Can We Surrender After Twenty Moves?

Upper reaches of the Void River, the Central Immortal Realm.

Le Zhentian put down the long letter in his hand, his face full of solemnity.

"Qing Song."

He looked at the Shi Chen beside him and asked, "Where is our master currently?"

"As for His Immortal Ancestor... no, His Ghost Emperor, he has already returned to the Underworld Ghost Realm to oversee the handling of that Shepherds's soul."

Qing Song, Shi Chen was standing to the side, responded.

"Then what about the samples that our master sent?"

"We've already sent some documents and basic equipment to the Heavenly Works Workshop and Ancient History Institute. They should have results soon."

"Yes, very good."

Le Zhentian gazed silently at the sky, pondered for a moment, and then ordered, "Bring me pen and ink; I need to write a letter to a few people."

In the Underworld Ghost Realm, Bai Qiuran, dressed as Ghost Emperor, watched as the bewildered three-headed dragon Salon was personally sent into the Six Paths of Reincarnation by the Puppet Venerable.

"There are twelve more creatures like it on the other side of the Void River."

Beside them, Tang Ruowei was solemnly dressing up the Imperial Consort, while Jiang Lan, Su Xiangxue, and Li Jinyao were recounting their experiences in the Void Sea.

"Those guys are truly capable of traversing the void and plucking Stars from the Void Sea; there's no exaggeration whatsoever. Even my master said that he might not be able to withstand that Tribal King."

"That's amazing?"

Li Jinyao's face was full of doubt.

"Then what's the point of playing... Can we throw twenty shots?"

"Jinyao, don't say such tactless things."

Jiang Lan sighed helplessly, then continued, "Qiuran said he wasn't confident, but I believe he can still defeat that Tribal King. The Tribal King is hiding his true strength, and so is he. However, considering all this, we still can't deal with the remaining eleven Shepherds... This is a really tough situation, but we have no choice but to fight."

"I believe Qiuran can do it. After all, he's encountered similar situations before, even more dangerous ones, and he still managed to overcome them and get to where he is today."

Su Xiangxue encouraged everyone, saying, "We should all have more faith in him."

"I never said I didn't trust him. Putting everything else aside, our hope for turning this game around rests on him."

Jiang Lan Righteous Path, "I just think... in this situation, Qiuran might be able to get things done better without us holding him back. He could use hit-and-run tactics, defeating them one by one, and has a great chance of taking down the Shepherds one by one."

"Master's Wife."

Tang Ruowei retorted, "The Immortal Realm isn't that bad, is it?"

No?

Jiang Lan was taken aback.

"To be honest, Jinli has already ruined his cultivation and hasn't recovered. Shuhua is in the same boat. Zhentian is too busy to break through. Mo Chen... Mo Chen is looking for a second spring. These few are no good. The rest are even less capable of fighting the Shepherds one-on-one. Even if they outnumber each other, I don't think they can defeat eleven weakened versions of Qiuran."

"There is still hope. Although we can't beat them now, we have an advantage that the Shepherds don't have: the speed at which we become stronger."

Bai Qiuran walked back from the side.

"After seeing the Void Sea, I have now created and perfected the next level of the Return Ruins. Lan'er, I will teach it to you first, and then pass it on to Li, Zhentian and the others. At that time, all the Immortals in the Immortal Realm will go into seclusion to cultivate and strive to raise their strength to a higher level before the Shepherds attack."

"In over two thousand years, I think it's impossible for many experts at the Void River Realm to emerge, except for unparalleled geniuses."

Li Jinyao said, "I am Immortal Venerable now, but even I wouldn't be confident that I could jump from the Immortal Venerable realm to the Void River Realm in just over two thousand years."

Li Jinyao's talent is almost unparalleled. In terms of cultivation talent alone, even the First Immortal Emperor Shi is only at the same level as her. If even she can't do it, then the chances of others doing it are extremely slim.

Even if someone truly transcends the limitations of aptitude with great perseverance, cultivating from Innate Demon Physique to Immortal Spirit Physique in one step to the Void River Realm, the exact combat strength of the Void River Realm Cultivators is unknown even to Bai Qiuran, the founder of this field.

Cultivators at the Void River Realm might be able to defeat the lowest-ranking Shepherds Toynbee, but they might still be far inferior to the Shepherds.

After all, Cultivators above the Immortals, even with the best aptitude, must spend a lot of time accumulating energy, honing their physique, and building a solid foundation.

"After all, Master isn't Immortals, how could he know the hardships of cultivation for us Immortals?"

Tang Ruowei, with one arm around Li Jinyao and the other around Su Xiangxue, muttered softly, "He only knows that eating one Foundation Establishment Pill will allow him to break through three levels of the Qi Refining Stage... Ah!"

The girl screamed in surprise as Bai Qiuran grabbed her by the back of the neck and lifted her up. He held her there, patted the Little Demoness's head, and comforted her, "Don't be discouraged. When did I say I'd only give you this much time? I'll definitely buy you more time—ah, Zhentian sent me a letter."

At this moment, an Underworld Emissary suddenly presented the Ghost Emperor with a letter handwritten by the Immortal Emperor. Bai Qiuran opened it, then burned the envelope and letter together, laughing, "Not bad, it seems we're on the same page about Book of Questions."

"What's wrong? What did Zhentian say?"

Jiang Lan asked.

"Do you still remember how, before he was reincarnated, he used the time- Divine Ability I taught him to change the flow of time between the Immortal Realm and the outside world?"

Bai Qiuran laughed and said, "Now, Zhentian asked me to help readjust that Barrier. In addition to the Immortal Realm, he also plans to add new Time Barrier to several important locations such as the Void River World Workshop and the new Machine God Core, using the Time Law to buy us time. At that time, not only will the probability of Void River stage Cultivators appear greatly increase, but at least one Giant God Automaton of the Founder type can also be made. Then, when facing the Shepherds, we might not be without a fighting chance."

"If there were Time Barrier, I might be able to try breaking through to the Void River Realm..."

Jiang Lan pondered for a moment and said, "To be honest, I've never been very confident before. My aptitude for cultivation is actually not that great."

As the first Cultivators in history to the Return Ruins Realm, what about your mother?

Upon hearing the Imperial Consort's words, all the Underworld Emissary Ghost Venerable present were inwardly grumbling.

Of course, they certainly wouldn't dare say it out loud.

"Sister Lan is belittling herself again."

Li Jinyao smiled and said, "Putting everything else aside, you're a mother now. Even for the sake of Xuxiang and the others' future, I believe you can break through to the Void River Realm."

"That's right. We all have to work hard. I also want to try and see if I can break through to the true Foundation Establishment by focusing on cultivation with the book."

Bai Qiuran tossed Tang Ruowei aside and scolded, "You too, focus on your cultivation. If your cultivation were half as good as your foul mouth, then your master wouldn't have to worry about being unable to defeat the Shepherds."