The garlic and onion smell in his mouth wafted towards the duo's faces, making the two vice presidents nauseous from the smell.

Oh my god, that smell!

On the other hand, Lin Huang was much smarter. He shut his breathing system directly when he heard Huang Tufu speaking next to him. He breathed internally instead.

The duo, who were sitting across them, had not gotten any sleep all night. Piling up with anxiety, they did not feel great. It took them some time to snap out of their nausea as they stopped breathing immediately while looking pale.

"He has erased the surveillance. Is there any other way to track him?" Lin Huang asked again.

"We've tried every tracking method that we have but it's useless." Guan Zhong shook his head helplessly. "Don't laugh at us but 70% of the materials we've been using for hundreds of years came from him. He knew each and every method we have very well."

"Zhuge Feifan aside, it's as difficult as reaching the sky for us to capture anyone in EA.4 who has escaped. We know our tracking methods like the back of our hands. We can perform all sorts of anti-tracking methods like a piece of cake," added Qian Rui who was sitting next to him.

"Since he knows all of our methods, we'll need help from people outside of Agency EA or even outside of the Union Government to be able to do it because he won't be taking precautions on tracking methods that he doesn't expect."

"I thought of that all of a sudden last night. That's the reason why I've decided to ask for your help." Guan Zhong lifted his head and looked at Lin Huang and asked in all seriousness, "Master Emperor, that ability of yours… Does it have any restriction on the target's combat strength?"

"No restriction. The ability is just a reflection of the playback of a specific space on what exactly happened. It has nothing to do with people," Lin Huang added after he was done speaking, "Of course, what we see might be disrupted if there's a True God, who has mastered the Time God Rule or Space God Rule, interferes with the image playback with the rule power."

'What are you guys talking about? How come I understand nothing suddenly? What ability are you guys talking about? Can anyone tell me?' Huang Tufu looked lost.

"This is Zhuge Feifan's office." After chatting in Guan Zhong's office for a while, Guan Zhong and Qian Rui brought Lin Huang and Huang Tufu to Zhuge Feifan's office.

The entire office was empty. There was no desk, couch, or coffee table. There was not even a bookcase that was usually used as decoration.

"It was already like this when we came last night. To avoid missing out any pieces of evidence, Zhuge Feifan moved the entire office," Guan Zhong explained upon seeing Lin Huang and Huang Tufu appearing so shocked.

"It looks like he just moved house. The floor tiles are the only thing that he didn't bring with him," Huang Tufu could not resist throwing a joke in.

Lin Huang glimpsed at Huang Tufu. This guy used to be a quiet man. After they had gotten more familiar with each other, Huang Tufu had become a different person.

However, his description was on-point.

Apart from the hanging lamp and the floor tiles, there were only four walls and the windows in the barren room. Basically, everything that could be moved had been moved.

"Do you guys know roughly at what time did he go missing?" Lin Huang summoned the Book of Sorcerer Dao while asking Guan Zhong and Qian Rui.

"Someone saw him coming in yesterday morning. He came to the office around 8 a.m. but nobody saw him leave. He must have summoned a dimensional portal and left right as soon as he moved his office," Qian Rui told him.

"Who was the first to find out that this happened to his office? And at roughly what time?"

"It was I who found out about that. I came back to the office when I got the list from you last night, then I realized that his office was locked when I got here. I thought I would look for evidence, seizing the opportunity since he wasn't here, but I saw this when I opened the door. The exact time was approximately 9 p.m.," Guan Zhong replied.

Lin Huang was speechless to hear what the duo said. He had posted the two questions to confirm the time Zhuge Feifan had gone missing. The duo turned out to give two different timings ranging from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. which was such a wide gap.

"Never mind. I'll just set the time at 8 a.m," Lin Huang said and soon activated a couple of runes on the Book of Sorcerer Dao.

As soon as the runes were activated, they shot out of the Book of Sorcerer Dao while golden beams of light radiated midair. These sparkly, golden glows soon integrated and broke away all of a sudden, filling the entire room.

A moment later, the golden glows disappeared. 3D videos began to manifest in the room like a projection.

An office desk, a couch, a teacup, a bookcase… Everything that was gone in the office reappeared.

Huang Tufu reached out to touch the bookcase, but his finger penetrated it directly.

Even Guan Zhong, who was standing aside, could not help but exclaim, "These videos are exactly the same as the real thing!"

However, Lin Huang said nothing. Although the videos in the room replayed what the office looked like, there was no one in the office.

Lin Huang adjusted the time flow to fast-forward the videos.

When it was approximately 8.15 a.m., a young man, who looked like he was in his early 20s at the most, walked in.

Was this Zhuge Feifan?

Lin Huang glanced at Guan Zhong in a questioning manner. Understanding what he meant directly, Guan Zhong nodded at him.

Zhuge Feifan looked really young at 22 or 23 at the most. He had a ponytail and wore a white robe that made him looked like a saint. In his hand was a paper fan.

To label him quite negatively, he was extremely pretentious.

"Does he usually dress like this?" Huang Tufu turned his head and asked Guan Zhong and Qian Rui.

Guan Zhong nodded to him, feeling helpless.

"No matter whether men or women, if anyone were to dress like this in Emperor City at night, he or she would definitely wake up naked in some alley. Besides that, he or she would likely have a painful butthole," Huang Tufu said in all seriousness.

Were the customs in Emperor City so rough?!

Apart from Guan Zhong and Qian Rui, even Lin Huang exclaimed that secretly.

Zhuge Feifan sat on the couch in the video projection and began performing a tea ceremony on his own.

The four watched it for a while and felt really bored, so Lin Huang began to fast-forward the video again.

Until he fast-forwarded it to past 4 in the afternoon, Zhuge Feifan did nothing serious in the office at all. He drank some tea, took a nap, watched videos, and played games.

A message popped up on his Emperor's Heart Ring 4 p.m. He fell into deep thought while sitting on the couch after checking the message. Then, he began packing his stuff.

"I finally found the time he escaped!"

"What was the message he received?" Qian Rui asked immediately.

Standing next to him, Guan Zhong looked puzzled. "If I'm not mistaken, it was I who sent the message. I sent a brief to the headquarters when the Wei Clan was destroyed, and he must've read it."

"The Wei Clan is destroyed? The Wei Clan in Division 2?" Huang Tufu repeated, seeming surprised. "Do you know who did it?"

"Didn't your Master Emperor tell you that?" Guan Zhong asked him back.

Huang Tufu looked at Lin Huang in confusion.

"I destroyed the Wei Clan," Lin Huang admitted casually as if he had done something insignificant.

"Oh…" Huang Tufu did not expect Lin Huang to give such a simple answer. He flashed Lin Huang a thumbs-up. "You bada*s!"

He knew how powerful Lin Huang was since the beginning.

"Can you pause the projection and enlarge the message he received?" Qian Rui insisted on finding a new clue.

"I can pause it, but I can't change the size of the projected video. This skill of mine can only view what was recorded. If you'd like to read what the message was, you can walk closer after I've paused it," Lin Huang said and played the video back to the moment when Zhuge Feifan received the message.

The projection paused in the next second the message popped up. Zhuge Feifan, who was sitting on the couch, froze.

Qian Rui walked up to read the projected message while Lin Huang and Guan Zhong followed behind him.

Huang Tufu, on the other hand, took out the half pancake he had kept earlier and munched on it. The entire room soon stank of onion and garlic.

The three of them soon confirmed that the message Zhuge Feifan had received did indeed come from Guan Zhong.

"As expected, I exposed the whole thing." Guan Zhong speculated that Zhuge Feifan had seen the message he sent and escaped because he was worried that his identity might have been exposed. Guan Zhong felt immensely guilty to find out that it was him who had caused that.

After confirming that, Lin Huang continued the projection which began playing again.

In the room, Zhuge Feifan first opened the drawer of the desk and took a few documents out to put into his storage space. He froze suddenly.

He seemed to have figured something out in the next second as he pressed his hand against the desk and put the entire desk away into his storage space.

As the first big item was tossed into the storage space, Zhuge Feifan then put away the couch, the teacup, the bookcase, and so on. Everything went into his storage space as he put everything that could be moved away.

After putting everything in the room into his storage space, Zhuge Feifan then checked the room. He made sure that did not miss anything out, then he summoned a dimensional portal and stepped into it.

The empty room fell into dead silence as soon as the projection ended.

Apart from watching everything Zhuge Feifan did from moving his possessions to leaving via the dimensional portal eventually as well as finding out his reason to escape and the exact time of escaping, they seemed to have learned nothing more.

"Are there any clues?" Lin Huang turned his head to look at Guan Zhong and Qian Rui.

Guan Zhong shook his head helplessly. "Not really, but he didn't set the coordinates when he took the dimensional portal out in the end. Instead, he just stepped into it right away. It shows that those are the default coordinates, so it should be coordinates that he frequents. We can go back to the places that he usually goes and perform the video playback one after another to see if we can find more clues."

"Can't the Union Government get the usage data from the dimensional portal? Can't you just get his last teleportation coordinates?" Huang Tufu interrupted unclearly while munching on the pancake.

"The dimensional portal data system was only set up 36 years ago. We only have data backup for dimensional portals that were produced since the data system was set up. We've no data backup for those that were produced prior to that, so we can't find out anything about it," Qian Rui shook his head as he explained, "Zhuge Feifan has been using this dimensional portal for over 100 years. We can't find any related data in most of our databases."

"But don't all dimensional portal companies have a data storage record before the database was set up? Can't we retrieve anything from them?" Lin Huang remembered seeing some related information at the library back them. He had been slightly interested since it was related to dimensional portals, so he had taken a peek.

Guan Zhong glanced at Lin Huang, not expecting Lin Huang to know such a thing so well. He added on to what Qian Rui said earlier, "Indeed, we can retrieve dimensional portal data from the dimensional portal company that produced it. However, the one he's using is a model that was produced over 100 years ago. Plus, we're not sure which company produced it. There are up to 100 companies that produced dimensional portals 100 years ago. Today, only three companies with the biggest model in the entire continent are left while most of the rest went bankrupt. Those that were fortunate would've been bought over and there might've been data that was left behind while those that were unfortunate would've lost their data long ago."

"Even if we're lucky enough to get the dimensional portal data and find the coordinates, it can't be Zhuge Feifan's final hiding place. With his stealthy character, he definitely won't use the particular dimensional portal again," Qian Rui continued.

"But no matter how many dimensional portals he has, we can only search following this clue since we've no other hint at the moment."

"Do you guys want to look at the playback again? Or do we go to the next location?" Lin Huang asked both of them without giving any other opinion.

After all, anyone from Agency EA would be more professional than him in tracking. He had no other option on his side.

"Let's take a look again then," Qian Rui said without thinking twice, "We can skip the front part. Start from the time when he saw Guan Zhong's message until he left."

Lin Huang nodded and performed the video playback again. He set the playback time to past four in the afternoon when Zhuge Feifan got the message until he stepped into the dimensional portal a few minutes later.

"Pause here. Let me take pictures of this dimensional portal," Qian Rui shouted immediately.

Lin Huang paused the video. Qian Rui walked up to it and took pictures of every side and every detail of the dimensional portal. He did not want to miss a thing.

He only nodded at Lin Huang after he took a few minutes to finish. "I'm all done. Sorry for the trouble."

"Don't worry about it." Lin Huang waved and put the Book of Sorcerer Dao away into his body.

Qian Rui, on the other hand, sent out the photos and called a number. He got his underling to check the details about the dimensional portal.

As everyone was done working on their own thing, Huang Tufu happened to finish the last pancake.

"Do we go to the next location now?" Lin Huang asked Guan Zhong and Qian Rui.

Guan Zhong then summoned a dimensional portal in which they stepped in one after another.

Lin Huang had no idea that within less than two hours, all the social media applications were having fun with the picture in which he was guzzling the pancakes.

The topic of 'Dynasty's Newly Appointed Emperor' which had just cooled off was now a hit again. The topic now became 'Stickers of the Emperor Eating Pancakes'.

It was more popular than the topic 'Everyone in the Wei Clan Has Gone Missing' which ranked No. 1 and 'The Blessing Trading Company Explosion' ranking No. 2 that morning.

Even the comments of the next two top topics were related to pancakes.

"Supernatural stuff happened to the Wei Clan? It's so scary! I must eat a pancake to get over the shock!"

"I heard THE Blessing Trading Company exploded! It's so scary. I must eat a pancake to get over the shock!"

"The commenter above, stand there and don't move. I'll go get you a pancake."

"The commenter above, buy fish head biscuits from me. 18 servings with massive fish heads. That will be a big portion to fill your tummy. It only costs 998 life crystals! You'll be losing out if you don't get it at 998 life crystals. You'll regret if you don't get it at 998 life crystals. You deserve it!"

Even Lin Xin, who was far away in Emperor City, saw the picture of Lin Huang eating pancakes. She shrieked so hard in laughter when she saw the stickers, and she downloaded them immediately.

Naturally, everyone in Dynasty saw that too. They downloaded the sticker pack without hesitation.

Even people in some group chats began making the Emperor's stickers into emoticons. They were having so much fun.

Just when Lin Huang passed through Guan Zhong's dimensional portal, his Emperor's Heart Ring began vibrating.

He opened his communication page. Then, he clicked it immediately after seeing that it was a message from Lin Xin. He thought something had happened to her.

He realized she had sent him a comic. It was him eating pancakes in the comic with a sentence, 'I must eat a pancake to get over the shock!'

Lin Huang had a bad feeling when he saw the comic. He figured out roughly what had happened.

He opened the Heart Network and saw the 'Emperor's Sticker Pack' on the No. 1 daily topic. There were over 300 million clicks on it.

Lin Huang clicked the topic, feeling speechless. Soon, he saw over 30 versions of his pancake-eating stickers. One of the versions had more than 100 million downloads while another had over 80 million downloads.

Seeing that Lin Huang was checking his communication page, Guan Zhong and Qian Rui looked away. They did not want to stick their nose in his business.

On the other hand, Huang Tufu peeped over Lin Huang's shoulder and saw the projected content. He could not help but chuckle out loud when he saw Lin Huang's stickers.

Lin Huang turned his head and looked at him without an expression on his face. "What are you laughing about? You're a part of it too."

He then showed Huang Tufu his stickers. His stickers were even more interesting than Lin Huang's since he ate more pancakes than Lin Huang did. He was simply not as popular as Lin Huang, so there were much fewer downloads. However, there were over ten million downloads for his most-downloaded sticker pack.

Huang Tufu looked horrified when he saw his stickers. "I was just eating pancakes. Why are these people so mean?!"

Lin Huang did not dwell on it and closed the Heart Network. He had seen many such cases back on Earth. No matter how popular the sticker packs were, it would only be a hit for a few days. People would forget about it after the heat was over, thus it was unnecessary for him to think too much about it.

Seeing that Lin Huang closed the Heart Network page, Guan Zhong then pointed at a small villa that was completely burned over ten meters away. "This is a property Zhuge Feifan owns in the First City. It's also one of the accommodations he most frequented."

"Let's take a look." Lin Huang nodded and walked straight into the charred house.

In the villa that was completely incinerated, almost everything in it had turned into piles of ashes, so nobody could tell what they were initially. Even the walls were distorted as a result of the high heat.

The temperature when the house was burned was clearly higher than a normal fire.

"The fire was obviously done by humans. The speed of the burning was extremely fast. It almost burned the entire house down within merely a couple of minutes. It became this when the firefighters arrived," Guan Zhong explained to Lin Huang.

After observing the inside of the house for a while, Lin Huang summoned the Book of Sorcerer Dao again.

Guan Zhong and the rest quieted down and retreated behind Lin Huang while watching him performing witchcraft runes.

They had no idea that those were witchcraft methods that came from the middle era. They thought it was some secret skills that Lin Huang had obtained. Meanwhile, they thought the Book of Sorcerer Dao in his hand was some mysterious god item.

The Union Government knew that Dynasty had an organization from the great world behind them and the Emperor of Dynasty was capable of performing any methods. That was the reason why Guan Zhong and Qian Rui did not find it surprising.

Meanwhile, Huang Tufu had seen Lin Huang fought, hence he knew Lin Huang's ability and was no longer surprised by his methods.

The runes of the video playback projected into the air and soon the video appeared just like it had before.

The villa that had turned into ruins seemed like it was restored entirely at that moment.

The ceilings, walls, and floors were so clean like they were brand new. The furniture was also perfectly restored.

"I've set the time to 4.12 p.m. yesterday." Lin Huang set the time when Zhuge Feifan stepped into the dimensional portal.

However, Zhuge Feifan did not appear after they waited for two minutes.

"It seems like this wasn't the first place he dropped by." Lin Huang looked at Guan Zhong.

As Zhuge Feifan's disciple, Guan Zhong should know best where Zhuge Feifan frequented.

Guan Zhong frowned slightly. "He has three other properties in First City, but from what I know, he usually stays here and hardly goes to the rest."

"The first place he teleported to shouldn't be anywhere else but First City," Qian Rui could not help but speak up, "If I were escaping, I'd clear my office and get home to clear the most important evidence. Since he didn't come here right away, it proves that the most important evidence isn't here.

"Moreover, the sequence of clearing should be from the most important to the less important and closer to further. Therefore, the first place he teleported to should be in First City. He wouldn't have gone to other cities and come back here."

"So, it means there's a high possibility that he went to the other property right away," Lin Huang concluded.

"Not necessarily. Maybe he has other properties that you don't know about. You guys wouldn't be able to find out as long as he didn't register in his own name," Huang Tufu voiced a different opinion.

"What you said is possible too, but we can only search using the available clue now." Guan Zhong did not deny the possibility Huang Tufu expressed.

Lin Huang fast-forwarded the video 10 times faster. A black dimensional portal appeared when it was almost 5 p.m.

A person walked out of it when the portal opened. It was Zhuge Feifan.

"Pause right here!" Qian Rui shouted all of a sudden.

The dimensional portal was clearly different from the one before.

Lin Huang paused the video while Qian Rui walked up and took pictures of the details of the portal. He nodded to Lin Huang after he was done taking the pictures.

The paused projected video proceeded. Zhuge Feifan put the dimensional portal away after walking out of it. He then walked to the study room, opened the drawer of the desk and began putting things away.

"You guys take a look and see if there are any clues in the drawer." Lin Huang slowed down the speed of the playback and got Guan Zhong and the rest to take a look.

Zhuge Feifan took the items out quickly and put them away into his storage space. However, Guan Zhong and Qian Rui saw everything crystal clear since Lin Huang slowed it down.

After putting the few items from the drawer away, Zhuge Feifan then turned around to clear the bookcase. He put all the books and decor into his storage space.

When he was done with the study room, Zhuge Feifan got up and walked to his bedroom. He put some sex toys on his bedhead away into his storage space. Subsequently, he walked to his wardrobe and put away all his clothes and shoes.

He looked around to confirm he had missed nothing. A flicker of blue flames appeared on his palm. He moved his finger slightly, and gushes of blue flames shot all over the place.

At that very moment, the curtains, the bed, the bookcase, the table, the chairs, the couch, the coffee table… Almost everything that could be ignited was kindled. They began to burn rapidly.

Zhuge Feifan did not leave right away. He only summoned a dimensional portal and stepped into it after waiting for the fire to spread.

It was another dimensional portal that he summoned this time.

Qian Rui walked up and took pictures of the third dimensional portal immediately.

Lin Huang played the video after Qian Rui was done with the pictures.

The dimensional portal closed slowly, disappearing from where it was.

As Lin Huang fast-forwarded the remaining video ten times faster, the entire villa soon turned into a burned structure. The fire in the house was extinguished entirely when the firefighters arrived.

It was unnecessary to keep watching from then on. Lin Huang removed the projection and turned to Guan Zhong and Qian Rui.

"Did you find any clues?"

"There's nothing important in his drawer actually. I guess he cleared that just in case he missed something out. The books and decor on the bookcase were nothing special, let alone the clothes and the shoes." Clearly, Guan Zhong was dissatisfied with what they had gotten out of this trip.

"He used two different dimensional portals when he came and left. I've sent the detailed photos to my underlings to check thoroughly to see if there are any clues to that." Qian Rui had sent the pictures over when Guan Zhong had been speaking. He was clearly a person who did things quickly and decisively.

"Do you guys want to look at it again?"

"No need. Let's go to the next one." Qian Rui shook his head.

Guan Zhong said nothing and summoned the dimensional portal. They walked into it and disappeared after he set the coordinates.

Zhuge Feifan's second and third property were both villas. The locations were getting more and more luxurious.

However, in the two villas, Zhuge Feifan lit up the houses after merely putting away his clothes and stuff just like before. The only thing they got out of the footages was Qian Rui being able to take pictures of the two different dimensional portals again.

"We're left with the last property. If we can't find anything there, we can only wait for the dimensional portal user data." Lin Huang felt incompetent. After all, the only help he could provide was a replay of the video. Agency EA would have to depend on their own apart from that.

At a small area by the lake in the new eastern district of First City.

"This is his fourth property. It's just a residential building where ordinary people live. Everyone living in this building is a common civilian. I've no idea why he bought this place back then," Guan Zhong said while leading the few of them into the elevator.

The four of them arrived on the 33rd floor via the elevator. They saw the distorted door of Room 3301 as soon as they walked out of the elevator. The door was scorched black.

Without even thinking, Lin Huang knew that was Zhuge Feifan's unit.

He stretched his Divine Telekinesis to open the door before the four of them then walked in.

The unit was considered spacious with almost 140 square meters. To ordinary people, it was considered a rather neat place. However, it was nothing to cultivators.

Just like the three villas before, everything in this house had been moved out as well. No clothes or shoes were left behind. Everything else including the furniture had been reduced to ashes.

Guan Zhong and Qian Rui found nothing after rifling through the house. They then nodded at Lin Huang who summoned the Book of Sorcerer Dao, projecting what had happened to this house yesterday.

He set the time to 4.12 p.m. again.

Soon, the room seemed to be restored to how it was like through the runes.

What surprised Lin Huang and the rest was that this time, not only were the furniture and the rest projected, but there was also a woman sitting on the couch.

It was a woman who looked around 30 years old. She did not look outstanding but she had a quiet charisma. She was folding clothes languidly on the couch.

