Chapter 1 Sword Sweep

Above the Dolu River Disaster Zone, tens of millions of strands of sword qi, with their chilling light, crisscrossed and flowed back.

Those bone-winged beings from the Old World had their Portals of departure sealed. Although they were numerous, they couldn't resist the Empress's sword qi at all.

Deafening wails and roars were frozen by the sword intent. Then, the Furnace spread, enveloping the millions of bone-winged beings. Divine fire erupted, burning the great river.

In the end, only fluttering ashes remained above the Black River.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Tens of millions of streams of light returned to their sheaths, like a peacock folding its tail, converging and crashing into the Traveler's head, pinning the "Eighth Throne" firmly to the earth.

The Empress lightly tapped her toes, stepping on the hilt of the sword, and looked down at the battlefield.

The Black River, constantly churning with monstrous waves, slowly returned to silence after a series of impacts, shattering and healing.

"Whirr..."

Wherever the Empress's gaze reached, Furnace Divine Fire swirled.

Mountains of corpses and seas of blood were all wiped out.

The transcendents standing on the Black River knelt on one knee in the direction of the throne, their faces filled with excitement and their hearts surging.

This was a great victory!

...

...

Outside the Dolu River Disaster Zone.

A super-large source energy boat and a dozen small airships hovered.

Grand Duke Zhu Xue was standing on the main boat's observation deck. With him was a "big shot."

It was Commander Ziyu, who had served His Majesty for many years and never left the Central City.

"Aunt Wen, you've really worked hard these past few years."

The main boat slowly descended. Zhu Xue looked at the heavy snow outside the platform and said softly, "If it weren't for your 'Dragon Annihilation,' the outside world probably wouldn't think that the situation on the second floor of the Pavilion would be so bad."

Ziyu smiled.

Her ability, Long Yan (Dragon Annihilation), could absorb the "Furnace Blazing Flames" that overflowed from the second floor of the Pavilion. The Empress had lived in the Pavilion for a long time, and it wouldn't be easy to make this play convincing.

Over the years, the "Furnace" had continuously provided energy to the Central City, and the second floor of the Pavilion had been scorched by high temperatures all year round.

To make the outside world believe that the Empress had become weak, they needed to fake a shortage of fuel in the Furnace.

With the help of the Fire Seed, Long Yan (Dragon Annihilation) completed this task, but Ziyu also paid the price.

Her body was no longer a normal mortal body.

Even with the divine power given by the Empress, the blood in her body was still ignited by the "Furnace." Her lifespan was also burning along with the Furnace fire on the second floor of the Pavilion.

But she never regretted it.

The great cause of North Continent was above all else!

Even if she had to burn herself to ashes, so what?

"All the sacrifices are worth it."

Ziyu raised her eyebrows, her mood more cheerful than ever.

The main boat slowly sailed into the Dolu River.

From a distance, the entire Black River was dyed a shocking scarlet color.

However, that was all blood from the Old World...

The Deep Sea's connection was stable. Osmund, the chief commander of this mission, was still unconscious. Deputy Lin Lin, who was responsible for recording the data, had already submitted the relevant report and given an oral report.

Zhu Xue and Ziyu were both very clear about what had happened in this disaster zone.

The main boat slowly docked, building a base at the end of the Dolu River. The small airships surrounding the main boat advanced into the distance of the Black River. The medical staff of the Central City were on the airships. Although this mission was a great victory, the North Continent elites still suffered a significant blow.

The next task was to contain and rescue.

The most troublesome thing was the "River Poison"!

This was the most terrifying thing in the Dolu River Disaster Zone. But the examination results this time were unexpected. All the participants and explorers were not infected with River Poison. None of the transcendents who entered the disaster zone after the battle were entangled by mental toxins.

Logically, it shouldn't be like this.

The last time they attacked the disaster zone, countless transcendents were entangled by River Poison.

But this time, even the Empress didn't need to take action!

Was it because of the Divine War?

The River Poison had mysteriously disappeared... as if it had never existed. Without this strand of mental toxin, there was naturally nothing to fear about the Black River. The transcendents, who had been walking on thin ice, now had three times more strength when stepping on the Black River's surface.

...

...

"Brother Gu, Xiao Qiu, do you two really not need a basic check-up?"

The airship docked in the mid-section of the Dolu River.

Lu Zhe, Gu Shen, and Mu Wanqiu had already crossed the Black Snow Mountain and arrived at the location of the rescuers. At this moment, they were watching the Reboot team members being carried onto the airship. Many of them were seriously injured. Before the Empress arrived, the attacks launched by these bone-winged beings were really crazy. It was just that the three of them were not in the front section of the Black River and did not see that scene.

Lu Zhe kindly suggested, "The 'mental toxin' of this Black River is very terrifying. Although the River Poison seems to have disappeared this time... it's always a good idea to get a check-up."

"Team Leader Lu, don't worry... no need to check. Her Majesty the Empress is here." Gu Shen smiled helplessly and looked at the throne hanging high in the air as a sign.

He knew very well that River Poison would not appear again.

The mental toxin that lingered around the entire Underworld River was sealed in the black gemstone in the center of the Traveler's eyebrows.

