Reality.

Above Yi Country, the Jiu Yi Ping Tian Fortress.

The massive fortress, black with white patterns, resembled a giant rock suspended above Yi Country.

Its exterior was disguised with irregular mountains, rocks, and vegetation, like a huge mountain rising from the ground.

However, this mountain was a bit too large, stretching over ten kilometers in length and width.

Satellites occasionally streaked past its perimeter.

The bright, pale blue halo of the Earth and Moon below reflected off its surface, tinting the black rocks at its base with an eternal blue hue.

*Whoosh, whoosh.*

Two soft sounds rapidly approached from below.

Two bright white sword lights shot out from the Earth and Moon, pierced through the blue magnetic atmospheric layer, circled the fortress once, and flew into a cave dwelling in its central section.

The sword lights entered the cave dwelling, winding through the tunnel for hundreds of meters, before the path suddenly opened up.

A vast black stone hall, over a hundred meters wide, spherical in shape, was hidden deep within the fortress.

The hall was pitch black inside, with countless fish-shaped blue light clusters floating around.

Rising from the ground were cylindrical stone pillars, each topped with a black-and-white Taiji diagram futon.

There were a total of nine stone pillars and nine futons, but only three were occupied.

"Where's the old man, Dong Jun? Still not out of seclusion?"

Seated in the fourth position was a bewitching woman with long silver hair and skin so fair it seemed to emit a white glow.

Between her eyebrows were two red dots, arranged vertically in a line. Her eyes were not human, but black voids with a large number of silver light points constantly gathering and dispersing.

Even sitting on the futon, she was restless, one leg raised and the other crossed.

Her elbow rested on her raised leg, her hand supporting her chin, as she lazily looked at the other stone pillars.

Two sword lights descended, landing above two stone pillars, and two figures reappeared.

"More than half have arrived. The old man probably won't come out this year. Let's not wait." On the fifth stone pillar, an emaciated white-haired old man in black robes and a tall crown replied in a deep voice.

He was none other than Li Yuan, of the Fengxue Li family, ranked Ninth Order in Chao Yu.

"Then let's begin." On the sixth stone pillar, a man in a black robe with golden phoenix patterns nodded calmly.

Immediately, the cave dwelling door closed.

Inside the hall, an invisible isolation field enveloped the area.

*Hum.*

Beneath the nine stone pillars, countless white lights lit up, and a viscous white liquid, like lava, flowed out from the edges of the ground, submerging the base of the stone pillars to a depth of over ten meters.

A terrifyingly high temperature rose up.

The air instantly reached tens of thousands of degrees Celsius.

Apart from the Ninth Order individuals, nothing could function normally in this temperature.

Even some higher-order modified humans could survive in such an environment, but they would have to activate high-power coping systems to withstand the extreme heat.

And once the coping systems were activated, they would inevitably be exposed and discovered by the Jiu Yi's Ninth Order members.

"Ding Meng, what's the purpose of calling this emergency meeting? We each have important matters to attend to during this time, and can only spare so much time," the man in the black phoenix-patterned robe asked, looking at the silver-haired woman on the fourth stone pillar.

Jiu Yi Four – Huo Xin Ding Meng.

She was also the current head of the Ding family of An Du, one of the leading noble families in Yi Country. Her family's most famous business was the Weibang Energy Group, which could be seen on the news every day.

Within Weibang, the Ding family, led by her, held over 30% of the shares and controlled the group.

"Some time ago, Xing Hu in Chao Yu, the Ideal Home, and some of our own internal children cooperated and reached too far, creating a farce.

This time, there's new activity along the coast. Has anyone noticed?"

Her voice was soft, ethereal, and seemed to whisper in one's ear, faintly arousing a sense of itchiness in the heart.

"I also voted in favor of this meeting. I've learned that the activity along the coast originates from Xing Hu, due to an experimental accident that resulted in the escape of experimental subjects..." Li Yuan frowned and nodded.

"No, not experimental subjects, but special creatures from the Blind Spot," the black phoenix-patterned robe man on the sixth pillar interrupted.

"Moreover, it's not the experimental subjects that escaped, but Xing Hu itself. The intelligence I've received indicates that Xing Hu itself has suffered heavy losses, and its headquarters, Xuan Ming Island, has had to relocate to an unknown location.

As for the so-called experimental subjects, according to the Sky Eye monitoring along the way, and information from the Ethics Committee, it's been preliminarily determined that a special creature from the Black Sea of the Blind Spot has escaped."

"Black Sea creatures?!" Li Yuan's brow furrowed. Only those who had encountered such things knew how troublesome they were.

"Indeed. To facilitate marking, we've discussed and communicated with the military and decided to uniformly name these Black Sea creatures from Xing Hu as Shadow Eaters, because they can move by flickering through shadows and devour living things," the black-robed man continued.

"More of these things? Can the Eighth Order members from the military handle it? What about the Strategic Association?" Li Yuan asked.

The military and Jiu Yi were not completely integrated, but rather operated separately.

The military also had a powerful Flying Armor Master organization for external warfare, called the Strategic Association.

It consisted of many high-order strategic-level Flying Armor Masters.

The Flying Armor they controlled were not ordinary swords, but rather spaceships, fighter jets, and starships.

Because of their excessive destructive power, they could easily destroy cities and countries.