Just when Lin Huang wanted to ask Guan Zhong who the woman was, the dimensional portal appeared out of nowhere and Zhuge Feifan walked out of it.

At that moment, Lin Huang and the rest were secretly relieved. They finally confirmed the first location Zhuge Feifan had escaped to. They were surprised to find that he had escaped to this inconspicuous apartment.

Guan Zhong looked puzzled. Given his understanding of his master, it was hard for him to imagine how important this place was.

"Feifan, you're home!" The woman sitting on the couch greeted him while smiling as if she was welcoming him out of habit. "Why did you come back so early today?"

Zhuge Feifan did not seem to be surprised that she was at his place. He walked to the woman with a complicated expression on his face after putting the dimensional portal away.

"Sister Jing…"

"What's wrong? Why do you look so troubled?" The woman whom he addressed Sister Jing smiled and stopped what she was doing. She lifted her head coyly and looked at Zhuge Feifan.

"What's wrong? Did somebody bully you?" Sister Jing stretched her arm out to him and asked softly while holding his hand after Zhuge Feifan did not respond. "Tell me if you were wronged. You'll feel better."

"Sister Jing, will you hate me if I'm a bad person?" Zhuge Feifan asked all of a sudden after falling into silence for a while.

She kept quiet for a few heartbeats as she bit her lip before speaking again, "I don't know if you're a good person or a bad person, but I know you're good to me. That's enough. Even if you're a bad person to everyone in the world, to me, you'll forever be the best man in the world."

Seeing that Zhuge Feifan had fallen into silence again, Sister Jing put the clothes that she was folding halfway aside and got him to sit down.

"Stop overthinking. Let's eat your favorite boiled sliced pork later." She stretched her arms out to pinch Zhuge Feifan's cheeks like she was talking to a child.

Lin Huang and the rest could tell that they clearly had an extraordinary relationship.

Sister Jing was obviously a commoner. Her real age might not even be 1/20 to Zhuge Feifan's.

However, they looked like a couple since Zhuge Feifan called her 'sister' and did not resist her pinching his cheeks.

Nonetheless, Lin Huang and the rest were curious. This woman called Sister Jing appeared very normal. Even to ordinary people, she only looked mediocre and was not pretty in the least. To Zhuge Feifan, with his appearance, wealth and power, he could easily find a woman who was hundreds of times more beautiful than Sister Jing. So, why did he go for such an ordinary woman?

Zhuge Feifan who sat on the couch in silence for a long time finally spoke again, "Sister Jing, I got into some trouble."

"What kind of trouble? Do you need my help?"Sister Jing asked immediately, "If you need money, I've some savings here. You can use it first. Settle your thing and return the money to me whenever you can in the future."

"Sister, listen to me," Zhuge Feifan interrupted Sister Jing, "I got into some trouble involving cultivators. Nobody knows about our relationship at the moment, but they'll find this house sooner or later. They might talk to you then."

"Don't worry. I won't tell them a thing," she assured immediately and added in all seriousness, "I won't say a thing even if it means death for me!"

"It's not as simple as you think. They have methods that are beyond your imagination. Some people can even read your mind directly."

"Read my mind?" Sister Jing realized that Zhuge Feifan had offended people who were out of the ordinary as she heard this. "We can hire an assassin or we can get the Union Government…"

"Those people who are coming after me are from the Union Government," Zhuge Feifan interrupted Sister Jing again and placed both hands on her shoulders. "I'm not a good person. They're right to come after me.

"To avoid dragging you into this, the only way now is to erase everything about me in your head. That's the only way to get you off their list."

"Erase my memory?" Sister Jing seemed a little lost at that second, but she snapped back to her senses a while later. "Does that mean that… I'll forget you forever?"

Zhuge Feifan fell into silence for a while before nodding slowly.

Sister Jing held her head down and only lifted it up again after staying quiet for a long time. She looked at him earnestly. "Feifan, will you truly be safe if my memory's erased? They'll no longer come after you?"

Zhuge Feifan remained silent. His heart was breaking apart as he looked at the anticipation in her eyes, but he nodded eventually.

"Alright then, go ahead and erase my memory." Sister Jing forced a smile, but tears did not stop rolling from the corner of her eyes. "Erase it and don't worry about me. I won't remember you in my head, but I'll never forget you in my heart."

"Sister…" Zhuge Feifan pulled the woman into his arms and placed his chin on her shoulder. The tears he had been holding back finally burst out as he smelled the familiar fragrance of her shampoo.

The duo was locked in an embrace tightly just like that. Approximately five to six minutes later, Zhuge Feifan let go of his arms. He had dried off his tears with Divine Power by then.

He wiped the tears off Sister Jing's face and looked at her with a bright smile. "Sister, meeting you is the happiest thing that has ever happened to me."

"Me too." Sister Jing stretched her arms and touched Zhuge Feifan's cheeks gently.

Zhuge Feifan took a deep breath in and pointed a finger between her brows as she then closed her eyes slowly.

Tears were still pouring from the corner of her eyes, but she beamed with happiness.

"I'm sorry…" As a white glow lit up at his fingertip, Sister Jing's body soon went limp and she fell onto the couch.

A moment later, the white glow faded away.

Zhuge Feifan put Sister Jing down onto the couch slowly.

He opened her Emperor Heart Ring communication page and soon found all of the conversation records he had had with her.

This foolish woman had given him her Emperor Heart Ring's access when she could not even find information about a TV series that she was binging on.

Instead of deleting the messages, Zhuge Feifan read them one by one.

"My name's An Jing, what's your name?"

"You're only 23. You're not that young compared to me. I bet you're only five or six years younger than me."

"Xiao Feifan, someone broke up with me again. Come drink with me, your sister!"

"Are you sure you want to date me? I'm already 30!"

"Of course, I'll promise you that, but you'll have to call me Sister Jing for the rest of your life!"

"It's raining now, so it's a little cold. Remember to put on a jacket when you come back."

"I've made your favorite boiled sliced pork today. Come back soon!"

"Feifan, I got you a trench coat. You'll look good in it. Try it on when you come back from work."

…

Without realizing it, tears streaked all over his face as he finished reading the last message.

After erasing all of the records, he turned off the Emperor's Heart Ring communication page and turned his head to stare at An Jing for a long time. He then stood up and began clearing the house.

Some ten minutes later, Zhuge Feifan carried An Jing out of the house after he cleared the place.

Lin Huang expanded the projection range immediately, wanting to see where he was going.

In the end, Zhuge Feifan carried An Jing to Room 3302 next door. Immediately, he opened the door with a key.

So, they were neighbors!

Lin Huang and the rest were astounded.

Lin Huang paused the video as Qian Rui used his telekinetic power to get into Room 3302 to open the door.

They sensed that there was nobody in the house at that moment.

After walking into Room 3302, Lin Huang expanded the projection range again so that he included the entire unit. After that, he played the paused video again.

They saw Zhuge Feifan carry An Jing into the bedroom and put her down on the bed gently. Then, he tucked her into the blanket.

He then began to clear everything that was related to him in An Jing's room.

Their photo on the bedhead, the photo hanging in the living room, the photo pasted on the refrigerator… His clothes and shoes in the cabinets, his toothbrush and the towel in the bathroom…

He spent merely ten minutes to wipe away each and every trace of him in An Jing's life.

After confirming that he had missed out nothing, he returned to the bedroom and stared at An Jing who was sleeping for a while. He walked up and kissed her forehead.

"You'll find your love since you're such a good woman," he mumbled softly before standing up. Then, he left without even turning his head.

Zhuge Feifan returned to his house after closing the door to Room 3302.

After some thorough investigation later, he lit up the entire house after making sure he had not missed out on anything.

Lin Huang only removed the projected video after Zhuge Feifan summoned a dimensional portal and left.

"I thought he's a cold-blooded person who has no feeling at all." Guan Zhong shook his head and forced a smile after watching the video replay that was over half an hour long. "In reality, he didn't trust me since the beginning."

"Don't overthink it. This woman must've walked into his life by accident." Qian Rui patted his shoulder, knowing that Guan Zhong must be feeling terrible now.

Guan Zhong might not have too many emotions if Zhuge Feifan had been cold to everyone. However, Zhuge Feifan had shared an extraordinary relationship with this woman called An Jing. Guan Zhong felt horrible about it.

"If Zhuge Feifan trusted you, would you have betrayed the Union Government with him?" Huang Tufu asked all of a sudden.

"No!" Guan Zhong answered without hesitation, "Although he's my master, it doesn't mean that I'll support everything that he does unconditionally."

"So, what difference does it make whether he trusted you or not?" Huang Tufu challenged while smiling.

Guan Zhong was stunned and subsequently forced a smile while nodding. "That makes sense. I've been standing on the other side since the beginning, so he didn't dare give me too much of his trust. I can't blame him for using me as his chess piece."

"Can we find out anything from An Jing?" Lin Huang changed the subject directly to get Guan Zhong to work. It was more useful than any consolation.

"Although her memory of him is erased, we can use her since we know about their relationship." Qian Rui looked like he already had a plan. "I suspect that Zhuge Feifan didn't go very far. He might be secretly watching An Jing."

"If I were Zhuge Feifan, I definitely wouldn't leave before I make sure the woman I love is safe. I wouldn't even let her leave my field of vision." Huang Tufu agreed.

"So, are you guys planning to use An Jing as a bait?" Guan Zhong frowned slightly. "She's just an ordinary person. It's inappropriate to do that."

"What's inappropriate about that? It's not dangerous to use her as bait, more so since Zhuge Feifan won't kill her." Huang Tufu begged to differ.

"What I'm saying is that this is a matter between cultivators. We shouldn't drag an ordinary person into this." Guan Zhong thought the idea was out of line.

There were some regulations in the Union Government whereby it was prohibited to involve ordinary people into cultivators' matters. The most that they could do to ordinary people was to interrogate them, but they could not carry out other measures on them. However, it was a gray line whereby it mainly depended on how the individual handled the case.

"An Jing might be the biggest key to find Zhuge Feifan. We can't give up just like that. We might be able to find useful information if we can retrieve the part of memory that was erased. We don't necessarily need to use her as bait." Qian Rui could only take a step back for now.

"We've gotten a lot more information this time. I've taken pictures of the interaction Zhuge Feifan shared with An Jing. I even took pictures of their photos that Zhuge Feifan put away. I'll see if we can find anything useful when we get back later."

"Should we take a look at the properties he owns in other footholds?" Lin Huang asked.

"Theoretically, it's pretty impossible for him to have left First City since An Jing is here." Qian Rui thought it was unnecessary.

"So, is our job here done?" Huang Tufu asked immediately. He could not wait to head back to Emperor City.

"I think we should take a look at his properties in the other footholds. What if there are clues over there?" Guan Zhong still hoped to find more evidence. "I'll go with the Emperor. You'll stay back to look around here."

"Alright then, remember to take pictures." Qian Rui patted Guan Zhong's shoulder.

Guan Zhong spoke again after they sent Qian Rui off, "Apart from First City, I know Zhuge Feifan has five properties in other footholds at the moment. Apart from two properties in Heaven City, he has one in Ice River City, one in White Castle City, and one in Thousand Lake City. The property in Thousand Lake City is the getaway that he frequents most. I've been there thrice with him."

"Let's go then." Lin Huang did not mind going to the rest of the properties since he would treat it as a sight-seeing trip. Moreover, he was eager to get rid of Zhuge Feifan, who was trouble, as soon as possible.

Emperor's Heart

After spending over an hour, they were finally done checking Zhuge Feifan's remaining five properties.

It was almost 11 p.m. when they returned to the Union Government headquarters in First City.

"Are there any new clues?" Qian Rui asked immediately upon seeing them coming back.

"No, we only saw him packing his stuff and burning the houses down." Guan Zhong shook his head helplessly. "But he changed a couple more dimensional portals, of which I've taken pictures."

"This guy has so many dimensional portals," Huang Tufu could not help but ridicule. They had seen nine dimensional portals so far and Zhuge Feifan would change one everywhere he went.

"I've sent the pictures. Did you get anything on your side?" Guan Zhong queried Qian Rui immediately.

"We've gotten An Jing's details. Indeed, she's just an ordinary person. She's 32 this year and is teaching literature at the Hunter Reserve College in the new eastern district. She has no criminal records and is immensely popular at school. She has excellent relationships with her colleagues and the students.

"There's nothing wrong with her identity. We still haven't figured how exactly Zhuge Feifan got to know her for now. Zhuge Feifan must've bought the unit in the small area after knowing her."

"The timeline you mentioned fits. I still remember that it was two years ago when he bought the unit. I was confused about why he would buy a property in such a small area back then. Now that I thought about it, he must've done that to woo An Jing." Guan Zhong recalled when Zhuge Feifan bought the place and he confirmed Qian Rui's speculation.

"We've also found out where Zhuge Feifan and An Jing took the pictures. Three of them were taken in First City, two at Lakeside Park in the new eastern district, and one at Heart Ocean in the central district. The remaining four were taken in different footholds."

"Where's An Jing now?" Lin Huang asked.

"It's the summer break, so she's been giving extra classes to her students. It seems like her memory is indeed erased. I haven't sent anyone to monitor her at the moment because I figure that Zhuge Feifan might be around and he'll be warned easily." Qian Rui was afraid to alert Zhuge Feifan.

At that moment, Zhuge Feifan had no idea that his relationship with An Jing had been exposed. He thought that to the Union Government, An Jing was just a regular neighbor, so they would not take note of her. Zhuge Feifan would definitely find out if they were following her.

"I guess we're off the mission now, eh?" Huang Tufu asked.

"Thank you so much, Master Emperor. You've helped us a lot this time. If not for you, we wouldn't have found out about his relationship with An Jing." Qian Rui thanked him while smiling graciously.

"Thanks for all the trouble, Master Emperor." Guan Zhong was also being grateful.

"Hey, what about me?" Huang Tufu looked annoyed from being completely ignored.

"Mr. Tufu, too! Thanks for your hard work," said both of them while smiling.

"Master Emperor, do we head back to Emperor City?" Huang Tufu glared at both of them and asked Lin Huang.

"There's no rush. We'll head back in two days. It's not every day that we get to come to First City. Shouldn't we do some sight-seeing since we're here?" Lin Huang, on the other hand, was not in a rush to head back. "Moreover, Mr. Guan has yet to fulfill the condition that he promised me earlier."

"What condition?" Guan Zhong was stunned to hear that.

Qian Rui peeped at him, worried that Guan Zhong might have promised to do something that he should not have.

"The complimentary Emperor's Heart Ring's unlocking service. Did you forget?" Lin Huang glanced at Guan Zhong with his brow raised.

"Oh, I've almost forgotten about that!"

Qian Rui was relieved to hear that that was the condition Lin Huang meant.

"Complimentary unlocking service? Can you count me in? I also have some Emperor's Heart Rings that need to be unlocked," Huang Tufu requested immediately when he heard that the service was complimentary.

"Sure," Guan Zhong agreed right away. There was no difference for him to provide service for an extra person.

"I'll bring you guys over now," declared Guan Zhong and he summoned a dimensional portal.

The three of them stepped in one after another and soon disappeared from where they were.

Lin Huang realized they were in an underground cave when they walked out of the dimensional portal.

"Just put the Emperor's Heart Rings that you guys want to unlock into the tree hollow over there." Guan Zhong pointed at the giant sphere that appeared like it was made of layers of roots not far away. There were tiny, round holes on the surface.

"So, is this the Emperor's Heart?" Lin Huang walked up skeptically. He then placed more than 3,000 Emperor's Heart Rings into one of the holes.

Huang Tufu followed behind and took out a handful of Emperor's Heart Rings and put them into the other hole next to it. He could not help but steal a peep at Lin Huang. To his shock, he saw a sheer amount of rings that almost filled the entire hole.

"So many Emperor's Heart Rings! How long have you been saving those, Master Emperor?"

"I basically got them yesterday."

Huang Tufu was even more shocked when he heard that revelation. He recalled that Lin Huang had not been in Emperor City yesterday.

Did he rob the entire organization?!

Meanwhile, Guan Zhong, who stood tens of meters away, did not find it strange. He had witnessed almost Lin Huang's entire battle yesterday. Naturally, he knew very well where those rings came from.

As both of them placed the Emperor's Heart Rings into the holes, roots stretched out of the tree hollow slowly and grabbed all of the rings.

Lin Huang took a few steps back and turned his head to ask Guan Zhong softly, "Approximately how long does the unlocking take?"

"It'll be done in no time." Just when Guan Zhong was done speaking, the roots brought the 30-odd rings back to where Huang Tufu had placed them earlier.

Huang Tufu was stunned when he saw that. "That's it?"

"When they're sent back, It means the unlocking is done," Guan Zhong confirmed.

Huang Tufu then extended his arm to pick all of the Emperor's Heart Rings up. He checked them one after another with his Divine Telekinesis.

A moment later, he put away all of the rings into his storage space happily.

Perhaps because there were too many, the rings that Lin Huang wanted to get unlocked took slightly longer. However, the roots sent all the Emperor's Heart Rings back in less than a minute.

Lin Huang picked up all of the Emperor's Heart Rings immediately, but he only checked one. After making sure that it was unlocked, he did not even look at the rest.

Just when he was ready to leave after putting the Emperor's Heart Rings away, Xiao Hei's voice came into his ears. "I sense a Goldfinger in him. It's very powerful!"

"You mean the Emperor's Heart?" Lin Huang peeped at the sphere in surprise.

"That's right. You're not looking at his real form. This is just a part of him."

"Are you sure it's not a mistake?" Lin Huang secretly panicked. If the Emperor's Heart were a Goldfinger, it would mean there were other travelers behind it.

Lin Huang could not help but put his guard up towards other travelers after learning about the existence of Raiders from Yang Ling.

"It can't be a mistake. If I'm not mistaken, he must've found out about me and the stone tablet by now."

Lin Huang thought it was too risky to stay all of a sudden. He got Guan Zhong to summon the dimensional portal immediately and stepped into it.

He was finally relieved when the dimensional portal closed.

He had no idea that the sphere made of roots had transformed into a human face after he left via the dimensional portal. The face had complete features and looked like a bearded man.

The bearded man stared at the spot where Lin Huang had just disappeared and mumbled to himself softly, "Why does that kid have two Goldfingers in his body?"

In a luxurious suite on the 181st floor of the Star Dome Hotel, Lin Huang was watching the news while sitting on the couch in the living room. On the other hand, Bloody was calculating the loot in the Emperor's Heart Rings.

Huang Tufu, who was in the next room, was reading a novel, sprawled on the couch.

This Star Dome Hotel was one of the properties under the Hunter Association. The Union Government was a part of it too.

The hotel was merely three kilometers away from the Union Government office. The largest business district in the central zone of First City was just below the building, and it was extremely crowded.

Naturally, the hotel was expensive. Since it was Guan Zhong who had made the arrangements, Lin Huang and Huang Tufu did not have to spend any credit points on it.

Ignoring the 'Emperor's Stickers' topic that ranked No. 1 on Heart Network, Lin Huang looked at the topics that ranked No. 2 and No. 3.

"The incidents of the Wei Clan going missing and the Blessing Trading Company's explosion had spread through the entire cultivation world since this morning." Lin Huang noticed that the two topics already had over 100 million views.

Everyone knew the Wei Clan in Division 2 was a clan that had been passed down for centuries. They were also the wealthiest family in Division 2, and they even had two demigods that were known to the public.

Many cultivators were concerned about the ancient castle of the Wei Clan vanishing together with the people of the Wei Clan out of nowhere.

The other clans in Division 2 were worried that they might be the next target.

One must know that the incident happened in Division 2's No. 1 foothold. Theoretically, the foothold should be the safest foothold in the No. 2 safety zone. However, such a thing had happened.

Many people pointed fingers at the few top underground organizations. They verbally attacked the top underground organizations including Dynasty because they figured that only these organizations were capable enough of destroying a clan that had demigods, hence leaving no traces behind.

However, none of the top underground organizations including Dynasty responded to the incident.

Even the Union Government had been quiet. They did not even say anything officially, merely confirming that the destruction of the Wei Clan was the truth.

Naturally, Lin Huang knew that the Union Government did not say anything because they wanted to expose what the Wei Clan did after they got rid off God Bless completely.

However, all the clans in Division 2 had no idea about that. They pressured the Union Government for the sake of their personal safety. 'It's still under investigation' was the only response they got from the Union Government.

As for the Blessing Trading Company in Golden City being destroyed, it would not usually attract any attention from cultivators.

The main thing was that the entire land around the Blessing Trading Company collapsed, causing the terrain to change on a certain level. Clearly, a battle had broken out between powerhouses who were on at least demigod-level.

Many people knew that the Golden City was filled with shady companies, but never had they thought that there would be a battle between demigod-level powerhouses.

The two incidents happened on the same day, which made many people's imaginations run wild.

Some of them said the two incidents might be related, but the speculation was soon refuted because it was a piece of cake for them to find out that the Blessing Trading Company had nothing to do with the Wei Clan at all. They did not even have any business collaboration.

Lin Huang went through some forums and scrolled through social media sites for a while. By then, Bloody finally calculated everything in the Emperor's Heart Rings.

"There are a total of 3,022 Emperor's Heart Rings. We've obtained 2.12 million Divine Stones, 11 god relics, 56 demigod relics, three God Figurines, eight Godheads, 17 broken Godheads, and 123 ancient-level relics. There are also up to 10,000 relics of other grades, hundreds of billions of Life Crystals, all kinds of minerals, materials, and miscellaneous items.

"There are over ten types of rare minerals in them. There are six rare metals that are very valuable in the metallic materials."

"Is there any weapon that I can use?" Lin Huang asked

"There's one battle armor among the god relics. There are two sets of telekinetic weapons, five battle swords, and nine battle armors among the demigod relics. There are three sets of telekinetic weapons, 16 battle swords, and 21 battle armors among the ancient relics."

After confirming the exact number of loots, Lin Huang put whatever he had gotten Bloody to sort out back into his Emperor's Heart Ring.

