Chapter 177 The Vanishing

Three figures, walking alone on the road.

This world was fragmented, with endless wind and snow falling.

Gu Shen stood silently in front of the mental crystal ball, watching these three figures struggling forward...

The snow and mist of the old world were heavy.

But he still recognized these three figures at a glance.

"Teacher..."

This year, many people were waiting for them to return.

After disappearing in Pi Yue City, every expansion of that disaster zone caused more worry.

And in the end, the old friends of the three families and five clans of Nagano only waited for news of the "Sky Tree" returning to the Five Continents with its disciples. As for discovering the "Oasis"...it was no longer important. The human world had long been accustomed to encountering setbacks in the old world.

Compared to long silence and waiting with little hope.

They would rather see the explorers return "defeated", at least that way... these three explorers were alive.

When the Empress spoke, Gu Shen sensed the hidden meaning in her voice.

Perhaps... knowing the whereabouts of Teacher Shu and the others was not good news.

They set off from Pi Yue City Fortress, passed through countless mists, crossed over, and arrived within the sight of the "Traveler"... Seeing the figure of his teacher in this mental crystal ball was not good news at all.

Gu Shen was afraid that in the next moment, the first-person perspective of the mental crystal ball would shake violently, and the Traveler would pounce on the three of them—

But this scene did not happen.

The Traveler actually watched the three of them leave in "silence."

He was like an audience.

Quietly watching the figures of the three gradually moving away in the crystal ball... This calmness should have continued until the end of the mental image, and the information provided should have been "Teacher once arrived in the old world region adjacent to the Traveler."

But.

The change happened ten seconds later.

Just as the three were about to leave the Traveler's sight—

At the end of the horizon, a huge shock erupted, and a pale arc of hundreds of kilometers suddenly burst out, like the collapse of the dome of heaven, with tens of millions of tons of snow falling, heavily hitting the earth.

Gu Shen's expression instantly became extremely ugly.

He understood why the Traveler had been silent all along.

As the "Eighth Throne," this big guy's intuition was much stronger than that of ordinary creatures.

It had long foreseen that there was terrible danger in that direction!

The terrifying power stirred up by this sudden snow waterfall could be felt even through the crystal ball—

And what was despairing was that the advancing three-person team didn't even have time to look up, and their blurred figures were submerged by the falling snow waterfall!

"Rumble rumble rumble—"

The last image of the crystal ball was the Traveler silently watching the pale world in front of it.

The snow waterfall submerged everything.

The three stubborn "ants" just now were no exception.

Everything returned to silence. It had been like this for thousands of years. Even if the movement when the snow waterfall erupted was extremely violent... it was just a small wave in the long river of history, fleeting and not worth mentioning.

…

…

The images in the crystal ball about Teacher and the others disappeared after the snow waterfall... Gu Shen stared fixedly at the pale and desolate shattered world... But he waited for a long time, until the end, he did not see those familiar three figures again.

Teacher, Senior Brother, Senior Sister...

They disappeared in the old world.

They were submerged in the snow tide.

"It's over."

The Empress retrieved the crystal ball, interrupting Gu Shen's viewing. Her voice was still calm, but there was also some sadness in it: "I understand your feelings... There is no point in watching any further. 'Traveler's' memory ends here. These images are the only answer I have in my hands that can answer your question."

Gu Shen came for the whereabouts of Teacher Shu and the others.

And the Empress gave her "answer."

"I have already sent A'Liuer to the super-large disaster zone in Pi Yue City Fortress. She will take my token and work with Rust Bone to suppress the 'black hole' and gradually shrink it... From today onwards, North Continent will launch an attack on the Pi Yue City disaster zone to ensure the stability of this fortress."

The Empress looked at Gu Shen and said softly, "But I can assure you that Pi Yue City Fortress will always leave a door open."

The last image seen by the Traveler—

Was Teacher Shu and the others being submerged in the suddenly erupted snow tide.

With only this image, no one could say for sure that Teacher Shu and the others... would die there.

But... the final result was not optimistic.

They went to the depths of the old world.

One year!

That was a whole year!

Although their specific appearance could not be seen clearly, such a team had probably reached its "limit" by now. Encountering a snow waterfall in this situation... even if they were still alive, they would die sooner or later.

Leaving a door open in the Pi Yue City disaster zone was the only thing North Continent could do.

If they could return smoothly.

Then... the homeland of the human world would always keep this door open for them to return home.

"...Thank you, Your Majesty."

With the descent of that snow waterfall, Gu Shen's mind also went blank.

After a long time, he belatedly reacted and said softly, "Thank you."

He knew that North Continent had paid a lot to maintain the hope of the "Pi Yue City" Fortress... The Fourth Legion's garrison for the past year had consumed a lot of resources, and the entire heavy fortress had undergone a large-scale retreat for Teacher Shu's smooth exploration.

The paean of mankind is a paean of courage.

The Grand Arbiter resolutely embarked on the road to find the oasis with his disciples.

Then the ironclad soldiers of North Continent would hold steadfastly to a gate of return.