And at this moment, that black gemstone was in his hands!

"I see." Lu Zhe nodded. "I was overthinking it."

With Her Majesty the Empress here, there would be no accidents.

"But... it's a miracle that you didn't get injured facing that 'big guy.'" Lu Zhe啧啧 sighed, and he sized up Gu Shen. This kid's mental strength seemed to have improved again?

Last time they chatted at night at the training ground, Gu Shen gave him a feeling of being "unfathomable," but this time the feeling was different.

Last time, Lu Zhe felt that Gu Shen's mental strength was only "a little bit"!

An S-level Tier 3 transcendent couldn't possibly have so little mental strength, so he must be hiding something...

And this time, Lu Zhe felt that Gu Shen's mental strength was still deliberately hidden, but there was a faint sense of "vastness."

This was a bit strange.

He thought about it and couldn't think of the real reason, so he could only attribute it to the fact that this kid had made progress again.

"It was Her Majesty the Empress who arrived in time."

Gu Shen once again attributed the credit to the Empress, but he didn't lie. "If Her Majesty hadn't arrived at the last moment... we would have been crushed by the Traveler."

"Although Her Majesty arrived, that big explosion really happened."

Lu Zhe sighed, "The power of that explosion was so strong, and you were so close... it's really unbelievable that you weren't injured..."

Even the source energy boat was blasted down!

He knew Mu Wanqiu's strength very well. Although she was a transcendent of the Two Realms, she was only Tier 3 after all.

And Gu Shen... was also only Tier 3.

How did these two "little guys" do it?

"Actually, Gu..."

Mu Wanqiu was simple-minded and was about to reveal that Gu Shen had broken through the transcendent realm three times.

"Xiao Qiu." Gu Shen hurriedly called out, interrupting her words with a smile.

Mu Wanqiu realized that Gu Shen didn't want this matter to spread.

So she was silent for a second and said calmly, "Actually, Brother Gu... is really amazing."

"Mm-hmm..."

Lu Zhe nodded, then immediately frowned.

His attention wasn't on this sentence, but he keenly captured a trace of strangeness in Gu Shen's address just now: "Xiao Qiu?"

These two were acting strange!

If he remembered correctly, Gu Shen and Mu Wanqiu's relationship was previously like fire and water.

How could he call her "Xiao Qiu" now?

And on the other side, Mu Wanqiu brushed her hair and didn't seem to be repulsed at all.

"What's going on between you and this kid? What's your relationship now?"

Lu Zhe pretended to be calm on the surface and hurriedly inquired about gossip in private through voice transmission.

"Brother Gu is my benefactor now. He saved me twice."

Mu Wanqiu didn't use voice transmission, but spoke directly and calmly, "I saved him once, so counting it up, I still owe him one."

Speaking directly was her way of telling Lu Zhe that there was nothing shameful about her relationship with Gu Shen. She would just say it directly.

This made Lu Zhe a little embarrassed.

He coughed softly and then solemnly clasped his fist and said sincerely, "Brother Gu, I'll remember this favor."

Gu Shen also clasped his fist. "You're welcome."

Gu Shen knew that a favor from Lu Zhe carried a lot of weight!

Before he had broken through the transcendent realm three times, he could only vaguely feel that this team leader's aura was different from other Tier 4 transcendents. As for how different it was... he couldn't feel it in detail.

But this time, Gu Shen's perception had improved again.

At this moment, as long as he concentrated his mind and stared carefully, he could see the mental strength of most transcendents manifested in a "quantified" form.

Everyone's spirit would gather in the brain, forming a spiritual sea.

Tier 1 transcendents were just starting out and were generally very weak, like a catkin that would scatter at any moment.

Tier 2 was slightly more condensed, like dense droplets of water gathered together, but still not formed.

Tier 3 was condensed into shape, becoming a "small lake." A small number of geniuses, such as Mu Wanqiu and himself before breaking through, were two to three times the size of ordinary people.

And Tier 4 was different—

This was a truly qualitative "level." Tier 4 transcendents began to have domains, and the gap between them gradually widened—

After breaking through the transcendent realm three times, Gu Shen's spiritual sea was now probably a "medium-sized lake," about three times the size of Mu Wanqiu's.

And most of the team leaders in this Reboot mission were at this level!

This was already a very terrifying "level of mental strength"!

And top team leaders like Zhong Yuan and Fischer had condensed their spiritual sea into a large lake... the size of their spiritual sea was about twice that of Gu Shen's!

This was the top of Tier 4!

Gu Shen would feel some pressure when "probing" a powerhouse of this level.

And when he tried to "check" Lu Zhe's mental strength, the pressure suddenly increased... and it ended in failure!

This showed that the mental sea of the team leader of the First Team was not at the same level as Zhong Yuan and Fischer at all...

What level had this guy's mental strength reached?

Gu Shen couldn't know at the moment, but he knew... this guy was probably the most secretive person in the entire Investigation Corps!

After thinking about it, Gu Shen could only think of one possibility.

Lu Zhe was very likely a Tier 4 peak "Transcendent."