"There's something that I need to tell you. I think it's best that we can find Zhuge Feifan before the Union Government does," Bloody could not help but tell Lin Huang through voice transmission. "Zhuge Feifan is the founder of Agency EA and he's been the president of the agency for hundreds of years. We can say that he's the person who knows most of the secrets in this gravel world. If we can read his mind, not only can we obtain more information about God Bless's Master God, but we can also even obtain all the secrets of the Union Government throughout more than 700 years directly."

"That's the reason why I stayed," Lin Huang revealed. In reality, he initiated help to Guan Zhong with this intention since the beginning.

The reason why Agency EA had agreed to get Lin Huang's help was that they were eager to find Zhuge Feifan. The longer Zhuge Feifan stayed missing, the higher the chances of some of the Union Government's secrets leaking.

Moreover, Guan Zhong and the rest hoped that Lin Huang would return to Emperor City soon. They made the hotel arrangements for Lin Huang when they heard he was staying in First City mainly because they wanted to monitor Lin Huang, preventing him from stealing Zhuge Feifan away from them.

Lin Huang knew very well that although Guan Zhong seemed honest, he was buttering him up. However, this guy was definitely not capable enough to be able to be the Vice President of Agency EA.

Although the Vice President of Agency EA held a lower position than the Vice President of the Union Government, his authority might even be higher than the latter.

"Do you have any way to find Zhuge Feifan?" Lin Huang asked.

"It's not difficult to find him if we expand the search territory," Bloody replied, "He's definitely not far away from An Jing."

"Looking at his behavior in the projection, he has a special bond with An Jing. He definitely won't leave First City until he's ascertained her safety."

"But there's no way of finding his exact location. He's at least on Virtual God rank-3, so he can monitor An Jing from thousands of kilometers away using Divine Telekinesis. He might be in a cafe thousands of kilometers away drinking coffee while monitoring her with Divine Telekinesis. The range is just too wide." Lin Huang shook his head, feeling helpless.

"If we don't mind crossing the line, it's not difficult to find him. The easiest way is to kidnap An Jing. As soon as something happens to An Jing, Zhuge Feifan will definitely reveal himself." In reality, everyone had the same idea as Bloody.

Besides Lin Huang, even the Union Government shared the same idea.

They were not using because there was an unspoken line among cultivators whereby they would not drag an ordinary person into their battle. Every cultivator knew that.

The line was even written in the Union Government's regulation, and it had become their law.

"We can't do anything to An Jing unless it's the last resort." Lin Huang shook his head after a moment of silence. "Do you have any other idea?"

"I haven't thought of anything at the moment." Bloody shook its head feebly. "There are too many powerhouses in First City, I can't use my Leech Pods. They'll find my Leech Pods as soon as I use them. Moreover, even if I could use them, the possibility of finding him is slim. As the leader of the spies, Zhuge Feifan has all sorts of stunning disguise methods. A simple disguise can get him to look like anything he desires if he wants to hide. In a big city such as First City, he's totally traceless like a drop of water falling into the ocean."

"I wonder if the Union Government managed to get more clues. Agency EA already stated that they don't want me to interfere further. They'll find out that I've got a plan of my own if I ask for more information from them."

Lin Huang was rather helpless that the investigation had come to a dead end.

"I think they'll still use An Jing as bait sooner or later," Bloody said with a grin.

Lin Huang recalled the conversation between Guan Zhong and Qian Rui earlier. He figured that Qian Rui seemed to be eager to use An Jing as bait since the beginning but Guan Zhong refuted the idea.

"There's nothing I can do if they really get their people to kidnap An Jing." Lin Huang frowned slightly. He said to Bloody all of a sudden after a moment of silence, "We must find a way to monitor An Jing. Otherwise, we wouldn't even know if someone has taken her away."

Bloody exhibited a projection, still smiling.

The projection showed an open-style kitchen and living room.

Lin Huang thought it seemed rather familiar. "Is this… An Jing's house?"

Bloody nodded while smiling.

"When did you spread your Leech Pods? Won't anyone find out about that?" Lin Huang asked in surprise.

"I secretly dropped a Leech Pod when we entered An Jing's house," explained Bloody, "There's a frozen crystal in the refrigerator with energy waves radiating out of it. Furthermore, it runs for 24 hours, which covers the Leech Pod's weak energy wave perfectly."

"Her house has an open-style kitchen. The refrigerator's facing the living room. The surveillance happens to cover a large part of the living room."

The creak of the door opening came from the living room all of a sudden while Bloody was speaking.

Although the surveillance could not pick up the side of the wall where the door in the living room was, it could still pick up sounds.

The door opened a moment later followed by the quiet shutting of the door.

A while later, having changed into house slippers, An Jing finally appeared in the surveillance range of the Leech Pod. She was dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt. Her back was drenched as she walked straight into the bathroom.

Early August was the hottest season in First City. The temperature was almost 38 to 39 degrees Celcius and the sun showed no mercy. It was normal for an ordinary person to sweat under such high temperatures.

Soon, the splashing of water came out of shower head from the bathroom. Perhaps because she was living alone, An Jing did not close the bathroom door.

However, the surveillance did not broadcast anything but the bathroom door.

Some ten minutes later, the water stopped and An Jing walked out with a towel tied around her waist. However, the top half of her body was naked.

Lin Huang glanced away after a peek. He was not shy. After all, he was an experienced man and he used to have girlfriends before. However, he was monitoring the person at the moment, and it was immoral to be peeking at someone taking a shower.

With the towel tied around her waist, An Jing walked into the bedroom while drying her damp hair.

Soon, she returned to the living room wearing black underwear and a towel covering the top half of her body. She was still naked, but the towel covered most of her body.

Until then, Lin Huang just noticed that she had a svelte figure, leaning towards the likelihood that she worked out.

She had long legs and a tiny waist. Her breasts and butt were not considered voluptuous, but she had an appealing figure as a whole.

An Jing seemed to look sexier than usual when she had just taken a shower with her hair still half-wet.

Just like that, she sat on the couch with her little underwear and the towel on her body. She lay on a pillow while placing her legs on the table. Then, she began reading on the Heart Network.

"This little miss is pretty easy-going." Lin Huang could not help but smile. However, seeing that she was at ease being herself, he confirmed that Zhuge Feifan had erased her memory.

It was impossible that she would behave like that if she had retained her memory and she had just lost the love of her life. There was no way that this could be all an act.

"Watch her. Inform me if something happens." Lin Huang had no time to watch this lady go on with her daily life.

Lin Huang returned to his room after delegating the task to Bloody. He then took out the Godheads and broken Godheads that had just been sorted out from his storage space.

He put all eight Godheads and 17 broken Godheads into his body and began refining them.

The refinement zone formed by the ten Divine Fires seemed to be welcoming as they swallowed all of the Godheads and broken Godheads.

Time flew by and a couple of hours soon passed by.

Huang Tufu came knocking on his door when it was past 5 p.m. They had dinner at a restaurant that was wildly popular downstairs and took a stroll along the business district.

It was past 9 p.m. when they were done with their stroll.

Nonetheless, Huang Tufu was not done walking around. He was not really shopping; he was checking the ladies out.

There were just too many beautiful ladies in this business district. After some had walked by, even more would come by. It was a feast for the eyes. Moreover, most of the ladies in First City dressed up rather well. They were more pleasing to the eye compared to the ladies in Emperor City.

Huang Tufu felt a little dizzy just watching all of the beautiful ladies at that moment.

If not for Lin Huang who wanted to head back to the hotel, he might have been sitting in the middle of the business district until midnight.

Huang Tufu lost his mood as soon as they returned to the hotel.

He sprawled on the couch in the living room like a salted fish again and proceeded to read his novel.

Lin Huang, on the other hand, continued to speed up the refinement of the Godheads in his body as he returned to his room.

The speed of refinement that he initiated with his Divine Fire was a few times faster than automatic refinement. Even though that was the case, the eight complete Godheads showed no signs of being refined at all. There was not even a crack on them.

Over two hours soon passed by.

The eight complete Godheads in Lin Huang's body remained unchanged.

He was going to shower and sleep upon realizing it was almost midnight.

However, Bloody's voice came all of a sudden just when he stood up and arrived at the bathroom door.

"Something's happening to An Jing!" Bloody then projected the surveillance footage.

An Jing's house was pitch-black at the moment, but it did not affect Lin Huang's vision.

He saw a spiral of black smoke appear out of nowhere in the middle of the living room. It happened to be within the surveillance range of Bloody's Leech Pod.

A moment later, the black smoke expanded rapidly into an irregular cloud with a diameter of two meters. It looked like a muscular hunk who was two meters tall.

The silhouette stepped out and went into An Jing's bedroom in a flash as soon as it formed.

In the next second, he walked out of the bedroom with An Jing who was either sleeping or in a coma. He then stepped out and passed the living room like a shadow before going onto the balcony.

Lin Huang and Bloody clearly saw what happened in An Jing's house.

When he saw An Jing being taken away by the silhouette, Lin Huang frowned slightly.

"I've never thought people from Agency EA would take action so soon!"

The reason Lin Huang was sure that it was Agency EA who did that was that apart from him and Huang Tufu, only people from the agency knew about An Jing's real identity at that moment.

"I thought they wouldn't do this so soon because they didn't want to cross the line. Never had I thought they'd be so decisive!" The person's quick action was indeed out of Lin Huang's expectations.

"Perhaps they're afraid there might be changes to the situation." Bloody knew Agency EA's behavior very well. "The Union Government must've hoped that they could capture Zhuge Feifan before the news of him escaping spread. As soon as the news spread, perhaps the few top underground organizations will go after him. It's the best time to obtain the Union Government's top secrets."

"That makes sense. I've underestimated Zhuge Feifan's value." Lin Huang nodded and said, feeling helpless, "It's even more troublesome now that we've lost An Jing."

"I've foreseen this would happen, so I left a positioning pod behind in An Jing's body," Bloody admitted with a grin.

"Won't anyone find out about the pod?"

"They won't. It's just a pod with a positioning function without any energy waves. It's impossible that anyone will find out about it as long as they don't observe it with methods on the same level as Divine Telekinesis. This is because the pod is just the size of a cell." Bloody had mastered hundreds of types of parasitization methods, some of which could not even be tracked.

Lin Huang was relieved after realizing that they had An Jing's coordinates. "So, where is that guy who took An Jing again?"

"He's gone to the south. He's not using a dimensional portal. He's been maintaining a high-speed flight and he's clearly luring Zhuge Feifan to come out."

"The south…" Lin Huang projected the map from his Emperor's Heart Ring. "It's the Hopeless Cliff on the south and the grade-6 forbidden area, Hell Canyon, is further up. It seems like they're going to fight at Hell Canyon."

"It's just over 1,000 kilometers away from First City. It seems a little too close, but the terrain of the Hopeless Cliff can bear the impact of the fight when it reaches First City. That guy who took An Jing away must've picked that place for this reason," Bloody analyzed while looking at the map.

Bloody could not see what was happening exactly at the moment. It could only sense that the positioning pod had not stopped moving. Lin Huang did not go after the person right away. Instead, he remained patient while waiting for the person to stop.

Some ten minutes later, Bloody sensed that the positioning pod had stopped. As expected, it stopped at Hell Canyon.

Lin Huang stood up and went out to knock on Huang Tufu's door.

"Anything that I can help you with, Master Emperor?" Huang Tufu opened the door puzzledly.

"Do you want to have some skewers? We can enjoy a drink too."

"Sure!" Without hesitation, Huang Tufu agreed to go as soon as he heard there was something to eat.

They walked out of the hotel and realized that the business district downstairs was still crowded.

Huang Tufu exclaimed, "First City lives up to its name. It's still so crowded when it's already midnight. Our business district in Emperor City doesn't even have this many people at 10 p.m."

"Isn't comparing First City with Emperor City silly?" Lin Huang smiled. "I remember seeing some recommendations on the Internet. There's a barbecue place over there that looks yummy. Let's go to that one."

Lin Huang blended with the crowd as soon as he was done speaking.

Huang Tufu followed behind Lin Huang immediately.

Before Huang Tufu caught up with him, Lin Huang put on a golden mask and transformed his face. At the same time, he crushed a Cloning Card and cloned himself.

In the next second, he left Huang Tufu's field of vision, blending in with the crowd.

He walked out of the business district leisurely and went to an empty space. Then, he summoned a dimensional portal and stepped into it.

When he stepped out of the dimensional portal in the next second, he arrived at Zhuge Feifan's villa.

The villa was located in the south of First City. It was up to 1,000 kilometers away from the Union Government. Lin Huang had set the coordinates when they came to investigate Zhuge Feifan earlier.

After getting out of Agency EA's radar, Lin Huang crushed a Transformation Card and transformed into Thunder. He flapped his wings and flew toward the south.

Approximately five to six minutes later, Lin Huang passed by the Hopeless Cliff to the south of First City and entered the grade-6 forbidden area, Hell Canyon.

"Is An Jing still there?"

"She's still there. She's around 280 kilometers from where we are now. Just go all the way east following the cliff."

"We're already so close, but we haven't heard any signs of battle. Could Zhuge Feifan not have taken the bait?" Just when Lin Huang asked Bloody that question through voice transmission, an intense battle wave spread from the direction Bloody specified.

Given that the cliffs were blocking it, the Divine Power was weak as it spread over there hundreds of kilometers away. However, the strong wind that came from the energy wave was like a tornado sweeping past Lin Huang's face.

He flapped his wings and ascended quickly to avoid being blown away by the strong wind.

Virtual god-level battle impact would not harm him. Nevertheless, he chose to avoid it to prevent Zhuge Feifan and the other guy from noticing him.

After spending less than a minute to travel more than 200 kilometers, Lin Huang finally saw the duo who was battling far away.

He did not go any closer. Instead, he landed at the back of a cliff.

Naturally, the two Virtual Gods noticed him. However, they only treated him as a dumb bird that had invaded their battle, so they did not care to bother.

Lin Huang looked at the duo's battle with his head peeping out. Compared to when he was on immortal-level, his combat strength had elevated to imperial-level yellow gold-rank after using the Transformation Card. He had an ability comparable with a Virtual God, which allowed him to capture the two Virtual Gods' movements in the battle.

In the air, the two silhouettes were twinkling like flashes of black and white lightning.

All monsters in the forbidden area were reeling in fear. Some were even so terrified that they froze instead of running away.

Sparks burst from the collision and lit up in the middle of the duo's battle, illuminating the night sky.

The flowers and trees around them turned into ashes as a result of the high temperature. In the blink of an eye, they were gone with the wind. The cliffs in all directions collapsed, creating gullies and sinkholes in the ground. It was so close to being a bottomless abyss.

Meanwhile, the mountain kilometers away, where Lin Huang was, was collapsing from the intense earthquake. Lin Huang pretended to be hurt and fell into the collapsed gravel. Despite the tumultuous chaos, he proceeded to watch the battle through the gaps.

He had been watching for a while now, but he could not see who exactly Zhuge Feifan was fighting with. However, his doubts were soon answered.

A voice that Lin Huang was familiar with boomed in the air. "Master, please come with me. I'll definitely fight for a lenient punishment for you."

"Guan Zhong, you disappoint me. I've taught you countless times to not

show mercy to any enemies. I'm your enemy now, not your master. If you haven't come to a realization to kill me, then I'll end your life here!"

Lin Huang was shocked to hear the duo's conversation.

"Guan Zhong kidnapped An Jing!"

Initially, Lin Huang thought Guan Zhong was the unlikeliest to have kidnapped An Jing.

After all, Zhuge Feifan was his master while An Jing was considered his mistress on a certain level. Moreover, when Qian Rui suggested kidnapping An Jing, he refuted the suggestion right away.

In the end, he kidnapped An Jing when it had just been half a day, forcing Zhuge Feifan to reveal himself.

Battling, the duo was screaming at each other in the air.

"You brought me up since I was young. I've known you for over 600 years! To me, you're my master as well as a father. I've always respected you. I've always thought that you've never loved me because you're born a cold person. I told everyone that you're that way. I've just learned that you weren't born a cold person yesterday. For more than 600 years, I've just been an insignificant chess piece. I'm not even a person to you!"

"I'm the God's Messenger of God Bless. I've been taking on the identity of a spy since the first day I stepped into the Union Government. Everyone in the Union Government is a chess piece to me. You're not the only one," Zhuge Feifan said expressionlessly.

"I'm not in the mood to talk about old times with you. Hand An Jing over!"

"I'm curious. Which part of this woman attracts you? You've only known her for two years, but she's more important to you than the Union Government that you've been working for over 700 years!" Guan Zhong demanded, feeling more and more pissed off. He had dragged An Jing into his God Territory before the battle began.

"She's an ordinary person. You shouldn't have dragged her into this." Zhuge Feifan shook his head, feeling helpless.

"I've told you. I'm a God's Messenger under the Master God before joining the Union Government. No matter whether it's been 700 years, 7,000 years or 70,000 years that I've stay in the Union Government, my real identity remains as God's Messenger of God Bless. The Union Government has never been important to me, so technically, I didn't betray them."

Naturally, that answer was not what Guan Zhong wanted to hear. "I wonder what magic potion that Master God got you to drink!"

"Master God is a real god. You can't imagine how great power a ninth-rank True God possesses!" Zhuge Feifan's tone really sounded like he was a fanatic who had been brainwashed. ( NovelFull )

Lin Huang was eager to ask when he heard his response, "Do you know there's Heavenly God and Lord above True God?" However, he remained lying in the gravel in Thunder's form without moving as if he had lost the ability to move.

Zhuge Feifan and Guan Zhong treated him as a dumb bird that had been injured badly from the fallen rocks coming from the battle impact. Naturally, they did not bother about him.

"Zhuge Feifan, you've met fanatics before. Don't you hear yourself? You're being brainwashed! Follow me back to the Union Government. We'll try everything we can to remove that bullsh*t from your head!" Finally, Guan Zhong called out Zhuge Feifan's name instead of calling him his master.

"Stop your nonsense, Guan Zhong. I'll give you two choices now. You can give me An Jing. Let me take her away and I'll pretend the kidnapping never happened. If not, I'll kill you and take An Jing with me."

Guan Zhong did not panic at all when he heard the warning. "You should know very well that you've no chance of winning if you were to fight me. Your combat strength is a level lower than mine. I taught you everything you know, including the provisional combat strength elevation method."

"Zhuge Feifan, since you're so stubborn, I won't waste anymore effort on you," he said and swung his right hand, invoking 18 silhouettes to appear before him at the same time.

"Back-up support?!" Lin Huang was stunned to see the silhouettes. He subsequently recognized those things. "No, they've got no vitals. They should be corpse puppets!"

Zhuge Feifan also experienced a slight change of expression when he saw the 18 corpse puppets.

To everyone's bewilderment, a blood-colored formation flag suddenly appeared in Guan Zhong's hand. He glared at Zhuge Feifan seriously. "You taught me this puppet formation as well, but I'll beat you with this today!"

Guan Zhong lowered the formation flag in his hand to point forward as soon as he was done speaking. The 18 corpse puppets charged at Zhuge Feifan like wild beasts that were hungry for blood.

The corpse puppets clearly had a combat strength of Virtual God rank-3. Their individual abilities were nothing below Guan Zhong or Zhuge Feifan's. With the control of the formation flag, the onset of 18 corpse puppets combined would be even more powerful.

Zhuge Feifan was indeed suppressed at the moment.

As he watched the battle beneath, Lin Huang hesitated if he should help. Initially, he planned to kill Zhuge Feifan on his own when he ran away.

If that happened, he could avoid engaging people from the Union Government. Guan Zhong had seen Lin Huang in the bruised corpse's form before, so he would recognize him right away.

However, he was a little worried that Guan Zhong would take Zhuge Feifan away now.

Taking Zhuge Feifan away from Guan Zhong and killing Zhuge Feifan halfway were two completely different concepts. The former was almost equivalent to declaring war with the Union Government.

Just when Lin Huang was thinking to himself, in the midst of the battle, Zhuge Feifan's combat strength sky-rocketed. From his initial Virtual God rank-3 combat strength, he broke through Virtual God rank-4, Virtual God rank-5, and even stepped into Virtual God rank-6.

The three-rank elevation made his ability rise greatly. He crushed the heads of two corpse puppets and got out of the puppet formation with blood smeared all over his body.

Zhuge Feifan's body underwent a strange expansion as his pupils turned bloody. His height grew to two to three meters as his body bulged with muscles. Even his top was shredded from the transformation.

"I've already told you that you don't understand how powerful the Master God is!"

Zhuge Feifan revealed a ferocious grin. Instead of charging at Guan Zhong, he turned around and advanced into the puppet formation.

He punched and kicked, destroying all of the corpse puppets one after another like he was smashing toys.

The entire process took less than three seconds before all 18 corpse puppets were killed.

Soaked in blood, Zhuge Feifan then turned his head to look at Guan Zhong.

Guan Zhong was completely astounded. He thought his plan of bringing his corpse puppets there to capture Zhuge Feifan was a seamless one. Never had he thought that Zhuge Feifan would have such a ridiculous combat strength elevation method whereby he could elevate three ranks at once. The corpse puppets that he brought were all killed in mere seconds. They were torn and became dead remains on the ground.

Just when he was rooted in shock, Zhuge Feifan zipped forward and arrived before him in the next second, grabbing his neck to haul him up.

"Give me An Jing or you'll die!"

"Come into my God Territory and bring her out yourself if you dare!" Guan Zhong remained stubborn.

Zhuge Feifan smirked. "Sure, let's play!" He released Guan Zhong as he spoke.

Almost at the same time, a black vortex appeared out of thin air. Zhuge Feifan stepped into it without hesitation while Guan Zhong followed behind. The duo's aura vanished completed together with the vortex.

Lin Huang waited patiently. To him, Guan Zhong definitely would not be able to defeat Zhuge Feifan. After all, their combat strength was just too far apart.

Approximately a minute later, an ear-piercing screech came. The massive God Territory showed its illusive projection. Then, it collapsed in the air.

A silhouette fell onto the ground from mid-air. At the same time, another silhouette marched out of the projection.

As Lin Huang expected, Zhuge Feifan was the victor.

He held An Jing in his arm, his elevated aura was calming down.

Naturally, Guan Zhong was the one who had fallen onto the ground. His vitals were still there, but he was clearly in a coma now.

Zhuge Feifan hesitated as he peeked at Guan Zhong's direction. In the end, he did not kill him.