The snowflakes in the Furnace Divine Realm suddenly became a little cold. Gu Shen felt an unprecedented sense of fatigue. He looked up at the Empress on the throne and asked in confusion and bewilderment, "Your Majesty... are they... dead?"

"..."

With this young man's wisdom and temperament, he probably wouldn't ask such a question normally.

The Empress sighed softly in her heart.

She looked at Gu Shen with pity and did not answer.

"Sorry..."

The Furnace was surrounded by flying snow. After a few seconds, Gu Shen laughed softly.

He shook his head, and the bewilderment, confusion, shock, and pain in his eyes... slowly dissipated.

"I lost my composure."

Gu Shen had always wanted to meet the Empress, not just for the whereabouts of his teacher... He also had many questions in his heart, about the Dolu River trip and the secrets of the Traveler's Stone Tablet...

He could also see it.

Her Majesty the Empress summoned him today not just to show him this image.

What followed should be the real "big event."

However, after watching the crystal ball, Gu Shen could no longer think about anything else... That scene was too shocking, and the information it represented was too unacceptable.

He needed some time to digest it.

In the Divine Realm, the Empress saw Gu Shen's abnormality. She did not urge him, but waited gently.

In the second floor of the pavilion, no one had ever received such preferential treatment.

Gu Shen did not keep her waiting for long.

After about ten seconds, he took a deep breath and asked seriously, "Your Majesty... I want to go to the Pi Yue City disaster zone and take a look, is that okay?"

"Of course."

The Empress's answer was very gentle.

Gu Shen paused and added, "I want to go take a look now, is that okay?"

"Of course."

The Empress's tone did not change.

…

…

In the corridor on the second floor of the pavilion, flames surged.

The Legion Commander who opened the door for Gu Shen was a little surprised. She never expected that the time for this interview would be so short... This didn't seem right. The person summoned by Her Majesty must have important matters to discuss.

The sea of fire rolled, and Dragon Annihilation swirled, all falling on one person's shoulders.

The Legion Commander who opened the pavilion door saw Gu Shen walking out of the Divine Realm, with an unconcealable sadness on his face.

Immediately afterwards, she heard the gentle voice of Her Majesty the Empress in her spiritual sea.

"Accompany him to Pi Yue City Fortress to take a look... After he leaves, let A'Liuer and Rust Bone begin to attack the disaster zone."

With this sentence, Zi Yu understood everything.

Her eyes became complicated.

The Sky Tree of East Continent... Did such a figure also die?

"Aunt Wen, Xiao Gu, why are you so fast..."

Lin Lin, who was sitting in the main hall on the first floor, was still quietly sipping tea. He raised his head, saw two figures appearing, and spoke subconsciously.

Then he met Zi Yu's slowly shaking head.

Lin Lin was slightly stunned.

In the next moment, he guessed the reason why the atmosphere on the second floor of the pavilion was so heavy...

As the garrison of Gu Fort.

No matter how uninvolved he was in matters outside of the continent... he was clear about the movements of the Pi Yue City Fortress.

Gu Shen's teacher was the "great explorer" that every soldier in North Continent revered.

That oasis exploration...

The most promising exploration...

Had it ended just like that?

…

…

Outside the Empress's Ancient Castle manor, a medium-sized airship soon arrived.

This was the first time in nearly ten years that the Legion Commander, who had been guarding the pavilion for so long, had left Central City.

When the airship landed at the entrance of the disaster zone in Pi Yue City Fortress, the entire Fourth Legion knew... that Teacher Shu and the others had encountered a snow waterfall.

In the past year or so, the Pi Yue City disaster zone had spread rampantly under the "no defense" policy issued by Central City.

The "entrance" of this super-large disaster zone, and the "territory" it occupied in the "real world," had reached an unprecedented range—

A giant inverted bowl, nearly a hundred miles wide, hung high like a barrier, towering into the sky.

It was almost reaching the iron walls of the fortress.

The Fourth Legion's airship hovered in the air.

General Rust Bone and A'Liuer stood outside the disaster zone of Pi Yue City Fortress. These two important figures personally came to this place to quietly welcome the guests from Central City... The airship slowly descended.

Gu Shen saw the disaster zone where his teacher had disappeared.

The "Pi Yue City disaster zone," which had been dust-locked for a year, was like a snow-white light罩—

A'Liuer held the token and waited for a long time.

When the airship landed, she attached the owl crest to the light罩. The Empress's divine power covered the entire Pi Yue City Fortress in a few breaths... Then she retreated to the side.

Rust Bone, the Legion Commander, also stepped aside slightly.

Countless gazes fell on Gu Shen.

Gu Shen knew... that these three had handed over the qualification to "break open the door of the disaster zone" to him.

He was not pretentious, nor did he say much. He stepped forward quickly.

Gu Shen's brow was surrounded by blazing fire, and the blazing firelight swept across the snow-white canopy—

His expression was firm, and he pressed down with his five fingers.

"Boom!"

The next moment.

A door was broken open in the Pi Yue City disaster zone.

…

…

(ps: Today I had some writer's block, and I also made some changes to the previous text, so I only wrote one chapter before twelve o'clock. I will write another chapter next, brothers who can't wait can go to sleep first.)