Therefore, strategic Flying Armor Masters were not allowed to operate any Flying Armor on the Earth and Moon. For safety reasons, once they transitioned, they would settle in fortresses in near-Earth orbit and rarely return to the Earth and Moon.

"The military probably can't. This should be handled by us and the Security General Administration. Let the Thirteen Flying Streams cooperate and take action," Ding Meng said.

She tilted her head slightly, looking at the seventh stone pillar, who had been silent all along.

"Little Silver Sparrow, we'll need your cooperation."

On the seventh stone pillar, a handsome man in white robes, with black hair like a waterfall, sat silently with a cold expression. A pure white long sword lay across his lap, its scabbard faintly displaying countless tadpole-like silver streams of light.

"Alright."

The man's eyes remained slightly closed, and he only squeezed out a single word before falling silent again.

"We can trust the Yan family's network security. Let's move on to the next topic," Ding Meng said with a smile, turning her gaze to the sixth stone pillar, towards the man in the black phoenix-patterned robe.

"I heard your Zhao family suffered a small loss in the Fengnan Province direction?"

Fengnan Province?

The five present were all slightly moved.

Last time, the Garden of Destiny in Chao Yu turned the tide at the Martial Arts Arena, resolving the aftermath of the Ideal Home and Xing Hu.

It could be said that it had saved the face of the Security General Administration and the Li family, but it wasn't so friendly to the Zhao family.

Subsequently, the younger generation of the Zhao family went to Fengnan Province and had another incident. On the surface, they were saved by the Garden of Destiny, but in reality, they were defeated and sent back.

The key was that the Zhao family had to thank the other party on the surface. They suffered a loss but couldn't speak of their pain.

If the previous troubles in Fengnan Province after Chao Yu were just a matter of indifference at the high-level, then after Chao Yu and Fengnan, everyone's attitude towards the Garden of Destiny was somewhat different.

"The Blind Spot Human Group is indeed a problem. We've discussed it before and can't solve it directly with brute force. After all, any family might have Blind Spot Humans. The imperial family's isolation camps aren't something everyone can enjoy," the black phoenix-patterned man said calmly.

"I think some people are used to being high and mighty, thinking they can just take a slice when they see a little profit, and then hehe..." From the corner, on the eighth stone pillar, a skinny, unkempt old man in a dirty gray Daoist robe chuckled.

"Was it Yan Chengjun of the Kongtong Sect who caught them? Or has Zhu Brother's granddaughter's problem been resolved? You actually have the leisure to care about the Zhao family's affairs?" The black phoenix-patterned robe man turned his gaze to the old man.

"Hehe, it's precisely because I have so many troubles that I feel happy when I see others in trouble," the old man chuckled.

"Alright, you two, stop arguing. The problem now is that Tong City in Dongshan Province has already dispatched manpower, but we need to equip them with high-end power. What do you all think?" Ding Meng interjected.

"I can send one person from here," the old man smiled. "Zhao Chengxi, don't be a coward. Even your direct descendants have suffered a loss. Shouldn't you make a good showing?"

The man in the black phoenix-patterned robe remained unmoved.

"I'll also send one person. Let my brother take action."

"Can't spare anyone," the Silver Sparrow said, his eyes closed, sparing his words.

"Then I'll send another person from here," Ding Meng smiled. "With three Eighth Order members drawn out, we should be able to solve the trouble."

The Eighth Order experts they dispatched were naturally not ordinary Flying Armor Masters, but top Eighth Order experts who had been built up with countless resources from the great families, personally guided by Ninth Order members, and equipped with terrifyingly gorgeous equipment.

The Jiu Yi's nine top experts were terrifying overlords who could jointly repel a full-scale White Star offensive and determine the outcome of a major battle.

They were the nine people who stood at the very peak of the entire Earth and Moon.

Whether it was the Ideal Home or Xing Hu, they were just minor ailments in their eyes.

The nine major forces had dominated Yi Country and ruled everything for far too long.

Some of their families had existed for thousands of years, with histories longer than the country's own.

As long as it wasn't too serious a problem, they mostly looked down on everything with a theatrical attitude.

After all, even Eighth Order members were vastly different in strength from them, even though their titles differed by only one number.

The most fundamental reason was that Eighth Order members could rely on talent to reach their level.

But Ninth Order members could only be reached by mastering massive amounts of resources and energy. And their numbers were limited.

*

*

*

Hazy.

Cold.

As if sinking into mud, unable to extricate oneself.

Li Cheng Yi floated quietly in the boundless darkness.

Unable to see, unable to hear, only touch could feel that everything around him was wrapped in slippery substances.

'Am I in the Black Sea?'

He was still in the Dragon Transformation state, and the Flowered Scale Armor on his body was still maintained, but he could no longer hear Iselin's voice.

Only maddening silence remained.

Many people had never experienced extreme silence.

It was a state that was enough to drive people crazy, a state in which they would hallucinate.

When there was no sound from the outside world.

People would inexplicably feel as if they were hearing sounds.

Li Cheng Yi was like that now.

He lay back, floating in the darkness, with no boundaries, no end.

When there was no sound from the outside world.

All he could hear were the movements within his body.

The flow of Flower Qi, the flow of Death Energy, the flow of blood. And... the flow of consciousness power from the Holy Spirit Skill...

(End of Chapter)