He summoned dimensional portal with the flourish of a hand as he glanced down at the lady in his arm.

However, a black glow came at the moment, crushing the dimensional portal.

"Please stay, my friend!"

To prevent leaving any flaws behind, Lin Huang had held back earlier and only commanded the bruised corpse to reveal itself now.

Guan Zhong had seen the bruised corpse before. Had he still been conscious, Lin Huang would have to fight him before stopping Zhuge Feifan.

However, now that Guan Zhong was out of it, Lin Huang had one less concern. He then controlled the bruised corpse to stop Zhuge Feifan.

"Bruised corpse…" Zhuge Feifan squinted when he saw the corpse. His voice echoed in all directions, "Master Emperor, there's no need for you to hide."

He put An Jing into his God Territory to protect her as he spoke, "This bruised corpse is from that lady, Wei Ping's collection. She used it as her son's host later on. You got this bruised corpse when that kid Wei Shan attempted to take revenge, but you killed him instead."

Kilometers away, Lin Huang removed Thunder's form and scrambled out of the gravel.

Zhuge Feifan was stunned to see him. "So, you disguised as that dumb bird, Master Emperor. This method is pretty remarkable. I didn't realize that at all."

He also noticed that Lin Huang's combat strength was no longer on immortal-level, but on imperial-level yellow gold-rank. Although Lin Huang had removed the disguise, the combat strength still remained.

"It's nothing worth mentioning." Lin Huang looked at Zhuge Feifan while smiling. "You, Mr. Zhuge Feifan, on the other hand, managed to elevate your combat strength three ranks higher which turned the tables around. Wow, I was shocked."

"Master Emperor, you're saying all these just to get the confidential information in my head. Am I right?" Zhuge Feifan asked.

However, Lin Huang shook his head. "That's just a itty-bitty part of the reason."

"What's the main reason then?"

"The main reason is that I don't wish to see the Master God coming to this gravel world. Therefore, God Bless needs to end, and you, the Master God's loyal slave, must die too!" Lin Huang growled without holding back.

Zhuge Feifan glared at him with hostility. "So, Lin Huang, you're persistent to go against God Bless then?" He even addressed Lin Huang by his full name instead of calling him Master Emperor now.

"No, I'm persistent to end the entire God Bless," Lin Huang corrected him.

"If that's the case, please go to hell then!" At the same time Zhuge Feifan said that, he disappeared from where he was. He arrived before Lin Huang when he appeared again. With his palm wide open, he was going after Lin Huang's head.

If that really happened, Lin Huang's head might explode right away.

Lin Huang stood where he was as if he did not manage to react in time.

Just as he thought his attack was going to succeed, Zhuge Feifan felt an intense sense of danger spread behind him. It felt like the God of Death was standing behind him.

He dared not even look back and gave up on the attack right away. Retreating, he stepped into the air and turned toward the other direction. While dodging to his right, he adjusted his body to whip around, intending to see what exactly exuded such a sense of danger.

Just when he spun around, he saw a bruised silhouette getting close to him at an alarming speed.

"Bruised corpse?!"

Zhuge Feifan was shocked. To his knowledge, the bruised corpse that had been made into a corpse puppet could remain at Virtual God rank-2 or rank-3 at the most. However, it was not the case at the moment. Its speed was clearly a few folds faster than when he had elevated to Virtual God rank-6.

In the blink of an eye, the bruised corpse arrived before Zhuge Feifan.

Zhuge Feifan attacked directly without hesitation. He dared not slow down at all as he threw his punches continuously. He held nothing back, releasing every bit of Divine Power in his body through every punch.

However, the bruised corpse opened his palm wide and waved seemingly in a casual manner. A black palm print shot out and expanded in the wind. It grew to the size of a small mountain and collided with the glows of the punches like comets landing one after another.

The glows of the punches were crushed as soon as they collided with the giant palm. They turned into stardust like melting snow.

The giant palm arrived before Zhuge Feifan in a heartbeat. Compared to before, its color had faded a little.

Zhuge Feifan was secretly petrified. He retreated quickly while swinging his punches carelessly in an attempt to block the palm from Lin Huang.

However, his hard work was to no avail.

The bruised corpse pressed his palm in the air. Soon, the black palm print accelerated and crushed into Zhuge Feifan's body.

As the giant palm collided against his body, all Zhuge Feifan could feel was an invincible force spreading throughout his body. It felt like an entire planet had crashed into him.

His right hand with which he was throwing punches was smashed into dust by the great force.

Even his god relic armor had tiny cracks from the intense collision. It drained close to half of the Divine Power in his body just to defend the attack.

Although the god relic armor defended the direct attack of the palm, the intense impact crushed his organs.

Zhuge Feifan flew deep into the remnants of the mountain a hundred kilometers away.

The mountain collapsed as if it exploded, accompanied by the blast as Zhuge Feifan's body crashed into it and stopped completely.

Lying in the gravel, Zhuge Feifan was so shocked that he was speechless.

That single attack made him realize that the bruised corpse's combat strength was at least two ranks higher than his. He even suspected the bruised corpse had true god-level ability.

In reality, since Wu Mo had modified the bruised corpse, it had surpassed an ordinary Virtual God rank-9 powerhouse. Although the body had yet to reach True God, it was close.

The three-rank difference was too powerful for Zhuge Feifan.

Until then, Zhuge Feifan who was in the gravel just remembered the three God Bless God's Messengers who had been killed.

"He's invincible… The three of them must've felt this despair before they took their last breath."

The single collision made Zhuge Feifan lose his confidence to fight completely.

Bearing the pain that throbbed all over his body, he stood up from the gravel and summoned a dimensional portal without even thinking.

However, a bruised silhouette came the moment he summoned the dimensional portal, landing directly on top of it.

He looked at Zhuge Feifan who was attempting to escape in a condescending way, then crushed the dimensional portal into dust with a mere slight force under his feet.

Without waiting for Zhuge Feifan to react, the bruised corpse arrived before him in a flash. He pressed his palm against Zhuge Feifan's chest at a neutral speed.

The protective armor sucked all the Divine Power in Zhuge Feifan's body to defend the single attack. With the Divine Power's support, the protective armor retreated back into his body.

His expanded body went back to his original size while his Virtual God rank-6 combat strength fell back to Virtual God rank-3.

Zhuge Feifan was in despair as he looked bitter. He did not even have the Divine Power to summon a dimensional portal now.

"Look into my eyes," commanded the bruised corpse. Zhuge Feifan could not help but lift his head to look at him.

In the next second, his consciousness was drowned in a bloody ocean.

From where Lin Huang was watching, all he could see was a tall and a short silhouette that seemed to have turned into two sculptures. They stood still.

However, the frozen scene only remained for a moment. The bruised corpse then plunged his hand into Zhuge Feifan's chest. When he pulled his bloody hand out from Zhuge Feifan's body, there was a brown Godhead between his fingers.

By then, Zhuge Feifan's consciousness had just returned to his body. However, his aura was plummeting.

An Jing, who was pulled into his God Territory, was rejected from it. She lay on the ground not far away from Zhuge Feifan.

Zhuge Feifan peeked at her direction, trying his very best to stay awake as he crawled toward her. He could hardly move.

Lin Huang sighed slightly upon seeing that tragic scene. He got the bruised corpse to carry Zhuge Feifan and put him next to An Jing.

Zhuge Feifan stretched his arm strenuously and held An Jing's hand pitifully. He then turned his head and spat a word out at Lin Huang, "Thanks…"

His consciousness collapsed soon after saying that. However, he insisted on turning his head back to look at An Jing.

"Please be happy…" Zhuge Feifan managed a weak smile as he watched the love of his life quietly until his world turned completely dark.

Upon stepping out of the dimensional portal to arrive in front of his hotel, Lin Huang's clone had just finished having supper with Huang Tufu. They were paying and were about to leave.

Lin Huang blended into the crowd and walked toward the barbecue stall.

His clone walked out of the barbecue stall and left Huang Tufu behind, he blended with the crowd too.

Before waiting for Huang Tufu to catch up, his clone disappeared into the crowd. Meanwhile, Lin Huang stood where the clone had been.

"The dessert here looks great. I'll buy some for Xin Er. She'll love it." Lin Huang lifted his head to look at the dessert stall next to him upon seeing that Huang Tufu was advancing.

Huang Tufu shrugged in an indifferent manner since he did not like dessert. "You should buy this fresh. They won't be fresh anymore if you buy them now and only bring them back a few days later."

"Then, we'll go back tomorrow morning since we'll leave right after breakfast," said Lin Huang and walked towards the dessert stall.

"Didn't you say before that we're waiting for Zhuge Feifan?"

"How's Zhuge Feifan more important than my Xin Er?" Lin Huang replied while smiling and raising his brow.

It was past 1 a.m. when they headed back to the hotel after buying a whole lot of dessert.

Lin Huang shared Zhuge Feifan's memory with Bloody as soon as he returned to his room. He got it to analyze it and sort it out while he went to take a shower.

When he returned to the living room after the shower, Bloody had sorted out Zhuge Feifan's memory and compared as well as analyzed it together with the other three God's Messengers' memories.

"Zhuge Feifan was the first to follow the Master God. Combining the three God's Messengers' memories, I basically know the construction and development of the entire God Bless. God Bless was founded over 700 years ago by the Master God that Zhuge Feifan and the rest talked about."

"So, the Master God is really a cultivator from this world?!" In reality, Lin Huang knew that earlier, but he did not believe it.

"Yes, but there are tons of suspicions about this Master God. It was said that the Master God was one of the first batches of imperial-level powerhouses in the new area. However, he became a true god-level powerhouse as a result of some opportunity that came all of a sudden.

"This part is already suspicious. Theoretically, even if he successfully integrated the Godhead, the most he could get would be Virtual God rank-3. It's impossible for him to get any more powerful. However, his combat strength seemed to have surpassed virtual god-level directly and arrived at true god-level. From what I know, among the known techniques in this gravel world at the moment, no technique can possibly elevate one's combat strength so drastically.

"Also, God Bless was founded after the Master God elevated to true god-level. Zhuge Feifan, Wei Ping and the rest were the most outstanding and talented young people back in that generation. Their combat strength was only on holy flame-level back then. The Master God trained up to a hundred people after the search for talent, but Zhuge Feifan and the other three were the only ones who survived.

"According to their memories, the Master God spent most of his time exploring ruins and sites. He would only return to God Bless two to three times annually to check on the four's cultivation progress and the organization's development.

"The Master God didn't stay long in the gravel world. He was only here for less than a hundred years. After leaving the gravel world, he left a Virtual God rank-9 clone behind. His clone also explored ruins and sites but he got stuck in a grade-7 ruins more than 300 years ago because he didn't make it out in time. He only got out when the ruins was reopened a few years back. He then returned to the gravel world.

"What I find strange is that since the Master God's clone returned, he has been looking for ways to get his real life to return to the gravel world for the past few years. He didn't explain why he's doing that. All he told Zhuge Feifan and the rest was to find ways to bring his real self back."

"It sounds like he's found some treasure in the ruins, but the clone is incapable of retrieving it. Therefore, he's hoping that his real self can come back to retrieve the treasure." Lin Huang offered his speculation.

"I think it goes deeper than that." Bloody shook its head. "Of course, what you said is possible too."

"Another thing that I don't understand is that with the Master God's ability 700 years ago, he could've defeated all the powerhouses in the entire gravel world on his own and rule the cultivation world with God Bless.

"The new era had just begun at that time. Apart from Mr. Fu and a handful of demigods, there were very few imperial-level powerhouses. All the organizations had just been founded, so he could totally defeat them easily. However, he chose to use God Bless to work secretly, placing many spies into other organizations. Not only did they not interfere with the organizations, but the spies were also helping the other organizations grow.

"Over 700 years ago, apart from the Land of Origin, Division 1 was just built. Maybe he thought that harvesting back then wouldn't be an accomplishment to him and figured he would harvest what he sowed years later." Lin Huang thought about it and decided that the Master God might have had such a mindset back then.

"That's possible," Bloody agreed, "It's like finding a bunch of baby Swine Beasts on the streets. Eating them all would be a waste, so one would rear them and eat them when they get bigger."

"Did you learn anything else about God Bless and the Master God?"

"I found out about Mr. Fu being attacked although we know what exactly happened now. It was Zhuge Feifan who arranged that. He and Qi Shihan did it. They were the two God's Messengers who had the most powerful abilities in God Bless. The reason why Mr. Fu couldn't find any evidence was that Zhuge Feifan cleared all evidence as soon as the mission failed.

"Also, it was God Bless's doing the time when close to half of the demigods and a few Virtual Gods were killed in the grade-7 ruins in Division 1. Moreover, it was the Master God's clone who did it himself. They thought of sacrificing a massive amount of demigods and Virtual Gods as a medium for the dimensional god relic to build a stable gateway by force. Their intention was to get their Master God to come. However, it failed eventually.

"That's everything about God Bless and the Master God. There's no need to talk about the details. I'll share the memory that I've sorted with you, so you can look at the details when you have the time."

"How about the Union Government? They should have quite some secrets too, don't they?" Lin Huang asked immediately.

"There is more information about the Union Government," Bloody confirmed while smiling.

"You wouldn't have thought that the Union Government and the Hunter Association are in contact with the great world. Furthermore, the two organizations have the same mastermind. Their mastermind is an organization called the Hunt in the great world."

"No wonder the Union Government is so close to the Hunter Association! I've never heard them falling out throughout the past 800 years." Lin Huang came to a realization.

"The Hunt isn't considered the top organization in the great world. They don't even have a Lord. Compared to Dynasty behind you, they're not worth mentioning at all. However, that organization is a powerful giant to the gravel world.

"The reason why the Union Government and the Hunter Association stand out among other organizations and emerged as the boss today is that the Hunt has been helping them secretly.

"However, the Union Government wasn't the Hunt's affiliate organization since the beginning. Instead, their members passed a trial organized by the Hunt that took place in a ruins over 700 years ago."

Before 7 a.m. the next day, Lin Huang knocked on Huang Tufu's door that was next to his room.

Huang Tufu opened the door in his shorts, appearing like he had just woken up.

In reality, not sleeping for a whole year would not pose a problem to him since he had reached that level. However, he did drink with Lin Huang last night and had fallen asleep with the help of alcohol in his body.

"Go take a shower now. We're going for breakfast." Lin Huang frowned slightly upon sniffing the alcohol stench wafting from Huang Tufu's body.

"So early?" Huang Tufu yawned. The aroma of the pancakes and the barbecue swept towards Lin Huang.

Lin Huang felt a little suffocated at that moment. He never expected to get this since he managed to dodge it yesterday.

He added after shutting down his breathing system, "Remember to brush your teeth."

After Huang Tufu washed up, both of them arrived at the ground floor of the hotel by the elevator. Then, they checked out at the front desk directly.

"So, are we really going back to Emperor City?" Huang Tufu could not help but ask as they walked out of the hotel.

"Why? Don't you want to leave?" Lin Huang teased while smiling.

"No, but Zhuge Feifan…"

"Zhuge Feifan is already dead." Lin Huang threw that out directly. He proceeded to speak before Huang Tufu could react, "Let's see if the uncle selling pancake is opened today."

Huang Tufu's eyes lit up when he heard about pancakes. "I want ten this time!"

However, when they returned to Emperor City, Huang Tufu looked bummed.

The uncle selling pancakes did not open his stall today. As usual, he was capricious. Although they had gone there on purpose, they got nothing. Feeling helpless, they settled their breakfast at a random noodle stall next door.

Lin Huang, on the other hand, felt nothing. It did not matter if they did not get to eat the pancakes.

As soon as they returned to the Dynasty headquarters, Lin Huang asked Huang Tufu to gather Huang Tianfu and Huang Wunan at the Emperor Palace.

At the Emperor Palace, Lin Huang and the three Grand Dukes of Dynasty got together.

Lin Huang only asked after waiting for the three of them to take their seats, "How's the business district restoration going?"

"The ruins has been cleared entirely and we've sent the survivors for treatment. We've also sent out a massive amount of compensation. We've informed the family members of the dead that we found to arrange for their burial. We gave a handsome pension to the family members. Besides that, we've arranged temporary accommodation for those who lost their houses, and we've also built a community. The rest that we have to do will be the rebuilding work. We estimate that we can rebuild the entire area within half a year."

"You must have encountered some obstacles, didn't you?" Lin Huang figured those family members of the deceased must have their piece to say.

"Those are minor ones. We've already settled that," Huang Tianfu said casually. Clearly, it was not his first time encountering something like that.

"That's great." Lin Huang nodded. "Then, I'll move on to the main agenda."

"Firstly, I'd like to say that I have a document in my hand. It's the list of God Bless spies in all the organizations. I'll give you guys this list, so you guys can use the resources and relationships you have to sell this list to people who need it in exchange for the resources Dynasty needs.

"Do this quickly because the Union Government might get this list soon. It'll be difficult to sell it at a good price by then.

"I'll send you guys a material list later on. I hope that you guys can look for these materials from the money you obtained from selling the list. Of course, collect as much as you can. There's no pressure. I do this mainly for you guys to obtain resources."

"Master Emperor, how credible is this list that you're talking about?" Huang Tianfu asked.

"100%. It came directly from the God Messengers' heads." Lin Huang chose to be honest about him killing God Bless's four God's Messengers since there was no need for him to hide from them.

Huang Tianfu did not ask further after hearing that. He said, "Understood. We'll try our best to sell this piece of news out."

"Secondly, I've some ancient cultivation methods with me. They can be used to build a brand new cultivation system to get to virtual god-level.

"Apart from the Princes and Dukes, I hope that you guys can select immortal-level and holy fire-level young people who are talented and have the potential for me. I'll teach them the cultivation methods then."

The three Grand Dukes secretly felt helpless hearing that. They were already demigods, so they had no chance of elevating.

With Lin Huang's cultivation methods, many people might elevate to virtual god-level which would surpass the three of them.

The three of them did not suspect Lin Huang might have lied about having the cultivation methods.

"Thirdly, I'll open the Dynasty trial zones continuously before I leave this gravel world for you guys to obtain the resources and points from going in. The demigod who has the highest points in the trial zone leaderboard will win God Blood from me as a reward and elevate to perfect-stage demigod-level."

The three Grand Dukes experienced a slight change of expression hearing that.

"When do the three of you think is the best time to open the trial zones?" Lin Huang asked.

"Anytime is fine, to be honest. It's just that we might need some time to prepare ourselves," Huang Wunan replied.

"We'll only need one or two days to prepare. If you want them to go into the trial zone as soon as possible, Master Emperor, you can launch it in three days. It shouldn't be a problem." Huang Tianfu gave a detailed reply.

"We'll do it three days later then. By then, I'll open a grade-1 trial zone for imperial-level and demigod-level powerhouses. I'll send the details of the trial zone that I've picked to your guys later."

"So, these are the three main things that I want to say…"

"We'll make a move," Lin Huang called out to them just when Huang Tianfu and the rest were leaving.

"I'll try my best to find ways for you guys break through demigod-level. I'll get it done for you guys as long as it's available in the great world."

"Just you thinking of getting us that is kind enough," Huang Tianfu said while smiling, but a gleam of helplessness flashed by his eyes.

Bloody's voice came after the three of them left the Emperor Palace. "You're recruiting fresh blood so openly. Aren't you scared that they might leave?"

"No, the three of them are smart. They know they can't be replaced easily. Even if new demigods elevate to perfect-stage demigod-level, there will be differences in their abilities. Otherwise, the last Emperor wouldn't have selected the three of them.

"For the juniors who might elevate to virtual god-level, they won't be able to break through virtual god-level within such a short period of time.

"What they need to do is to prove they have enough value to maintain their position of the three Grand Dukes before those juniors grow. They must prove that they're irreplaceable!"

"I've already told them what I want. I hope to grow Dynasty, so my core team must be able to support Dynasty that's going to be more powerful in the future. The three of them know very well that they have to improve with time. I believe that they can prove their value."

"What if the three of them don't meet your standards?"

"Then, we'll replace them with someone else. Whoever is capable will be the Grand Duke!"

At the Union Government headquarters in First City in Division 1.

Guan Zhong sat on the couch without any expression on his face. He was quiet.

When he woke up approximately half an hour earlier, the first thought that flashed through his mind was that Zhuge Feifan must have escaped with An Jing.

However, he saw two silhouettes lying on the ground not far away when he got up from the dusty ground.

Looking closely, they were Zhuge Feifan and An Jing.

An Jing was in a deep sleep but Zhuge Feifan was dead.

His head was a mess ever since he found Zhuge Feifan's body. Until now, he had still yet to figure what exactly had happened.

"I've sent An Jing home. She won't remember a thing when she wakes up. However, I must tell you that you've crossed the line this time." Qian Rui marched into the room. "I've got someone to check through Zhuge Feifan's body. Can you tell me what exactly happened now?"

"I've no idea." Guan Zhong shook his head forlornly. "I was defeated, but he didn't kill me. He was already dead when I woke up."

Guan Zhong was just a confused witness. His head was a mess and he was in a state of shock and sadness. After all, Zhuge Feifan was his master who had brought him up.

"So, did someone interfere after you?!" Qian Rui came to an understanding. A third person must have interfered.

Guan Zhong just snapped back to his senses and nodded. "I think so."

"Apart from Zhuge Feifan's Godhead being taken away, everything else was still there, even his Emperor's Heart Ring," Qian Rui continued, "The person was clearly after the information in his head. He must've successfully obtained all of Agency EA's secrets throughout the centuries."

"His Godhead was taken?" Guan Zhong lifted his head to look at Qian Rui in horror. "Is the Emperor still around?"

"He left with the Third Grand Duke early in the morning." Qian Rui heard from the hotel staff that Lin Huang had left early in the morning.

"It must be the Emperor who did this! He has the ability and the motive, and he happened to be in First City." Guan Zhong was connecting the dots in his head quickly and pointed out the culprit. "He ran back to Emperor City early in the morning. Clearly, he's guilty of his actions."

"It's futile for you to say anything without any evidence." Nonetheless, Qian Rui remained calm.

"Get the surveillance! He definitely left the hotel!"

"He left the hotel for some time with Huang Tufu last night indeed, but they had barbecued food and enjoyed some drinks in the business district. They went back to the hotel after that," Qian Rui explained.

"I know about this because my intel told me that they left the hotel in the middle of the night. I used my Divine Telekinesis to monitor them. I watched them going into the barbecue stall until they left after paying. They never left my Divine Telekinesis range at all."

"So, you mean he has an alibi?" Guan Zhong shook his head. "He can fake one."

"But I didn't see any loopholes. Even if it was a disguise, it's an alibi after all since he can do it such an extent that we can't find any loopholes." Qian Rui did not argue about the authenticity of the alibi with Guan Zhong, but he stated the deeper truth.

"I want to see the surveillance!" Guan Zhong was persistent.

"I've gotten someone to get the hotel surveillance. In the business district, not all stalls had surveillance. Only a part of them do. I've gotten them to bring it over as well." Qian Rui did not decline Guan Zhong's request. He had already gotten someone to bring the surveillance footage.

Approximately half an hour later, the people came with the footage.

In the office, a Surveillance Mosquito that contained all the surveillance data projected the images.

Guan Zhong and Qian Rui watched the footage one after another and found no flaws at all.

They watched the footage from Lin Huang and Huang Tufu leaving the hotel room to the time they returned.

Apart from being away from the surveillance range approximately 20 to 30 meters away along the business district, Lin Huang and Huang Tufu seemed normal all the time.

The barbecue stall that Lin Huang and Huang Tufu had gone to for skewers happened to have surveillance too. It showed the footage of Lin Huang and Huang Tufu eating skewers and drinking. Both of them did not even go to the washroom throughout the meal, let alone anywhere else.

After watching the footage, even Guan Zhong began to doubt if he had made a wrong assumption.

"See, I told you that his alibi has no loopholes at all." Qian Rui spread his arms helplessly.

"How is it possible?" Guan Zhong could not understand that.

"There are two possibilities. One is that the method he used to create the alibi is too outstanding, so outstanding that we can't find any loopholes. Another possibility is that his alibi is real and someone else killed Zhuge Feifan." Qian Rui provided the two conclusions.

"If he didn't do it, why did he return to Emperor City the first thing in the morning?" Guan Zhong questioned.

"Maybe something really came up in Dynasty. That's a possible coincidence too." Qian Rui was not helping Lin Huang, but he believed evidence more.

Guan Zhong fell into silence for a moment with his head hanging down. He spoke again a while later, "Let's contact Lin Huang to get him to do a video playback to find the culprit. If he's willing to help, it proves that it wasn't him who did it and we can find the real culprit. If he refuses to help, he's most probably the one who did it."

"Call him then."

Guan Zhong called Lin Huang's number, and the video call request was soon picked up.

In the video projection, Lin Huang was in the Star Titan pilot cabin.

"Anything, Old Guan?"

"I've just returned to the Union Government and found out that you've gone back to Emperor City early in the morning. Why did you leave so soon? You didn't even say goodbye," Guan Zhong asked while smiling.

"Something came up in Emperor City, so I came back earlier," Lin Huang explained briefly.

"But there's a new development in our investigation this morning. We need your help."

"I really can't go anywhere now, but you can tell me about the development. I can help analyze for you," Lin Huang said passionately.

"Zhuge Feifan is dead!" Qian Rui answered directly before Guan Zhong could proceed to test Lin Huang.

Lin Huang appeared stunned. "Dead? Did you guys find him?!"

"We didn't kill him. We only found his body," Guan Zhong added.

"Do you guys know who did it?"

"We don't." Guan Zhong shook his head again. "We've no idea what exactly happened yesterday, that's why we're asking for your help. We'd like to watch last night's video playback."

"I'd like to help you guys, but I really can't leave these few days." Lin Huang refused to help them.

Guan Zhong and Qian Rui peeked at each other secretly and stopped insisting.

"If that's the case, sorry to trouble you. We'll think of something else."

Guan Zhong looked determined after hanging up the call. "Lin Huang is definitely the culprit."

"So what if you found that out? Do you have evidence? If you don't, he can totally say that you're slandering him." Qian Rui patted Guan Zhong's shoulder while smiling weakly. "Just let it go. At least, he left the full body for us. He even left behind Zhuge Feifan's Emperor's Heart Ring."

Lin Huang knew that his actions had been exposed as he hung up on Guan Zhong's call. However, he no longer cared about that.

Guan Zhong and Qian Rui took the initiative to call him to test him, but that already proved that they could not find any reliable evidence. They were not sure if he was the one who killed Zhuge Feifan.

However, him rejecting to carry out the video playback for them was equivalent to admitting he was the murderer.

Nevertheless, he could only decline the request.

If he agreed to do that, Guan Zhong would recognize the bruised corpse right away when they saw the playback. He would be giving the Union Government a piece of solid evidence.

Although Guan Zhong and Qian Rui were sure that it was him who did it, they had no solid evidence to go after him.

In reality, Lin Huang was very careful about this. All he did was to retrieve Zhuge Feifan's memory and he left no traces behind. Not only did he leave Zhuge Feifan's body behind for the Union Government, but he also did not even take his Emperor's Heart Ring away. He only took the Godhead that was insignificant to the Union Government.

The confidence he had added with the fact that he had not left any traces behind gave the Union Government no way of coming after him.

On the Union Government's side, since they had no solid evidence, they could only let it go eventually.

Time flew by, and three days soon passed.

Throughout the three days, apart from celebrating Lin Xin's official 19th birthday on the 8th August which was on the second day, Lin Huang spent most of his time in closed-door cultivation to refine the Godheads in his body.

The demigod-level broken Godheads only took a while to be refined under his burning Divine Fire. However, the 13 complete Godheads that he had just obtained recently were much slower to refine.

He calculated the speed of refinement roughly.

A demigod-level broken Godhead only took one to five minutes to be completely refined. Almost none of them took longer than ten minutes.

However, the Virtual God rank-1 Godhead took approximately ten continuous hours to be refined.

Meanwhile, the Virtual God rank-2 Godhead took almost 20 hours while the Virtual God rank-3 Godhead took almost 40 hours.

The refinement time would double for almost every rank higher.

Lin Huang also calculated the time to refine a Virtual God rank-9 Godhead. It would take around 2,560 hours which translated into at least over a hundred days even if the person refining it did not sleep or rest.

Throughout the three days, he refined 12 out of the 13 Godheads. However, the refinement speed for the Virtual God rank-9 Godhead he had gotten from the Master God's clone was a painful one.

On the fourth morning, Lin Huang walked out of the Emperor Palace.

Those Dynasty Dukes who had earned the eligibility to participate in the trial had arrived.

Apart from a handful of them who were working on something else, basically all the imperial-level and demigod-level Dukes applied.

However, Huang Tianfu only approved less than two-thirds of them. He needed the rest to guard the Dynasty headquarters and branches.

In the end, only 67 of them passed the assessment, including the Third Grand Duke Huang Tufu, Huang Wuji, and the rest of the Princes who had elevated to imperial-level.

Before it was even 8 a.m., all of them had gathered in the meeting room.

All of them stood up when they saw Lin Huang walking into the meeting room.

"Take a seat." Lin Huang walked onto the podium after he gestured for them to sit.

"The trial zone that I picked for you guys this time is just a grade-1 trial zone in the great world. However, it's a grade-6 forbidden area in this gravel world. There are a few virtual god-level monsters. Therefore, please don't take it lightly judging by its low grade.

"I've already gotten Mr. Tianfu to send all of you the information of the trial zone two days ago. Please inform me if you haven't gotten it right now."

Lin Huang waited for a while, but nobody spoke.

"I believe all of you have studied the information and you should've done the preparation beforehand. I don't need to waste everybody's time to repeat what's written in it. Let me brief you on some of my expectations.

"Firstly, no sabotaging! As soon as you enter the trial zone, no matter whether you're exploring on your own or whether you're forming a team, please don't fight your own people!

"I don't care what kind of conflicts you guys have had before or what disputes you guys come up with in the trial zone. If I find out about it, I'll kill those who attack their own people! I opened the trial zones and set up a reward system to encourage you guys to grow, not to instigate internal conflicts.

"You guys can solve the conflicts you might have after the trial has ended. Don't play tricks in the trial zone! You can come to look for me or look for the Third Grand Duke if you can't solve it, and we'll help.

"For those who are dissatisfied with your trial results, you can join the second or third trial to prove your abilities!

"Secondly, I hope that all of you survive. Each and every one of you here is a powerhouse with top combat strength in Dynasty. All of you are Dynasty's pillars of support. No matter who we lose, it's a great loss to Dynasty, to me, and the Third Duke.

"I hope that all of you can survive each trial, to grow stronger and to walk further together with Dynasty!

"In the trial zone, don't be blinded by pride. Surviving is the most important thing that you need to do. If you encounter something that's beyond your capabilities, dodge or run if you have to. Don't take it forcefully. You guys should know that you guys can obtain more points as long as you survive. Then, you'll obtain more rewards and become more and more powerful.

"Thirdly, obtain as many points as you can. After you've accomplished the first and second points, try your best to reap as many resources as you can in the trial zone. Ignore whether the competitor is someone from a major organization in the great world. Take what you fight for, and kill when it's necessary. It's alright even if you'll have to kill the Royalties. In the trial zone, the Royalties can be the prey in proper battles as well. Don't blame anyone if you get killed."

Lin Huang listed the three points briefly. The people who were listening were resting their minds.

When it was 9 a.m. sharp, Lin Huang opened the trial zone's dimensional portal with his Royalty authorization.

A golden dimensional portal opened in the meeting room. The 67 participants queued and walked into it one after another.

When all of them had entered, the golden dimensional portal closed slowly and faded slowly before vanishing completely.

Huang Tianfu sighed softly upon seeing the trial dimensional portal vanishing. "I hope for minimum casualties in this trial."

Lin Huang patted Huang Tianfu's shoulder. He wanted to say something to comfort him but said nothing after thinking to himself.

"I'm thinking of trading the few Godheads in the treasure for god relics of the same value." Lin Huang voiced his request after a moment of silence.

"Nobody is using the few Godheads anyway, so just take them, Master Emperor." Huang Tianfu waved his hand.

"Let's just trade them with items of the same value. They're the property of Dynasty after all." Lin Huang felt bad for taking them without anything in exchange. He had already taken a soul jewel for nothing earlier.

'Isn't Dynasty your property too?' Huang Tianfu thought to himself but he dared not say it out loud.

"Throughout the month while the trial is going on, I might be spending most of the time in closed-door cultivation. Please gather as many materials, Godheads, and broken Godheads as you can. I'll pay you in advance later. Please take note of soul jewels if there's any around, and inform me if there's news as soon as you hear it. Don't worry about interrupting my closed-door cultivation," said Lin Huang and he projected the blue teardrop soul jewel that he had obtained from Dynasty's treasure chest earlier.

Lin Huang went into closed-door cultivation after arranging the opening of the first trial zone and traded the four Godheads in Dynasty's treasure chest as well as the 30-odd broken Godheads Dynasty had found throughout the few days with god relics and demigod relics.

Although a month was far from him refining the Virtual God rank-9 Godhead, he could at least shorten the time to elevate to imperial-level within this period of time.

If he did not focus on the refinement in closed-door cultivation and let the Divine Fire refine it on its own, it would take more than a year for the Virtual God rank-9 Godhead to be completely refined. Needless to say, Lin Huang could not wait that long.

Since he went into closed-door cultivation, he spent 24 hours every day refining the Godhead with his Divine Fire. Initially, he planned to rest every ten days to maintain his peak performance. However, Bloody Robe and the Eclipse Boa completed their elevation on the fourth day.

Lin Huang calculated the time. It had been the 11th day since the Eclipse Boa and the rest went into elevation mode.

Bloody Robe and the Eclipse Boa that had been elevated soon turned into cards. Then, they were sealed.

Lin Huang was busy activating the Divine Fire in his body, so he did not study the cards thoroughly. He only peeked and proceeded with the refinement, knowing that it was Bloody Robe and the Eclipse Boa who had completed the elevation.

On the fifth day of closed-door cultivation, the Death Knight and the Fallen Knight also completed their elevation. They became quadruple mutated mythical-level Monster Cards.

As usual, Lin Huang merely peeped at them.

In the evening on the eighth day, Grimace had finally completed his elevation. As he was working on Dynasty's new regulations with Bloody back then, he went into elevation two days later than the Eclipse Boa and the rest. Nevertheless, he spent a total of 13 days completing the elevation.

By then, the batch of five imperial monsters had elevated to mythical-level Monster Cards. However, they were sealed and could not be summoned at the time being.

Lin Huang did not check the five Monster Cards since they elevated. He had been following the plan that he set for himself, not even wasting a minute to refine the Godhead.

When it was the tenth day of the closed-door cultivation, Lin Huang went to bed at midnight sharp as planned and he set the alarm clock on his Emperor's Heart Ring to wake him up at 10 a.m. He would sleep every ten days and for ten hours each time to maintain his peak performance for the refinement.

On the 11th day at 10 a.m., Lin Huang guzzled a bottle of water after he was woken up by the alarm clock. He then began his closed-door cultivation again.

Just like that, he spent 24 hours every day activating the Divine Fire in his body to burn without stopping. He would sleep every ten days and drink a bottle of water. He did not even eat or spare a second to waste.

The strict closed-door cultivation that could be deemed to be close to self-harm lasted for 30 days. Lin Huang finally loosened after that.

When the 30th day ended, he slept for more than 20 hours before walking out of the Emperor Palace.

It was almost past 10 a.m. when he got out of the Emperor Palace. The first thing he did was to head out for food.

He had ten servings of dumplings at the fat aunty's stall, blowing the fat couple's minds away. He then returned to the Dynasty headquarters in satisfaction.

As soon as he returned, he went straight to Huang Tianfu to ask about the trial results.

Huang Tianfu saw Lin Huang from far away and went to him. "Master Emperor, I saw you left right after you came out of the closed-door cultivation. Was it something urgent?"

"Nothing, I was just too hungry." Lin Huang took out a bottle of water and drank it before asking, "The one-month trial should've ended yesterday. How're the results? Is the death toll high?"

"The result isn't bad at all. In fact, it's even better than I expected. The death toll is lower than expected. Out of the 67 participants, only two didn't return. The two of them who didn't make it back are on imperial-level. None of the demigods died."

Lin Huang was pretty satisfied with the results because it was impossible to have a 0% death rate. They only lost two people out of the 67 participants, so the death rate was less than 3% which was considered extremely low. After all, the trial zone was comparable with a grade-6 forbidden area whereby there were virtual god-level monsters.

"That's not bad. Do you have the ranking yet?"

"We've already sorted it out. I'll send the list to you right now, but it was Tufu who ranked No. 1. He doesn't need God Blood."

"Those who don't need God Blood can trade for god relics or god items." Lin Huang expected that to happen. "Apart from the champion, those who rank No. 2 and No. 3 should be rewarded too. You guys can discuss the proper reward."

"Apart from that, I think we can set up a leaderboard for the top ten participants on the list and publish it on Dynasty's forum. Let everyone see the names and points obtained to encourage more people to go into the trial zone."

"That's a good idea." Huang Tianfu agreed to that right away.

"Let me know when you guys are done setting the reward and the next trial opening time. I won't be participating in the discussion." Lin Huang planned to focus on elevating to imperial-level.

"Sure, we'll try to do it by today or tomorrow." Huang Tianfu acknowledged.

"How're the sales of the spy list?"

"It's not too bad. It was quite a failure in the beginning because not many people believed in the list. Then, someone bought it and investigated following the list. The news spread, so it became a hit. However, we've only managed to sell over ten copies before the Union Government published the list."

"Since the list came out, all the organizations have been looking for internal spies throughout the past month. Not only were all the God Bless spies killed, but many of the spies coming from other organizations were also exposed. The innocents were dragged into this."

"Nobody knew who God Bless was before, but they're famous overnight now. They've become public enemies now."

"I must say that their behavior is terrible indeed. Apart from getting their people to be spies, they've even gotten the spies to penetrate into all the organizations. Some of them might have even ended up being the upper echelon. If not careful, the entire organization might end up becoming God Bless's affiliate organization."

"They did this to themselves." Lin Huang had no sympathy for God Bless. They would not be killed if they had not done what they had.

They had the ability to rule the entire continent, but the Master God was greedy. Besides wanting to rule the world, he even got the spies to penetrate other organizations and even helped the organizations grow. His plan to grow the organization killed him eventually.

"Did the Union Government look for me?" Lin Huang asked again.

"No. After you went into closed-door cultivation, they spread the news that the Agency EA's founder ran away and was killed a few days later. They must be busy with the rebuilding of Agency EA throughout the month."

As Bloody expected, the Union Government took the blame themselves. They could only take up the responsibility of killing Zhuge Feifan. Otherwise, outsiders would make fun of them for not even being able to capture a traitor themselves.

The Union Government taking up the responsibility would mean that it was the end of the incident, making Lin Huang secretly relieved.

"Is there anything that I need to know about?"

"That's about it." Huang Tianpu thought about it. He did not seem to miss out anything.

"How about the materials that I asked for before going into closed-door cultivation? How much did you guys manage to collect?"

"We've collected half of the materials, seven Godheads and 83 broken Godheads. As for the soul jewel that you mentioned, we didn't find anything that's similar at all."

"Send me this batch first. Continue to look for the remaining materials, Godheads, and broken Godheads. Take note of the soul jewel too." Lin Huang nodded.

"Are you going into closed-door cultivation again?" Huang Tianfu asked, raising his brow.

"Yes, but not now. I've something else to deal with today."

Lin Huang left Emperor City first thing in the morning and headed towards Division 3.

He visited Sweep City's black market and the Wanbao Auction. He only returned to Emperor City after getting his hands on the materials that he had asked for earlier.

On Dynasty's end, although they were also helping to collect materials, they were using their own sources. Meanwhile, the black market in Sweep City was the Heretics' source. For the Wanbao Auction, it came from the noble families.

Naturally, using three different sources to look for the materials he needed was more efficient than using a single source.

After returning to the Emperor Palace, Lin Huang got Huang Tianfu to bring out the materials they collected. Amassing them together with the materials he had purchased from Division 3, he asked Bloody to help sort them out.

On the other hand, Lin Huang finally had the time to look at the cards of Grimace and the rest who had just elevated to mythical-level.

The front of Grimace's card was completely different now.

He looked like a 20-year-young man. He wore black and red tones of clothing and had a black cap on his head, complete with a monocle on his left eye. Half a white mask adorned the right side of his face. There was nothing on the minimalistic mask at all, not even a swirl of pattern. He held a short, red walking stick in his right hand which appeared a little like Harry Potter's magic wand.

After studying it for a while, Lin Huang soon turned the card around to look at Grimace's detailed information.

"Monster Card: Grimace

"Rarity: Mythical-level

"Monster Name: Mysterious Duke

"Type of Monster: Mysterious-type / unidentified tribe

"Nickname: Mystic

"Combat Level: Imperial-level Yellow Gold-rank

"Major: Control

"Major Skills: Mask Domination, Puppet Domination, Fraud Game, Illusion Master…

"Minor Skills: Supreme Intelligence, Divine Telekinesis, Trap Master, Magic Mirror…

"Summoning Authority: Denied

"Card Remarks: Recommended to train with maximum effort!"

Grimace already wielded similar skills such as the Mask Domination, the Puppet Domination, the Illusion Master and the Trap Master before, so Lin Huang already knew the approximate effects of those skills were after merely taking a glance.

However, there were two skills that he did not really understand what the exact effects were. He tapped them open to read the details.

"Fraud Game: The legendary Mystic will invite you to play a game in which the Mystic will have total control of the contents and rules. The final winner can ask the losers to do one thing without any conditions. No matter what the request is, the losers cannot reject.

"Remark 1: The Mystic has a choice not to reveal all the game rules and contents to the invitee. The Mystic can bluff in the game.

"Remark 2: As soon as the game rules and content are set, there's no way of changing it in the middle of the game.

"Remark 3: A maximum of three people can be invited per day, but the same person can only play the game once a day.

"Remark 4: As soon as the game results are announced, no matter how far apart the winner and losers are, the losers must complete the winner's request within a given period of time. The losers will have to give up what the winner specifies if the losers don't manage to complete the request in time. The specified item can be soul, flesh, feelings, lives, or anything at all."

…

"Magic Mirror: One random unique ability will be given each day such as the Dimensional Mirror, the Mirror Clone, the Mirror Seal, the Mirror Reflection…

"Remark 1: The assigned ability is totally random and cannot be controlled.

"Remark 2: You can only use one mirror a day.

"Remark 3: The effective time of each ability is 24 hours."

…

"The Fraud Game is a little similar to the Rule Bending Power while the Magic Mirror has high uncertainty. If I'm lucky, I'll get a great skill, but if my luck is bad, it might backfire." Lin Huang did not dwell further on the two skills after he was done looking at them. Instead, he proceeded to check the other four cards.

"Monster Card: Eclipse

"Rarity: Mythical-level

"Monster Name: Solar Boa (originally Eclipse Boa)

"Type of Monster: Ancient Epoch-type / Mutated Serpent Tribe

"Nickname: Engulfer

"Combat Level: Imperial-level Yellow Gold-rank

"Major: Engulf

"Major Skills: Sun and Moon Engulf, Splitting Flesh, Body Control, Endless Engulf, Energy Exchange…

"Minor Skills: Negative Energy Immunity, Toxin Immunity, Seraphic Speed, Superhuman Strength…

"Summoning Authority: Denied

"Card Remarks: Trainable!"

…

"Monster Card: Bloody Robe

"Rarity: Mythical-level

"Monster Name: Skeleton Lord

"Type of Monster: Spirit-type / Skeleton Tribe

"Nickname: Conqueror

"Combat Level: Imperial-level Yellow Gold-rank

"Major: Death

"Major Skills: Sealing Chains, Hellish Fire, Dead Heart, God of Death's Stare…

"Minor Skills: Undead Reincarnation, Mount Activation…

"Summoning Authority: Denied

"Card Remarks: Trainable!"

…

"Monster Card: Death (Death Knight)

"Rarity: Mythical-level

"Monster Name: Death Lord

"Type of Monster: Spirit-type / Hellish Knight Tribe

"Nickname: Deceased

"Combat Level: Imperial-level Yellow Gold-rank

"Major: Death

"Major Skills: Immortal, Spirit Army, Dead Eye, Death Punishment…

"Minor Skills: Disastrous Ring, Death Ring…

"Summoning Authority: Denied

"Card Remarks: Trainable!"

…

"Monster Card: Fallen (Fallen Knight)

"Rarity: Mythical-level

"Monster Name: Fallen Lord

"Type of Monster: Undying species / Hellish Knight Tribe

"Nickname: Immortal

"Combat Level: Imperial-level Yellow Gold-rank

"Major: Undead

"Major Skills: Nonuple Inferno, Undead Army, Fallen Infection, Life Assimilation…

"Minor Skills: Cursed Ring, Death Ring…

"Summoning Authority: Denied

"Card Remarks: Trainable!"

…

All five cards gave a great boost in ability since the elevation. Furthermore, the number of skills was even multiplied. Some of the main skills had new branch skills emerging from them. The different elevation direction in abilities was clearer to him now.

After reading the details of the five cards, Lin Huang could not wait for the day he elevated to imperial-level.

"Their combat strength should elevate to perfect-stage imperial-level purple gold-rank. By then, they should be able to fight Virtual God rank-1s with their imperial-level purple gold-rank combat strength."

As he put the five cards away, Bloody finished sorting out the materials.

"We've gathered a substantial amount of materials this time. We've gotten enough elevation materials to elevate six imperial monsters, namely Bing Wang, the Witch, the Imp, the Malachian Fiend, Thunder and me. The elevation materials for the Warlord and the two Dark Crescent Snakes are almost there too. However, I won't be elevating now. Let's see after you've elevated to imperial-level."

"Alright, thanks for the trouble." Lin Huang nodded, feeling a little sorry. Indeed, he needed Bloody to be by his side for now. As soon as Bloody elevated, it would be sealed due to his authorization. Then, Lin Huang would not be able to summon it.

In reality, Lin Huang also kept the few pseudo-mythical-level monsters including Lancelot, the Evil Dominator, and Killer with him. They did not need materials to elevate since they could be upgraded to mythical-level with merely an Advance Card.

Compared to legendary-level Monster Cards, being on pseudo-mythical-level, they were still good enough to fight at the moment. They could at least fight imperial-level purple gold-rank powerhouses with imperial-level yellow gold-rank combat strength.

The main reason why Lin Huang had been holding back on their elevation was that he wanted to have a few imperial monsters with him for battles. That way, he could prevent fighting on his own if he encountered some trouble along the way.

Lin Huang summoned the Divine Sun Tree to look after the giant golden eggs which Bing Wang, the Witch, the Imp, the Malachian Fiend, and Thunder had turned into at the corner of the Emperor Palace. He then returned to the middle of the palace.

He took out Godheads and broken Godheads in a myriad of colors.

Among the 12 Godheads, Dynasty had collected seven of them while the remaining five came from the black market and the Wanbao Auction. Meanwhile, among the 181 broken Godheads, 83 of them came from Dynasty while the remaining 98 came from the Division 3 black market and the Wanbao Auction.

Lin Huang shoved all of them into his body without any hesitation. He then began a new round of refinement.

He remained extremely disciplined with himself whereby he would refine them 24 hours without stopping and rested every ten days.

On the 11th day, Bing Wang, the Imp, and the Malachian Fiend completed their elevation to mythical-level.

On the 12th day, Thunder and the Witch completed their elevation one after another.

As usual, Lin Huang did not check the five Monster Cards that had elevated. He fully focused on the refinement.

Throughout the month, Huang Tianfu and the other two implemented Dynasty's new regulations at full force. Up to a hundred newbies who were talented and full of potential were selected to begin cultivating the ancient methods.

The newly built mission zone and the Royal Market began running too.

There would be people announcing new missions each day whilst many members fought for those missions.

the Royal Market was even more crowded. Everyone traded the unused items in their storage for resources that they needed.

Many of the people refreshed the Royal Market's page a few times per day to see if there were any items that they needed.

Apart from that, the Dynasty leaderboard was out. The complete ranking was projected on the Emperor's Heart Ring's page for the Dynasty members who participated in the trial. The Dynasty internal forum also published the top 10 names and pinned the thread on top. Every Dynasty member, including the trainees, could see it.

The participants who ranked the top 3 received the relevant rewards, including Huang Tufu who was the Third Grand Duke.

Throughout the past month, Lin Huang had been in closed-door cultivation. He planned to refine the Virtual God rank-9 Godhead before coming out, but he was interrupted by a message that came all of a sudden.

It was Xiao Mo who had sent the single-line message: "Chan Dou is awake and he has elevated to imperial-level."

Lin Huang chose to come out of the closed-door cultivation as soon as he received the message. He walked out of the Emperor Palace and went to Xiao Mo's place immediately.

As he walked into the place after knocking on the door, he saw Chan Dou who was dressed in white pajamas, holding a cup of noodles. He seemed lost sitting on the couch in the living room.

There was a red chili in soup printed on the cover of the cup noodles. It was a commercial print with only a few noodles on it.

"Red Chili Noodles (Super Duper Spicy!)" was written on the picture with flames as an effect.

"He's been in a coma for over two months. I thought maybe he shouldn't eat solids just yet," Xiao Mo explained.

"So, you gave him cup noodles?" Lin Huang was speechless. It was extremely spicy noodles! Could a person who had just woken up from a coma two months even digest that?

"It tastes pretty good except it's a little spicy." Xiao Mo did not seem to find it odd.

"Go change. I'll bring you out for some proper breakfast." Lin Huang took the cup noodles away from Chan Dou who snapped back to his senses by then.

He lifted his head and looked puzzledly at Lin Huang. "Who are you?"

"Go change first. We'll talk later." Lin Huang patted Chan Dou's shoulder and turned around to look at Xiao Mo. He spoke after observing him, "Go and get changed as well. We'll go together."

"But my cup noodle…" Before Xiao Mo could finish speaking, a Viridian Wolf appeared in the room out of nowhere. It gobbled the cup noodles Xiao Mo had placed on the coffee table with its jowls wide open. It swallowed the plastic cup as well before it turned its head and gobbled Chan Dou's cup noodles up too.

The Viridian Wolf licked its lips, feeling unsatisfied although it was done eating. It then walked to Lin Huang, wagging its tail.

Lin Huang patted the Viridian Wolf's head and lifted his head to ask Xiao Mo, "What cup noodles?"

Xiao Mo was dumbstruck.

After the duo was done changing, Lin Huang recalled the Viridian Wolf and brought the two of them straight to the fat aunty's dumpling stall.

Apart from dumplings, the fat aunty made little wontons that tasted heavenly.

Lin Huang took a seat at an empty table. He ordered a bowl of wontons for Chan Dou and two servings of dumplings for Xiao Mo and himself.

Chan Dou, who had been looking around along the way, finally figured out where he was. "This is Emperor City in Division 1. We just came out of the Dynasty headquarters earlier. Who are both of you? Why am I here?"

"What do you remember before you got into a coma?" Lin Huang asked.

"I remember being captured in a room and someone torturing me with all sorts of ways every day. They even stuck a black monster that was like mud on my head, injecting disgusting toxins into my soul…"

"That was a Rotten Soul Beast." Lin Huang was relieved. "Theoretically, people who were attacked by the Rotten Soul Beast might experience a certain level of amnesia since their souls would've been affected by a massive amount of spiritual toxins, but your memory seems to be alright," he said and changed his appearance with his disguise skill. He transformed into Lin Xie, even changing his voice.

"I bet you know who I am now, don't you?"

Chan Dou blinked his eyes twice and looked lost. "Who… are you?"

Lin Huang was shocked. "I'm Lin Xie. Don't you remember me?"

"Lin Xie?" Chan Dou frowned. "This name sounds familiar, but I don't remember anything about you."

Lin Huang transformed back to how he looked like, feeling a little helpless. "It seems like I had a premature bout of excitement earlier. It seems like your memory has been affected after all."

"I'm sorry. I really don't remember who the both of you are," Chan Dou said guiltily.

"You don't have to apologize to him. You never knew him," Lin Huang corrected him.

Xiao Mo, who was sitting aside, nodded immediately. "Mr. Chan Dou, you didn't know me indeed, but I've heard of your name much earlier."

"Apart from being tortured, what else do you remember?" Lin Huang asked again.

"I remember going to the black market. I bumped into two imperial-level powerhouses who attacked me. Then, I was captured and tortured."

"How about before that? Before going to the black market?"

"My family urged me to elevate to imperial-level. They told me that the Union Government was providing ancient cultivation methods."

"Do you remember what happened before you went to the black market and your family urged you to elevate to imperial-level?" Lin Huang proceeded to ask. The part of the memory happened to be related to him because he was the one who had given Chan Dou the ancient cultivation methods and gotten him to pretend to have obtained them from the black market.

Chan Dou thought about it and shook his head eventually. "I don't remember."

"You should remember the people and the turn of events that happened at the Heaven Alliance."

"The Heaven Alliance?" Chan Dou looked perplexed again. "What's that?

Lin Huang's expression was rather grim after they were done with breakfast.

Chan Dou's amnesia was much more severe than he expected.

Not only had he forgotten who Lin Xie was, but he also did not even remember the Heaven Alliance. He could not even remember his teammates Tan Lang, Jian Fei, and Shen Tao who he knew for years.

That was not the most serious one. What was the most serious was that he had even forgotten everything about the Chan Clan.

Apart from knowing that his name was Chan Dou and that he was from the Chan Clan, he did not even remember what were his father and mother's names or how they looked like. He could not even remember where the Chan Clan estate was.

Lin Huang thought of using a Healing Card on him since his amnesia had been caused by a damaged soul.

He took out a Healing Card as soon as he returned to the Dynasty headquarters. A notification from Xiao Hei's system popped up after he aimed it at Chan Dou.

"The target is healthy. It can't be the healing target."

"What?" Lin Huang was puzzled after seeing the notification. He used another Healing Card, but the same notification popped up.

"Xiao Hei, is there a bug in the Healing Card?"

Xiao Hei fell into silence for a while and soon responded, "I've run a check. The card is fine."

"Then, why can't I use it on Chan Dou?"

"The card detects no signs of flesh or soul damage on the target."

"His soul isn't damaged?" Lin Huang was even more bewildered now. "Then, why is he suffering from amnesia?"

"I've no idea. The Healing Card shows that his flesh and soul are currently healthy."

"If Xiao Hei's detection is right, Chan Dou might've locked himself down, causing his amnesia." The stone tablet's voice came all of the sudden.

"Do you mean he might've locked his own memory?"

"Yes, the human brain has a self-preservation setting. To avoid certain information from being exposed, he might've locked this part of information deep in his memory during the torture," the stone tablet explained.

Lin Huang thought the explanation made sense. "What you said actually explains why he doesn't remember important people and things. He only remembers the insignificant things."

"If he's really locked his memory, what can I do to recover it?" Lin Huang asked again.

"There's nothing that you can do. You can only wait for him to release the memory by himself." The tablet had no other better idea to offer.

Lin Huang was concerned about bringing Chan Dou back to the Chan Clan in such a condition. Moreover, his combat strength had elevated to imperial-level black gold-rank out of nowhere. Lin Huang thought of bringing him back to the Heaven Alliance. He might recall something when he got there, but it was futile to do that now.

"Rest well for the time being. Get your health back and don't burden yourself too much. Don't force it if you can't remember something," Lin Huang comforted, "I'll contact Tan Lang, Shen Tao, and the rest these two days and see if they have the time to visit. Maybe you might remember something when you see them."

"I'll put you in the room next to Xiao Mo. Just look for him if there's anything you need. If Xiao Mo is busy, you can come to me directly. You have my number on your Emperor's Heart Ring. My name is Lin Xie."

After sorting things out with Chan Dou, Lin Huang talked to Huang Tianfu about Chan Dou for a bit.

In reality, as one of the three Grand Dukes, nothing in Dynasty's headquarters could be hidden from him. He already found out there was someone else in Xiao Mo's room the night when Lin Huang brought Chan Dou back, and he knew that the person was the chief of the Heaven Alliance, Chan Dou.

He knew very well that Lin Huang also bore another identity called Lin Xie who was the current the deputy chief of the Heaven Alliance. Therefore, he was not surprised when Chan Dou appeared.

Apart from telling him about Chan Dou, Lin Huang had also obtained a new batch of elevation materials, Godheads, and broken Godheads from Huang Tianfu.

After he returned to the Emperor Palace, Lin Huang did not go into closed-door cultivation right away. Instead, he disguised as Lin Xie and contacted Tan Lang who was the closest to Chan Dou.

Tan Lang was surprised to see Lin Huang calling. However, he picked up the video call request immediately. "Lin Xie, it's been a while. Hope everything is good on your side."

Tan Lang wore a black trench coat, and seemed to be more muscular than before. He had shaved his beard clean, making him look much younger now. His stiff character turned much gentler upon seeing Lin Huang's familiar face.

"I've been pretty good. You look like you've gained weight," Lin Huang teased while smiling. "Whoa, and you've shaved your beard. Do you have a girlfriend now?"

"We just got engaged recently," Tan Lang confirmed with a nod. "We haven't fixed the date yet, but I'll inform you guys when the date is set."

"Sure! How does she look like? Remember to send her picture to the group chat so that we know how she looks like," Lin Huang reminded while smiling.

"Sure!" Tan Lang nodded in a straightforward manner. "I'm sure you have something to tell me."

"I've found Chan Dou."

"He's… still alive?" Tan Lang asked carefully, afraid to hear what he did not want to.

"He's alive," Lin Huang responded.

Tan Lang was relieved to hear those two words.

"But something's happened to him," Lin Huang continued, "He's lost a part of his memory."

"Is it serious?"

"He doesn't remember me or you. He doesn't remember the Heaven Alliance or anything about the Heaven Alliance, including the members. Apart from that, he's also forgotten anything about the Chan Clan. He doesn't even remember what his parents' names are."

Tan Lang fell into silence for a moment and asked with his head lifted up, "Where are you guys? I'll go over as soon as I can."

"There's no rush. Please contact friends that Chan Dou is more familiar with. Since he doesn't remember you and me, it'd be great if he can recognize one of his friends," Lin Huang suggested.

"Sure, I'll do that. Send me your address, and we'll try to visit today."

"The address is Emperor City in Division 1. You guys can come straight to the Dynasty headquarters."

"The Dynasty headquarters? You're a Dynasty member?" Tan Lang asked incredulously. He had never heard of a Lin Xie among the Princes of Dynasty.

"Lin Xie isn't my real name. It's just a nickname to avoid my rivals." Lin Huang no longer hid his identity and he announced, "My real name is Lin Huang."

Lin Huang's disguise faded as he spoke. He looked younger as he regained his original appearance a moment later.

Tan Lang was completely shocked when he saw Lin Huang's real face. He could not speak at that very moment. After a while, he asked with a dry throat, "You're the Emperor of Dynasty?!"

Lin Huang nodded silently. "We'll talk about me when we have time in the future." He did not explain his identity further.

As he hung up the call with Tan Lang, Lin Huang sat on the throne in the Emperor's Palace and figured that it had been a while since he last logged into the Genius Union.

"It seems like I must drop by the Heaven Alliance before elevating to imperial-level."

When it was almost past 2 p.m., Tan Lang brought a bunch of people to Emperor City.

Lin Huang heard the news immediately and instructed Huang Tianfu to invite them to the Dynasty headquarters.

Lin Huang greeted them wearing a white t-shirt.

There were a total of 13 people visiting this time, and Lin Huang knew five of them.

Apart from Tan Lang, Shen Tao, Jian Fei, Gu Fei, and the Bug Master Li Jia came along too.

He knew Shen Tao before knowing Tan Lang. Meanwhile, he was familiar with the current chief of Heaven Alliance, Jian Fei and the deputy chief, Gu Fei. About Li Jia, he only got to know him when they went into the Fallen God Land.

Lin Huang only learned from the True God consciousness Gong Sun that Li Jia possessed Divine Telekinesis like he did after Tan Lang and the rest left the Fallen God Land. Not only that, his Divine Telekinesis was even more powerful than Lin Huang's but he chose to hide it all the way.

Although he only had a combat strength of immortal-level rank-9 and barely looked threatening at all, his ability could not be measured by his combat strength.

However, Lin Huang did not behave differently and he treated him like his friend. He paused when he looked at Tan Lang and the other four of them.

Although Tan Lang had told everyone that Lin Xie's true identity was the Emperor of Dynasty Lin Huang, they found it a little hard to believe when they saw Lin Huang in real life.

"Are you really Lin Xie?" Shen Tao asked looking in disbelief.

"It was a disguise," Lin Huang said and used disguise skill to transform his face looking like Lin Xie. He then taped open Lin Xie's Emperor's Heart Ring and called Shen Tao's number, "A person can disguise into someone else but I guess you can't get a fake Emperor's Heart Ring?"

Each Emperor's Heart Ring had an exclusive code of its own. Moreover, it would be locked to the person as soon as ownership was claimed. Even if it were unlocked, one could only open the storage space. As long as the original host was not detected, the Emperor's Heart Ring network and communication signal would remain shut.

Such a setting on the Emperor's Heart was to prevent others from using the identity to carry out crimes.

For hackers who created fake identities such as Yang Ling, he would reformat the ownerless Emperor's Heart Rings to its default setting whereby everything in the ring would be erased, including the serial number. A new serial number would be assigned which was no different from a brand new one that came fresh from the factory.

Lin Huang could use Lin Xie's Emperor's Heart Ring to prove that his identity was real.

Initially, Tan Lang and the rest were a little concerned. They thought Lin Huang might have kidnapped Lin Xie and forced him to get them here. Now, it seemed like they had been overthinking.

"Mr. Fu was attacked by virtual god-level powerhouse before I came to the core zone. It has something to do with the Union Government which knew very well that I'm Mr. Fu's disciple. Apart from that, I offended some underground organizations such as the Purple Crow, the Saints, the Heretics, and more when I was in Division 7. My ability was too weak for me to be able to protect myself, so I disguised as Lin Xie for safety purpose. Since then, I've been using Lin Xie's identity in the core zone," Lin Huang explained briefly while smiling.

They looked shocked when they heard this revelation. They never thought that Lin Huang would have had such a difficult past.

Not only did he have to avoid the Union Government, but he would also have to avoid the top three underground organizations at all times. If he showed any flaws before he grew powerful, he might have faced disaster.

"Fortunately, you managed to hold on. Now that you're the Emperor, the Union Government will have to think twice before doing anything to you, let alone those underground organizations." Tan Lang patted Lin Huang's shoulder.

Jian Fei looked rather awkward. He was worried that Lin Huang might call him out for being the acting chief of the Heaven Alliance. Now, it seemed like Lin Huang did not even care about being the chief of the Heaven Alliance.

If the Heaven Alliance were to be put on Earth, it could only be considered as the top university. However, Dynasty would be one of the top companies in the world if it were put on Earth. Why would a director from a top company want a place as the President of student affairs in a university?

Li Jia, on the other hand, seemed normal. He behaved just like an ordinary member of the audience enjoying the story just like everybody else. However, Lin Huang had no idea what he was really thinking about.

Lin Huang glanced through everyone, saying nothing while smiling.

Only he knew that he had the confidence to reveal his identity. He was not depending on his identity as the Emperor of Dynasty, but on his own abilities.

Just like two months ago, the Union Government had to let him go despite knowing that it was he who killed Zhuge Feifan not because he was the Emperor, but they knew his real abilities. If they came after him and ignored the consequences, they would definitely lose a bunch of top powerhouses.

Lin Huang knew that his identity was just a name. His ability was what set him apart from everyone else.

No matter how high a person's position might be, he would lose everything that came with his identity when he lost it one day.

Just like the presidents of some countries on Earth, their glory days were just the mere few years during their term of office. Their glory would fade as soon as they were done with their appointment. Some would even continue their lives like an ordinary person and were worse off than a wealthy man.

Naturally, a high position brought many benefits. You would not have to do many things on your own since you can get people to do it for you. A high position could even bring people connections and resources. Many people would come to you for your position to give many advantages. A high position brought huge influence to a person. When a person's position was powerful enough, whatever the person did or said might gain the world's attention.

However, no matter how powerful a person was, there was a limit. That was the reason why Lin Huang accepted the position of Emperor. Assuming such an identity gave him access to Dynasty's power. He could accomplish what he wanted to do which would take a massive amount of time and effort to do in the past like a piece of cake now."

"Let's go. We'll visit Boss Chan now." Lin Huang was unwilling to dwell on his identity and power. He led them towards where Chan Dou was staying.

On the way there, Tan Lang could not help but finally ask, "How did you find Chan Dou?"

Everyone kept their ears peeled as soon as he asked that.

"I suppose all of you have heard about the organization called God Bless which everyone has been talking about these past two months, haven't you?" Lin Huang asked.

"I think everyone knows about this recently. Looking at the notice the Union Government sent out, it's indeed a terrifying organization. They've been hiding from this world from over 700 years and nobody knew about their existence. Moreover, they've so many members who've penetrated so many organizations and some even became their core members and upper echelon." Shen Tao took over the conversation.

The Union Government had published a notice about God Bless's existence two months ago, so everyone present was familiar with the organization.

"They were the ones who took Chan Dou away." Lin Huang was half fibbing when he said that. "Their people attempted to assassinate me. I captured them and managed to ask them all about this unintentionally."

"I spent some time getting into where Chan Dou was captured. I managed to save him, but he had been in a coma and only woke up this morning. After I spoke to him, I realized a big part of his memory was lost."

Lin Huang told his half fib to the people as they walked. Soon, they arrived at the courtyard where Chan Dou was staying.

Lin Huang had arranged for Chan Dou to stay in the guest room where Dynasty hosted their guests. There were three three-story tall villas in the small courtyard.

The one that Chan Dou was staying in was just next to Xiao Mo's. Both villas were less than 20 meters away. The two of them were the only ones staying in the courtyard at the moment while the last villa was empty.

Chan Dou was checking the news on the Heart Network when Lin Huang and the rest walked into the courtyard. Hearing Lin Huang's chatter, he realized that Lin Huang had brought people to visit him. He turned off the Heart Network immediately and walked out of the room, eager to know if he could recognize any of the visitors.

Tan Lang and the rest saw Chan Dou from far away as they stepped into the courtyard. Without a hitch, they accelerated towards Chan Dou.

They walked to him while Lin Huang said, "See if there's anyone among them that you remember."

Chan Dou nodded and glanced through the 13 of them one after another. However, he soon turned to look at Lin Huang and shook his head sadly. "I don't remember any of them."

"Boss Chan, I'm Shen Tao. Don't you remember me?" Shen Tao asked with rather stirred emotions.

"Shen Tao…" Chan Dou frowned a little and glanced down to think. Eventually, he shook his head mournfully. "This name sounds familiar, but I really can't remember anything about it."

"Boss Chan, do you remember me? My name is Tan Lang," Tan Lang spoke calmly.

Chan Dou then turned his head to look at Tan Lang. He shook his head after looking at him for a while. "This name is a little familiar as well, but I don't remember a thing."

"We first met when you were 16. We went to a mission organized by the Hunter Association. I thought I was the youngest one in the mission at that time, but you were two years younger than me. You were less than 1.7 meters tall.

"I look mature, so no senior hunters troubled me. However, you looked like a kid and you were short, so a few senior hunters teased you. They said you were a baby and that you were a burden to them.

"I thought you would tolerate it, but in the end, you beat them up real good. Then, you walked to me and invited me to join your team, to be one of your teammates since I didn't tease you."

Tan Lang recounted the story of how he met Chan Dou as if everything had just happened yesterday. Even Lin Huang indulged in the story.

Among all the visitors, Li Jia remained calm from the beginning until the end. He fell into deep thought with his head hanging down after confirming Chan Dou's condition.

After Tan Lang was done telling the story, Chan Dou looked at him sadly. "Your story sounded like it indeed happened, but I'm really sorry that I don't recall anything that you just told me."

Tan Lang nodded, feeling helpless.

"It's alright if you can't remember now. Take it easy." Lin Huang patted Tan Lang's shoulder.

"If you guys have the time, you can stay for a few days to talk to Boss Chan. You might help him remember something. I won't keep any of you from doing your own things," Lin Huang said to Shen Tao and the rest.

"I'll stay since I've nothing much going on lately." Shen Tao was the first to respond.

"I'll stay too," Tan Lang responded immediately.

"Aren't you busy with your wedding?" Lin Huang asked.

"We haven't set the date yet. Moreover, this won't take too long."

"Alright, keep track of the time yourself," Lin Huang answered.

"I won't be staying. I have something to do," Li Jia said guiltily.

"Those of you who have something to do, go ahead. Don't feel obliged to stay," Lin Huang repeated.

"I'm not staying either," Jian Fei said to Lin Huang.

"Go ahead. I'll take some time to log into the Genius Union these two days." Lin Huang did not say anything further.

Among the 13 of them, eventually, only four of them stayed. Jian Fei and the other eight left one after another.

"The four of you will stay at villa No. 3 next door." Lin Huang pointed at the vacant villa as he spoke, "There are three rooms on the second floor and two rooms on the third floor. You guys can decide on your own. I'll get someone to send you guys the daily necessities."

"Sure! Thanks." Tan Lang showed his appreciation and pulled Lin Huang aside before asking through voice transmission, "What are you going to do about Boss Chan? Looking at his current condition, I'm afraid it'll take some time for him to recover his memory."

"I think it's better for him to stay with me before his memory recovers. At least, his safety is guaranteed at Dynasty," Lin Huang expressed his opinion.

"Why don't you just send him back to the Chan Clan?" Tan Lang asked, perplexed.

"Do you think it's safe at the Chan Clan?" Lin Huang asked.

Tan Lang fell into silence before nodding. "Oh yeah, many things have been going on at the Chan Clan for the past few months. Ever since Boss Chan went missing, none of the younger generation among the lineal descendants have the ability to replace him. On the other hand, three supreme geniuses among the other direct line descendants have been shining without Boss Chan. The entire Clan is in a mess. It's fine if Boss Chan's memory is intact, but in his current condition, he shouldn't head back indeed."

Lin Huang then voiced his concern, "It was most probably someone from the Chan Clan who revealed Chan Dou's whereabouts on purpose, resulting in him being taken away at the black market."

Lin Huang said that because from the memory of the God Bless's God's Messenger that he had obtained earlier, someone had revealed to them that Chan Dou was at the black market. That was how God Bless knew his location back then.

Now that Lin Huang heard about the Chan Clan's internal conflict from Tan Lang, he figured that the other disciples might have exposed the information.

"Hmm, it seems like he really shouldn't head home." Tan Lang frowned slightly. He never thought the people of the Chan Clan would do something like that.

"His combat strength has elevated to imperial-level. He can no longer log into the Genius Union and return to the Heaven Alliance. He doesn't recognize any of his friends or remember where he used to live," Lin Huang continued, "In his current condition, it's the best for him to stay in Dynasty. Of course, I won't force him to stay if he chooses to leave."

After the chat with Tan Lang, Lin Huang did not stay at the courtyard. He returned to the Emperor Palace after bidding goodbye to them.

The first thing he did when he returned to the Emperor's Palace was to take out the materials that Huang Tianfu had passed him earlier. He got Bloody to sort them out.

Soon, Bloody was finished. "The elevation materials for the two Dark Crescent Snakes and the Warlord are ready."

Lin Huang nodded and put the materials away. He then began the elevation for the Dark Crescent Snakes and the Warlord.

As he saw the three golden eggs consolidate completely, he did not proceed with his closed-door cultivation to refine Godheads this time. Instead, he sat by the golden eggs with his legs crossed while clicking on the Genius Union page.

It had been a few months since Lin Huang last logged into the Genius Union. He had logged in back then to nominate Gu Fei as deputy chief.

He remained at the Heaven Alliance when he logged in again, and his name on the leaderboard lit up automatically.

Many people on the Genius Union noticed his log-in immediately. He had been ranked No. 1 on the annual leaderboard after all, so it was hard for anyone not to notice him.

His log-in attracted a stream of discussion.

"Come have a look, everyone. The Monster Killer is back!"

"Did he just recall that there's a place that gives out points such as the Stairway Tree?"

"I'd like to mourn for the monsters on the Stairway Tree for three seconds in advance!"

"Guys, please inform the monsters on the Stairway Tree not to head out at night."

…

At the Heaven Alliance headquarters on the 63rd checkpoint, Jian Fei, who had just logged in a few minutes ago, noticed Lin Huang's log-in immediately.

Before he could react, Lin Huang had appeared at his office door.

"Come in, I've just logged in too," Jian Fei invited Lin Huang in. "It's just been a few months and your combat strength has already reached immortal-level rank-9. Your elevation speed is terrifying."

"Nah, I just happened to have good luck." Lin Huang sat on the couch and lifted his head to look at Jian Fei. He went straight to business. "Chan Dou has elevated to imperial-level, so he has automatically detached from the Genius Union. It's time for you as acting chief to assume your position.'

"This is just a child's game to you." Jian Fei shook his head while forcing a smile. He was worried that Lin Huang would fight him for the position of the chief of the Heaven Alliance back them. It was only today that he just realized Lin Huang did not even care about the position.

"Even if it's just a game, you'll have to bear the responsibility as a chief and take this seriously." Lin Huang, on the other hand, was serious.

"I will. Don't you worry about that. Although I have limited abilities, wherever I am, I know what sort of people to trust." Jian Fei knew that he was not considered the best in the Genius Union no matter his ability or power. However, he was skilled in people relationships. Otherwise, Chan Dou would not have nominated him as the deputy chief of the Heaven Alliance back then.

"I logged in this time mainly just to say hi to you guys. I should elevate to imperial-level soon, so you guys should prepare to pick a candidate to replace my position as deputy chief," Lin Huang told him the purpose of him logging in this time.

"Approximately when will you elevate?" Although Jian Fei had seen this coming, he felt like he came from a different world from Lin Huang when he heard the latter say that.

"A month at the soonest. 40 to 50 days should be enough if it takes longer," Lin Huang announced his estimated time. He had the feeling that the day the Virtual God rank-9 Godhead in his body was refined completely would be the day he elevated to imperial-level.

"So soon?!" Jian Fei could not help but exclaim out loud.

Lin Huang smiled without saying anything. He was the only one who knew that he had been stuck on immortal-level rank-10 for months now.

"Make the arrangements as soon as possible. It's best to pick a suitable candidate before I elevate."

"Is there anyone that you'd like to recommend?" Jian Fei asked. If Lin Huang recommended someone, the person would have top priority since he or she would be replacing Lin Huang.

The first person who popped into Lin Huang's mind was Li Jia when he heard Jian Fei's question. However, Lin Huang erased the name from his list immediately. It would be too risky to nominate a person who even he could not see through to be the deputy chief of the Heaven Alliance.

"No, I don't know many Heaven Alliance members. Those with whom I'm slightly familiar with have basically elevated to imperial-level. I've worked with some whom I've met, but I don't know them very well, so I'm not sure about their characters and abilities."

"How about I bring Gu Fei and the rest here? Since you're here today, maybe we could set the candidate's eligibility terms," Jian Fei suggested.

"You guys go ahead to discuss this. I won't participate." Lin Huang rejected immediately because he knew such a meeting would take a long time. If he joined them, he might spend his entire day there. "Just send me a copy of the list when you guys are done the discussion."

"Alright then," Jian Fei responded weakly.

Theoretically, as deputy chief, Lin Huang must be present when nominating a replacement. However, there was nothing that Jian Fei could do since he wanted to push the responsibility away. Moreover, Lin Huang was the Emperor of Dynasty.

Jian Fei thought about it properly and realized it would not make much of a difference whether Lin Huang was there or not. Since he did not know much about the candidates, he could not voice his opinion. He would only be a passive member of the audience even if he were to be there.

"There's one more thing that I need to tell you. Don't tell the other the Heaven Alliance members about Chan Dou's return just yet," Lin Huang requested that all of the sudden.

"Why?" Jian Fei asked immediately.

"The Chan Clan will find out about it as soon as the news spread. They'll definitely come to Dynasty for him by then. The Chan Clan is in a mess with internal conflict rife at the moment. It's fine if Chan Dou hadn't lost his memory. However, since he's lost a big chunk of memory, the Chan Clan isn't a good place to be in at the moment," Lin Huang explained.

Jian Fei went silent for a moment and nodded eventually. "I won't tell but Li Jia also knows about this."

Lin Huang could not help but knit his eyebrows when he heard Li Jia's name. "I'll speak to him later."

After chatting with Jian Fei for a while, Lin Huang browsed through the Heaven Alliance member list online. It showed that Li Jia was offline.

He soon found Li Jia's number and called him. The tone only rang once before the video call was connected.

Li Jia was sitting on a couch, and he seemed to be inside a huge villa looking at the background.

"Should I call you Master Emperor or Master Deputy Chief?" Li Jia teased while smiling.

"Up to you," Lin Huang did not care what he was addressed.

"Alright then, Master Deputy Chief. Anything that I can help you with?" Li Jia chose to call him Master Deputy Chief eventually.

"I hope that you tell no one about Chan Dou's return," Lin Huang did not bother to beat around the bush.

To his surprise, Li Jia nodded without any hesitation. "Sure, I'll keep the secret for you."

Lin Huang, who was prepared to spend some effort convincing Li Jia, fell into silence at that moment. He did not expect his attempt to be so successful.

"Anything else?" Li Jia's projection in the video call asked while smiling.

Lin Huang thought about it and shook his head. "That's all."

He almost wanted to ask how did Li Jia obtain his Divine Telekinesis. However, he dismissed the idea after thinking it through.

After hanging up the call with Li Jia, Lin Huang said goodbye to Jian Fei. Nonetheless, he did not log out just yet. Instead, he climbed toward the trunk of the Stairway Tree through the branches.

He hardly logged into the Genius Union anyway, thus it made sense for him to obtain some points before leaving!

Lin Huang had broke through the 63rd checkpoint of the Stairway Tree a couple of months ago after killing the last Bug Tribe Queen Mother.

Neither would the monsters attack Lin Huang, nor would he obtain anymore points if he were to kill them.

Without the attack of the Bug Tribe, Lin Huang spent less than a minute to pass through the 63rd checkpoint on the the Stairway Tree and stepped into the 64th checkpoint.

The 64th checkpoint on the Stairway Tree was called the Inhibition Waterfall.

According to the records left behind by the Heaven Alliance seniors, more than half of the powerhouses who had passed through the 63rd checkpoint could not step foot onto the 72nd checkpoint because they were stuck on the 64th checkpoint.

Breaking through the Inhibition Waterfall was almost impossible because the impact of the waterfall was immensely powerful. The speed of its flowing water was thousands of times faster than the high pressure water jet that could be used to cut metal pieces on Earth.

Ordinary immortal-level rank-9 powerhouses would be torn into pieces if they stepped in without any armor. Even if they had ancient relic armor on, it would strip their Life Power away.

Such a checkpoint was purely to test a person's physical strength and Life Power intensity. Moreover, the rule prohibited Life Power from being replenished. Everyone who went through the checkpoint would not be able to replenish their Life Power. There was simply no way around it at all.

However, such a checkpoint was an easy stage for Lin Huang.

He smirked slightly as he watched the misty, white waterfall before him. He did not even summon any imperial monster or God Figurine's Combat Soul. All he did was to put on black battle armor and dive into the waterfall.

The terrifying waterfall flow splashed on the demigod relic armor, but none of the impact touched Lin Huang.

It was as if he was taking a stroll after a meal as he walked towards the source of the waterfall.

After integrating the Origin God's Heart, all of the Life Power in Lin Huang's body had turned into Divine Power. He even had ten Divine Fire glowing and providing endless Divine Power in his body. Supplying the demigod god relic armor to work smoothly was a piece of cake.

However, although the relic armor bore most of the impact, the remaining force was still rather tough for Lin Huang and he could not move quickly. He felt as if he was walking against a strong gale. He looked like he was walking at a normal speed at that instant, but in reality, it was the fastest he could go as he fought the resistance.

After spending approximately half an hour passing through the 64th checkpoint, the next checkpoints were easy-peasy.

He slowed down when he encountered monsters again on the 67th checkpoint.

He summoned the Destructive Divine Mammoth and gained ten billion points which was the maximum points he could achieve per day. Just like that, he arrived on the boss stage of the checkpoint.

He then went all the way up to the monster stage on the 71st checkpoint. Figuring that he had gotten the maximum points he could obtain per day, he stopped and logged out of the Genius Union since it would mean that he would be giving up ten billion points if he passed the 71st checkpoint now.

Lin Huang had no idea that almost all the online members were watching him tearing through the checkpoints since the 64th checkpoint. He gained more and more audience members as the checkpoints Lin Xie hit only got higher and higher. The friends of those offline got them to log in to witness whatever miraculous turn of events that was happening.

Many people thought Lin Xie might make history this time. However, his checkpoint number halted at '71' on the first place of the leaderboard. It then dimmed.

Many of them thought it was a pity when they saw Lin Huang logging out.

"He's so close to stepping onto the 72nd checkpoint and breaking the record!"

"It seems like the monsters on the 71st checkpoint are much more powerful than we thought."

"It's really a pity that he failed this checkpoint. I wonder when Lin Xie will come back again."

Most of the people thought Lin Huang had failed to pass the checkpoint.

According to the limited records, it was a challenge to clear the monsters on the 71st checkpoint. The monsters on this checkpoint came from the Ant Tribe. Although their ability was just on immortal-level rank-9, the sheer number of them was insanely terrifying. It was at least ten times more than the amount of Bug Tribe members on the 63rd checkpoint back then.

If the Inhibition Waterfall on the 64th checkpoint made half of the powerhouses who passed through the 63rd checkpoint stuck, then the Ant Tribe on the 71st checkpoint would put all the remaining half to a halt successfully. Only a handful of people had ever passed through the 71st checkpoint and arrived on the 72nd checkpoint throughout the entire history of the Stairway Tree.

Only Lin Huang knew that the 71st checkpoint was no threat to him at all. He could break through it anytime he wanted. He logged out because he did not want to lose the ten billion points that were on his fingertips.

Just when Lin Huang gave up and logged out, he received messages from Yi Yeyu and Yi Zheng almost at the same time.

The duo's messages were rather simple.

Yi Yeyu: Holy sheet~~~ (typo)!

Yi Zheng: Oh wow, you're worthy of being called Dynasty's Master Emperor!

Clearly, both of them had logged into the Genius Union to watch Lin Huang clearing the checkpoints.

Lin Huang merely shook his head while smiling without giving a hint of response. He did not reply because he did not think it was necessary.

However, his Emperor's Heart Ring began vibrating all of a sudden merely two to three minutes later. It was Yi Yeyu calling.

He raised his brow and picked up the video call.

The first thing he saw were two long legs that were as fair as radish as soon as the video was projected.

He only saw Yi Yeyu's face after she stepped back a distance away later.

"It's mid-autumn now. Aren't you cold?" Lin Huang could not help but ask.

"It's none of your business!" Yi Yeyu hissed madly.

"Didn't you send me a message earlier? Why are you calling me now?"

"You didn't even reply to my message. Can't I call to talk to you?"

"The message you sent was pretty meaningless. I didn't think it was necessary to reply," Lin Huang mumbled softly.

"What did you say?!"

"Nothing." Lin Huang changed the topic immediately upon seeing Yi Yeyu getting out of control. "Are you with your brother?"

"No." Yi Yeyu pouted. "We logged onto the Genius Union at the same time because you were breaking through the checkpoints."

"Oh, I thought you guys are together since you guys sent the messages almost at the same time."

"I don't think you know the Genius Union has been crowded today because of you breaking through the levels continuously. You went all the way to the 71st checkpoint, and broke the the Stairway Tree record that's been there for a hundred years. I heard from my brother that the highest checkpoint recorded is the 64th checkpoint which was achieved a hundred years ago."

Lin Huang nodded while smiling. "The 64th checkpoint is rather difficult indeed."

"Is the 71st checkpoint difficult too?" Yi Yeyu could not help but query.

"It has a difficulty of its own." Lin Huang thought about it and nodded eventually.

"Don't give up if you didn't break through. You might just do it the next time," Yi Yeyu comforted him thinking that he had failed.

Lin Huang nodded while smiling, not bothering to explain. "Yeah, I think I'll succeed the next time."

"Keep up the spirit! Even if you fail the next time, you can try again. A man should be able to bear failures!"

Lin Huang was not sure whether to laugh or cry as he hung up the phone. Yi Yeyu thought he was upset because he failed the checkpoint, hence she called to comfort him!

As people in the Genius Union were discussing Lin Huang, he had begun his new round of refining Godheads and broken Godheads.

He shoved all six Godheads and 71 broken Godheads that Huang Tianfu had collected for him throughout the month. He only went to sleep after he refined until midnight. He did not push it this time and just maintained his regular daily routine.

The next morning, Lin Huang headed out for breakfast before it was 7 a.m.

The first thing he did after breakfast was to log into the Genius Union when he returned to the Emperor Palace.

Since he logged out at the 71st checkpoint last time, he remained where he was when he logged in again.

According to the very limited records left behind by the seniors, although the 71st checkpoint was a monster stage, the most difficult thing was the same as the Secret Forest on the 55th checkpoint whereby all the players would be shrunk to a thousandth of their actual body size.

Lin Huang, who was 1.83 meters tall, shrank rapidly to less than 2 millimeters as he entered this checkpoint.

Meanwhile, the Ant Tribe was native here, so their bodies would remain the same size.

All of the Ant Tribe members had combat strength of immortal-level rank-9 while their core members were triple mutated legendary-level. However, among the legendary-level monsters, they ranked the highest when it came to strength and defense abilities. Even with an ancient relic, an ordinary immortal-level rank-9 powerhouse might not be able to break their defenses easily.

There were very few pseudo-mythical-level monsters whereby their ratio was approximately one to a million ant monsters. However, since there were tens of billions of ant monsters, there were quite a substantial number of pseudo-mythical-level ant monsters.

Apart from that, there were at least ten mythical-level ant queens. Each of them were more skilled in battle than the Queen Mothers on the 63rd checkpoint.

Those reasons were why this checkpoint was a tough one to break through.

However, all sorts of monsters on different stages was the easiest to Lin Huang. No matter how many there were, he could kill them all as soon as his God Figurine's Combat Soul was out. There was no exception.

'According to the current rule of the Stairway Tree, I'll pass this checkpoint right after I kill an ant queen. The chances of obtaining an ant queen's complete card is almost zero. However, there are up to ten thousands of pseudo-mythical-level ant guardians, so I should be able to obtain some complete cards from there.' Lin Huang knew that the possibility of obtaining a complete ant queen's card was low, so he set his target on the pseudo-mythical-level ant guardians instead.

Those ant guardians had ability nothing lower than the ant queen, they were even slightly more powerful than ant queens. Naturally, Lin Huang was happy to take the pseudo-mythical-level cards that were sent to his doorstep.

After crushing a Double Reward Card, Lin Huang summoned the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the Nightmare Tapir.

All of the ant monsters went into a deep sleep whenever the human and two monsters passed by.

Lin Huang did not get the Destructive Divine Mammoth to attack right away. Instead, he instructed the Nightmare Tapir to clear the path. His plan was simple: to kill all of the pseudo-mythical-level ant guardians without a single blunder.

As he was searching for ant guardians on the checkpoint, his log-in attracted many Genius Union members to watch him play.

"The Monster Killer has logged in again today!"

"Is he trying to break through the checkpoint today since he failed yesterday?"

"I think Lin Xie is rushing into it. He can totally wait for a few months and try again when his combat strength has elevated."

"Looking at the information left behind by the seniors, the difficulty of the 71st checkpoint has multiplied compared to the 63rd checkpoint. Lin Xie might fail again this time."

Almost everyone in the Genius Union was pessimistic about his attempt.

After all, there were tons of examples before this. In the history of the Genius Union, only a total of 13 people arrived at the 71st checkpoint. However, only three of them managed to break through the 71st checkpoint and get to the 72nd checkpoint.

However, a handful of the audience thought Lin Huang might be able to make it. Unfortunately, their voices were drowned in the others' ridicule and scorn.

Lin Huang's log-in this time caused many of the Genius Union members to log in again.

Some even seized the opportunity to open a bet. Some daring ones even open a 1:100 bet to attract people to place their wagers that Lin Xie would break through the 71st checkpoint.

"I bet 100,000 points that Lin Xie will break through the 71st checkpoint." A lady in a ponytail walked to the maker who set up the wager to be as high as 1:150. Her long legs and voluptuous breasts made many men gulp in a mix of lust and nervousness.

However, soon everyone saw a handsome man following not far behind her.

"Milady, are you sure you want to bet on him? You won't be getting back a single point if you lose all 100,000 points," a gambler next to her reminded out of kindness.

"Are the odds 1:150 here?" Yi Yeyu confirmed with the maker again.

"That's right."

"Then, I bet 100,000 points that Lin Xie will break through this checkpoint!"

As soon as Yi Yeyu was done speaking, Yi Zheng walked up behind her. "I'll bet 300,000 points that Lin Xie will pass this checkpoint."

The maker glanced at the siblings and muttered to himself before accepting their transfer, "Idiots!"'

Lin Huang, on the other hand, had no idea that him postponing his decision to break through the checkpoint had drawn so much attention. He even made the entire betting business of the Genius Union boom.

It was not that the Genius Union did not have such betting before, but it had never escalated this big.

After hanging up the call with Yi Yeyu yesterday, Lin Huang began the new round of Godhead refinement right way. He did not look at the Genius Union forum at all. Naturally, he had no idea about everything that was happening.

After spending over half an hour locating all the pseudo-mythical-level ant guardians, Lin Huang got the Nightmare Tapir to put over 10,000 pseudo-mythical-level ant guardians into a deep slumber quietly.

Notifications from the system popped up one after another as soon as the massive amount of ant guardians were killed.

"Congratulations, you've obtained complete ant guardian Monster Card (pseudo-mythical-level) x2!

"Congratulations, you've obtained ant guardian Monster Card pieces (pseudo-mythical-level) x2!"

…

After getting rid of the ant guardians, Lin Huang patted the Destructive Divine Mammoth's butt. "You can clear the scene now. Don't do anything to the ant queen yet. Otherwise, I'll lose the points."

The Destructive Divine Mammoth began its killing spree as soon as Lin Huang ordered it. It stomped both its feet one after another, crushing all the ant monsters.

Lin Huang's points on the annual leaderboard skyrocketed again! In less than ten minutes, his points experienced a boost by ten billion points, which was the daily maximum.

Seeing that his points had stopped growing, Lin Huang controlled the Destructive Divine Mammoth to kill an ant queen and he tore through the 71st checkpoint of the Stairway Tree.

As expected, there was no complete Monster Card after killing the ant queen. Although he saw it coming, he could not help but feel a little disappointed.

He wasted no time on the 71st checkpoint and headed off to the 72nd checkpoint while sitting on the Destructive Divine Mammoth's back.

"He broke through! Lin Xie broke through!"

"Sh*t, the checkpoint number has changed. It's really the 72nd checkpoint now!"

"He's insane! The 72nd checkpoint is already the highest record in history. Does it mean he has matched an equal record now?"

"Did you guys notice that Lin Xie has gotten another ten billion points today? I'm suspecting that he didn't fail yesterday but postponed it on purpose and did it today for the sake of the ten billion points."

"That's something terrifying to hear. If what the commenter above said is true about Lin Xie killing monsters as just a game to obtain points, his real ability is indeed nerve-wrecking."

…

Just when Lin Huang arrived on the 72nd checkpoint, the entire Genius Union was in a heated discussion.

Not only were there a few folds more online members now, but even the entire Genius Union forum was also crowded.

All the hot topics were related to Lin Xie, and there were even more compared to yesterday. Naturally, Lin Huang had no idea about all that.

At that moment, he was putting all of his focus on the 72nd checkpoint before him.

According to the very limited records from the people who had broken through in the past, it was an endless ocean on the 72nd checkpoint.

Lin Huang's shrunken body from the 71st checkpoint remained the same. He was still in a micro body size which was a thousandth of his original size.

The 10,000-meter wide ocean before him became an ocean that was 10,000 kilometers wide since his body had shrunk by 1,000 times.

However, the difficult part of this checkpoint was to cross the 10,000 meters of water.

Looking at the countable records, there were three difficult points about the 72nd checkpoint.

The first was that this ocean had extremely low water density, and there was no skill that one could use to walk on it. Since flying was prohibited on the Stairway Tree, the only way to cross it was to swim.

The second point was that this ocean had many monsters with the lowest combat strength being imperial-level black gold-rank. Moreover, most of them existed in groups.

The third one was that as long as players came in, sea monsters would sense the players easily from a certain distance. As soon as they sensed players coming, they would advance immediately to attack. Theoretically, the longer the player stayed in this ocean, the more imperial-level monsters he would attract.

The most powerful players on the Stairway Tree all failed this checkpoint because they attracted numerous sea monsters not long after getting into the water. Furthermore, the arrival of the low combat strength sea monsters would attract all sorts of sea monsters of higher combat strength to swarm forth.

They would almost always encounter imperial-level white gold-rank monsters every time they were swimming halfway. There were even terrifying imperial-level purple gold-rank monsters. However, those players' combat strength was limited to immortal-level rank-9, so they could not escape from such monsters at all, let alone fight them.

'This ocean is totally the sea monsters' stage. No wonder those seniors couldn't break through it.' Lin Huang knew what the difficulty of this checkpoint was. 'Even if a person with compelling abilities could fight imperial-level purple gold-rank monsters with their immortal-level rank-9 combat strength, they could handle if there was only one monster. However, they would have to flee if they encounter ten or 20 of them.'

Watching the calm ocean surface standing at the border of the coastline, Lin Huang was well aware of the danger lurking beneath the peaceful water.

However, at that instant, to Lin Huang, such danger was no threat to him at all.

He stepped out after summoning the Enchanted Fairy. Perhaps he could not walk on the ocean, but he could easily solve it. All he would have to do was to build a bridge.

That was precisely what he was going to do.

As the Enchanted Fairy walked on the surface of water, everywhere she passed by turned into a path of ice.

Lin Huang followed behind her and walked on the frozen water.

The both of them stepped on the ocean which began to tremble intensely. The ocean that was peaceful seemed to have turned into a rave party. Waves that were thousands of meters high were sloshing towards the duo one after another.

The Enchanted Fairy then activated her Territory skill. The temperature of the entire place plummeted as white mist lingered above the ocean.

The terrifying waves turned into giant icebergs of all shapes as soon as they touched the mist. They looked like they had been erected for hundreds of thousands of years.

Less than half a minute after overcoming the tsunami, the monsters beneath the ocean smelled Lin Huang's aura and came rushing in droves.

This proved that the monsters in the sea could still sense the players' existence even though there was no water around Lin Huang.

The first round of monsters were a group of Fiendish Piranhas with sharp teeth. There were tens of thousands of them.

These Fiendish Piranhas were as long as an adult arm. They had black scales and fangs in their mouth that looked like countless shape blades. The damage was estimated to be just as devastating as an ancient relic.

Although these Fiendish Piranhas had rather low combat strength whereby they were only on imperial-level black gold-rank, there were many of them.

Had some other immortal-level rank-9 powerhouse encountered this wave of attack, he or she might have been devoured with no flesh left. Even Chan Dou, who was at his peak, could only choose to escape because he would not be able to fight at all.

Naturally, Lin Huang sensed the Fiendish Piranhas coming. However, he did not worry at all and proceeded to run behind the Enchanted Fairy.

Sensing that Lin Huang was moving quickly above the ocean, the Fiendish Piranhas accelerated beneath the surface of the water.

Observing the ice above them, the Fiendish Piranhas collided into the ice directly. They knew that smashing the ice would make the target fall into the sea and become their prey.

Bang, bang, bang!

The Fiendish Piranhas smashed into the ice one after another. Muffled thuds came from the clashing of the almost indestructible fish heads against the bottom of the ice.

Subsequently, the Fiendish Piranhas' heads were deformed from the bashing. Some of their heads even cracked and brain juice flowed out. Although they were in a devastating state, their attack did nohing to the ice at all.

Sensing the fishes' commotion with his Territory skill, Lin Huang merely glanced at them with his Divine Kinesis. He saw a massive amount of fish monsters bashing the ice and turning into sorry-looking carcasses. They sank to the bottom of the sea slowly and he soon ignored them.

He expected this, so he was not concerned at all.

One must know that even a demigod could not fight the Enchanted Fairy's frost, let alone these imperial-level black gold-rank dumb fishes.

The Fiendish Piranhas' suicidal move caused all of them to die. However, it was just the first round of attack.

Nobody knew if it was Lin Huang's aura or the dead Fiendish Piranhas' flesh, but the second round of monsters came as soon as the Fiendish Piranhas died.

This round of monsters were fish monsters of a bigger size. They also had sharp teeth, but they were over a meter long and there were two subtle scarlet stripes on their dark green scales.

It was a fish monster called Scarlet, and they were thirsty for blood. Compared to eating flesh, they prefer to drink blood.

After this round of monsters noticed Lin Huang, they looked like they were charmed and they struck the ice fearlessly. However, the same fate that befell the Fiendish Piranhas happened to them too. In less than a minute, the entire group of fishes were killed.

Subsequently, the third, the fourth, and more rounds of monsters came attacking.

Apart from a minority of them who survived as a result of having tough heads, almost all the rest were killed. Those that survived escaped immediately, no longer daring to come after Lin Huang.

As Lin Huang was running on the surface of the frozen water, the ocean beneath was filled with all sorts of sea monster carcasses. All of them had died from the continuous bashing into the ice.

"Are these sea monsters on Ecstasy? Why are they so crazy?" Lin Huang looked puzzled as he watched the sea monsters under the ice that were killing themselves over him.

He could clearly sense with his Divine Telekinesis that those sea monsters under the ice seemed to have lost their mind when they bashed into the ice. They ignored the ice blocking their way as well as their friends that were dead.

"I think the system set the monsters in this stage to go into a frenzy," said Bloody that was in his sleeve through voice transmission, "Maybe they only have one order in their head when they sense players, which is to attack them. They seemed to be hypnotized.

"Although they have imperial-level combat strength, monsters on this stage aren't gifted with normal intelligence. They're even dumber than the bugs that we encountered in some of the checkpoints. I suspect it's the Stairway Tree's system that set it that way on purpose to lower the difficulty."

"Why do I feel it's actually increasing the difficulty?" Lin Huang could not help but voice his opinion. "They go into a frenzy as soon as they sense the players and attack the players as if they've lost their minds. Moreover, during the frenzy, their speed and attack strength experience an obvious boost. They even gave up on attacking sea monsters of other tribes that were in their territory, whereby the players became their sole target. Isn't that more difficult?"

"It's more difficult on the surface, but in reality, the difficulty level is lower," Bloody shared a different opinion. "Look at these sea monsters. Under such a frenzy, their attack mode is the same. They know they can't break the ice wall, but they don't even try to figure another way around it. This stage is purely to test one's ability to break through it head-on. If these sea monsters have ordinary intelligence, they would've had more advanced techniques when going after the players compared to what they're doing now.

"Let's use the simplest strategy as an example. They don't even need to attack the players strenuously now. All they have to do is to find a key location where the player will definitely pass by and gather everyone there. The player will then fall into the trap automatically."

Lin Huang just realized that he did not think it through earlier after hearing what Bloody said.

As they chatted, a gigantic black silhouette was approaching rapidly beneath the ocean.

Terrifying waves rumbled on both sides of the ice just when Lin Huang sensed that something was wrong. The waves were up to 10,000 meter high now.

The Enchanted Fairy merely waved her sleeves, and the insane waves turned into two massive icebergs.

Meanwhile, the giant beast beneath the ocean had its mouth wide open as soon as the waves came. It was going to swallow Lin Huang together with the icy path beneath his feet.

However, the massive waves on both sides of the ice path turned into gigantic icebergs just when it opened its mouth, and it happened to bite into them.

Lin Huang heard cracks before gory blood gushed out of the sea king monster's mouth like a waterfall. Even a few of its teeth cracked and fell, creating turbulent waves on the sea.

What made Lin Huang not sure whether to laugh or cry was that this sea king monster's mouth was then filled with the two icebergs. Its upper and lower jaws were opened to the widest. Since the bottom of the icebergs were much bigger than the top, it could not even spit them out now.

At the moment, the gigantic sea king monster seemed to have two giant weights shoved into its mouth. It fell into an awkward situation whereby it could not bite into it, close its mouth and neither could it not swallow the icebergs.

Since the ice path beneath Lin Huang's feet was connected to the two icebergs, the sea king monster's entire head was stuck. It could not move despite attempting a few times by whipping its body about, but its effort was to no avail.

The sea king monster's eight big, googly eyes were staring at Lin Huang. It looked like it was going to cry. Nobody knew whether it felt wronged or if it was hurting.

Lin Huang even sensed that it was revealing a human expression of awkwardness and embarrassment. He was not sure if that was an illusion.

After chuckling at it without showing any sympathy, Lin Huang thought he should snap a photo of such a scene that was hard to come by for memory's sake.

He activated the camera on his Emperor's Heart Ring and took more than ten high-resolution digital photos of this sea king monster that looked like a crocodile. He even posed in many selfies with it as the background.

After taking the photos, Lin Huang left the sea king monster behind and ran towards the 73rd checkpoint behind the Enchanted Fairy.

He decided not to kill the sea king monster mainly because the funny incident would make him laugh for the entire day. It gave color to his rather boring checkpoint breakthrough.

Naturally, he would not let it go. It was fortunate that the Enchanted Fairy did not turn it into an ice sculpture.

Such a monster would not die even if it did not eat or drink while being stuck where it was. As for regaining its freedom, it depended on when the ice path beneath Lin Huang's feet melted. Eating normally again would depend on when it could spit out or swallow the icebergs in its mouth when they melted.

The monsters Lin Huang encountered since the imperial-level purple gold-rank sea king monster were getting more and more powerful.

It proved that the closer one was towards the 73rd checkpoint, the more powerful the monsters became.

After he broke through half the checkpoint, almost all of the sea monsters he encountered were above imperial-level yellow gold-rank.

Especially when he was left with a tenth of his journey, almost all of the sea monsters that attacked him were on imperial-level purple gold-rank.

However, these sea monsters were not as fortunate as the sea king monster. The Enchanted Fairy turned them into ice sculptures immediately as soon as they approached the ice path.

Lin Huang spent over two hours to finally complete the ice path that was 10,000 kilometers long to him since he could not fly and his body had shrunk.

As he stepped out of the ice path and entered the 73rd checkpoint of the Stairway Tree, Lin Huang turned back to his original body size in the blink of an eye.

He stood on a field and turned around to look at the 72nd checkpoint that he had just passed.

He saw a white icy line that was only as thick as his finger. There were ice sculptures of all sizes and forms on the both sides of the icy line, seeming like exquisite art pieces.

Lin Huang tried his very best to see through the clouds above the ocean, peering at the sea king monster, whose mouth was still stuck, far away. It was still there and it had gave up struggling completely. Just like that, it was hanging on the white icy line like a salted fish an aunty was drying on a clothesline.

Lin Huang chuckled and turned around to enter the dense jungle on the 73rd checkpoint.

"Congratulations to the Deputy Chief of the Heaven Alliance, Lin Xie, for entering the 73rd checkpoint and breaking the Stairway Tree record!

"Congratulations to the Deputy Chief of the Heaven Alliance, Lin Xie, for entering the 73rd checkpoint and breaking the Stairway Tree record!

"Congratulations to the Deputy Chief of the Heaven Alliance Lin Xie for entering the 73rd checkpoint and breaking the Stairway Tree record!"

As soon as Lin Huang stepped onto the 73rd checkpoint, every active Genius Union member received the same three messages whether they were online or not. The messages were about Lin Xie breaking historical record.

The three messages that were like full-service notification in games were sent by the Stairway Tree system to all active members as soon as Lin Huang broke through the checkpoint without any exceptions.

Lin Huang's mind-blowing feat spread all over the Genius Union. The entire union was stirred.

One must know that everyone thought that the 72nd checkpoint was the final destination when Lin Huang arrived on the 73rd checkpoint. Whoever managed to make it to the checkpoint was already deemed to have achieved a grand victory. After all, there were only four people in history, including Lin Huang, who had ever arrived at the checkpoint.

Everyone in the Genius Union knew how powerful Lin Xie's ability was. Furthermore, he might even be Chan Dou's successor. However, almost nobody thought Lin Huang could broke through the 72nd checkpoint of the Stairway Tree today.

Now that he had broken through the impossible limit in the form of the checkpoint, everyone was floored.

"The Monster Killer has broken the record. Holy shit!"

"I must admit that the Monster Killer totally slayed today!"

"Everyone thought he was cheating when he obtained eight million points back then. When he obtained 100 million points, people still insisted that he cheated. When he obtained 100 billion points, the voice of doubt faded. He hardly logs in now, but he broke through the checkpoint that nobody has ever passed in a hundred years. Lin Xie has proved himself again and again that he doesn't need to cheat at all!"

"From today onwards, the most powerful young generation is no longer the Five Princes. There's only one name, and that name is Lin Xie!"

…

On the 21st checkpoint of the Stairway Tree, Yi Zheng was standing at the assembly point while looking at the first name on the projected leaderboard. His emotions were stirred.

"What? Are you envious of him?" Yi Yeyu walked to him from behind and tilted her head while asking with a smile.

"A little," Yi Zheng admitted while smiling with a nod.

"We kind of watched him grow up." Yi Yeyu also lifted her head to look at the first name on the leaderboard.

"To be exact, we can testify for his growth," Yi Zheng corrected her.

"Who would've thought this insignificant little guy would grow so powerful?" Yi Yeyu shook her head while smiling. "Not only is he the No. 1 powerhouse of the young generation, but he's also the Emperor of Dynasty."

"Whether he's the No. 1 powerhouse of the young generation or the Emperor of Dynasty, these identities won't be the last of him. He will go further and grow even more powerful." Yi Zheng knew very well that Lin Huang would not just stop there.

"Brother, until which checkpoint do you think he will get to?" Yi Yeyu could not help but probe.

"I think he'll get to whatever checkpoint that's available on the Stairway Tree," Yi Zheng added after he was done speaking, "Of course, he might not succeed today. He might do so tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or next month… If I have the talent and ability that he does, I'll definitely do whatever I can to pass through all the checkpoints on the Stairway Tree."

Just when Yi Zheng and Yi Yeyu were discussing, the other Genius Union members were talking about a similar topic too.

Compared to the time when very few people thought Lin Huang could pass the 72nd checkpoint, now most people thought he might advance even further. The question was that nobody was sure which checkpoint he would get to.

A minority of them was not on board with that. They argued that there was absolutely no reference about the checkpoints later on compared to the 72 checkpoints before. Without any references and strategies, everything was a completely new discovery. The difficulty of breaking through the following checkpoints would be relatively multiplied.

In fact, just like what these people expected, Lin Huang had no reference since nobody had ever gotten to that checkpoint before. He had no idea what was coming for him.

As soon as he entered the dense jungle on the 73rd checkpoint, Lin Huang realized he could no longer activate his Territory skill. He could not even spread his Divine Telekinesis and had lost all his detective techniques altogether.

Feeling helpless, he summoned Lancelot and got him to be the herald, opening the path for him.

Although Lancelot only possessed imperial-level yellow gold-rank combat strength, his ability was nothing less than imperial-level's. With his powerful defensive skill such as the Dark Mirror, he could handle most threats on the Stairway Tree.

Lin Huang noticed that something was a little off after following Lancelot for a couple minutes.

"It's a little strange that we haven't encountered any monsters on this checkpoint. We haven't even encountered any obstacles at all. Looking at the speed, we'll break through the checkpoint after this."

"This is a maze stage," Bloody spoke all of a sudden.

"A maze?"

"I just noticed that there are a few trees that are exactly the same as the ones before us. At first, I thought they're just trees that look alike, but later on, I noticed they aren't the only ones," Bloody voiced its observation.

"I then tried releasing four Leech Pods. Using me as the center point, they flew straight toward four directions, namely the front, the back, the left and, the right. However, I sensed that the four Leech Pods began to deviate from the original route as they flew less than ten meters away. They only deviated a little at first, but it got worse. They're circling at a specific point in the end."

"Although they're circling where they are, the surroundings where the four Leech Pods are observing are changing, providing an illusion. If not for my ability to sense their exact location, I might've been deceived by the illusion too."

"So, we've been in an illusion as soon as we stepped into this checkpoint?" Lin Huang squinted and instructed Lancelot to stop moving.

Lin Huang looked around his surroundings. He did not see anything out of the ordinary within his field of vision. Since he could not use his Divine Telekinesis and Territory skill, it was hard for him to realize it even if he really was in an illusion.

An idea popped into his head, and he summoned the Nightmare Tapir directly.

As soon as the Nightmare Tapir was summoned, there was some chirping not far away. The Nightmare Tapir looked around, swinging its long trunk and opening its mouth.

In the next second, the images around it were sucked into the Nightmare Tapir's muzzle like a tornado.

When the illusion was removed, the real surroundings were revealed.

It was a dense jungle, but not a typical one because there were no trees or bushes in this dense jungle. There were only white mushrooms with black human faces.

These mushrooms were of various sizes whereby some of them were two to three meters tall and some were only the length of a finger. The only similarity was that the faces on these mushrooms seemed to be asleep at the moment.

"So, was it these mushrooms that performed the illusion earlier?" Lin Huang looked shocked.

"I think they're the Demonic Mushroom from the abyss. It's an evil spirit type of monster that's an expert at casting illusion and hypnotization!" Bloody explained, "But these are just the stems, which are equivalent to clones. The main stem must be hiding."

"I don't think there's such monster in the monster guide, is there?" Lin Huang asked in confusion.

"Indeed, there's no such record in the monster guide. I saw it once in some other documents unintentionally," Bloody explained in response.

"Let's go then! Onward to the next checkpoint."

Since the illusion had been removed, Lin Huang thought he would not waste any more time clearing these mushroom clones. All he wanted to do was to break through this checkpoint as soon as possible to see what was next.