Virtual Universe, Fengwu Mountain.
"Did you find anything?" An Changyan sat upright in a green stone chair, delicately holding a jade-like wine cup.
At first, An Changyan had only made a cursory investigation into Chen Beixun. But now, his strangeness—or rather, his mystery—had piqued her curiosity.
A woman in white bowed slightly and said with utmost respect, "Your Highness, I found something."
Beep—beep beep.
An Changyan set down her wine cup. Her eyes turned chilly as she carefully read the window that had appeared before her.
Slave... had comprehended a domain at Star Level... entered the Genius Tournament...
An Changyan furrowed her brow and asked in surprise, "That's not right! Why is there nothing after year 275?"
More accurately, the records went blank.
The more An Changyan read, the stranger it seemed. She recalled every detail about Chen Beixun.
"How is that possible? Based on the talent he showed 275 years ago, he shouldn't be this powerful." Deep disbelief showed on An Changyan's cool, noble face.
For Chen Beixun, year 275 hadn't just marked a stretch of his life. It had been a transformation.
"Demon Island Vine. That guy only showed it a few times at Star Level, and I can count them on one hand!" An Changyan's gaze turned cold. "I'll have to test him myself. Otherwise, I can't trust him."
Strange and good at hiding his true nature—that was An Changyan's assessment.
Meanwhile...
Virtual Universe, Tianchen Island.
"Qishan, how much can you find out in detail about the family An Changyan belongs to?" Chen Beixun asked urgently, his expression serious.
Qishan appeared out of thin air, his appearance now completely changed. His skin was a deep, weathered green, and his aged, piercing eyes seemed to hold an astonishing wealth of experience.
"That may be a little difficult." Qishan shook his head. "The Fengwu Family is very good at keeping secrets. What I found last time was rather limited."
Chen Beixun couldn't help feeling disappointed. He only knew that An Changyan's grandfather and parents were all undying.
"Heh, don't worry." Qishan smiled faintly. "Give me some time. There's no wall in this world that has no cracks."
When it came to gathering intelligence, Qishan was a true expert.
Chen Beixun knew that well.
"How are Luoduo and the Flame Star Behemoth doing?" Chen Beixun asked.
Qishan's subordinate AI had been left to oversee the three life planets and train the two of them.
"Both are making good progress in their cultivation," Qishan replied calmly.
Luoduo was an extraordinary genius. The Flame Star Behemoth was renowned, and there was no question about its strength. Once the two of them grew stronger, they would be a tremendous help to Chen Beixun.
Am I going to become Huyan Bo 2.0? I'm walking the Soul Path... all I'm missing is taking over someone else's body. Chen Beixun felt a little smug.
"I should get back to training, Qishan. Notify me immediately if you find anything." Chen Beixun spoke solemnly.
Qishan smiled and nodded before vanishing into thin air.
To Chen Beixun, Qishan was a genuine mentor. In the past, Chen Beixun's cultivation had been crude, to say the least. When he was younger, he'd also been somewhat neurotic, always suspicious and paranoid.
As a result, he had few friends and no one to recommend him. There were plenty of swift horses, but few who could recognize them.
He had put himself forward, only to be met with scorn. In the end, he had barely managed to join a "private security company"—in other words, a mercenary group.
After Qishan left, Chen Beixun thought for a while, then exited the Virtual Universe.
I should train my mental power.
A few days later...
"My Mental Power Amplitude has reached 43!" Chen Beixun panted heavily, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. He could hardly contain his joy. After calming himself...
"Great." Chen Beixun's lips moved slightly, his eyes as calm as ever.
Suddenly...
Beep beep!
"It's time to go." Chen Beixun stood up and bounced twice. He felt a little lighter on his feet.
A few days earlier, he had discussed things with Pavadode and worked out a detailed plan. Pavadode had then passed it on to An Changyan.
They had asked for her approval.
An Changyan had agreed.
The plan, in brief, was this:
They would use training at Thousand Blade Land as an excuse to leave the territory occupied by the Lotte Family. Then they would activate the stealth function and shake off their pursuers.
The plan went smoothly. However...
When Luote*Wosike heard about it, he was so furious he nearly exploded.
The Lotte Family's territory.
"Heh." Luote*Wosike read Chen Beixun's farewell email and couldn't help chuckling. "Am I an idiot?"
Then he turned to the people beside him. "Am I an idiot?"
Everyone fell silent, not daring to speak.
"I think you're all idiots!" Luote*Wosike suddenly roared at them in a fit of rage.
"Who approved this? Who approved it?! Who the hell approved it!" Luote*Wosike shouted three times, almost hysterical. The veins on his forehead bulged and writhed like little snakes.
"They only said they were going to train at Thousand Blade Land for a while," a short man stammered.
Luote*Wosike's lips twitched as he forced a strained smile that looked almost hideous.
"How long have you been alive, huh?" Luote*Wosike strode forward and pointed at the man's nose.
The short man huddled, terrified.
Luote*Wosike blinked and thought it over again. "What's done is done. Getting angry won't help."
"You, leave!" Luote*Wosike's eyes were empty, as if his soul had been sucked out. He said softly, "Go back to the family and await your punishment."
Luote*Wosike was very lenient with his subordinates. He rarely lost his temper.
Besides, there was no point getting angry now. The three of them had already boarded their spaceship and were nearly at the territory occupied by Win Pavilion.
The journey was uneventful. The Machine Race Spaceship's stealth function made that a given. They soon reached the territory occupied by Win Pavilion.
"Holy crap!" The worker who had come to meet them was stunned by the sight.
The Machine Race Spaceship hovered in the air.
Its deep, rolling rumble showcased the performance of this "behemoth."
The hatch of the pyramid-shaped ship opened, and someone stepped out.
It was Chen Beixun.
Chen Beixun swept the area with his mental power, then flew down toward the worker.
"Hello, I'm Chen Beixun. I'm here to sign the agreement on behalf of Her Highness."
"Of course, Mr. Chen Beixun." The worker took out a metal plate with a circular recess 4.3 centimeters in diameter.
Chen Beixun took out the black coin An Changyan had given him and placed it in the recess. That completed the process.
This granted them the right to enter, fly through, and reside in Win Pavilion's territory.
The black coin represented Win Pavilion's highest level of access. The lowest was copper. The five levels, in ascending order, were copper, silver, blue, gold, and black.
Only gold and black granted such extensive privileges.
After obtaining flight clearance, the three didn't linger. They boarded the Machine Race Spaceship and hurried toward Slanted Axe Tower.
Inside the spaceship's rest cabin...
The three sat in a circle.
"Ah..." An Changyan stretched languidly, a playful, charming smile on her fair face.
"Your Highness truly has remarkable influence," Chen Beixun said.
"Nothing special." An Changyan smiled faintly. "If you want a black coin, I can put in an application for you."
As she spoke, an unusual glint appeared in An Changyan's eyes. She stared fixedly at Chen Beixun.
"Well..." Chen Beixun avoided her gaze and made up an excuse to brush her off.
Suddenly—
An invisible pressure swept over them, so abruptly that they had no warning.
All three felt a buzzing sound in their ears. It was rapid, but soon faded, as if the buzzing had gone off into the distance and would not return.
"We're here." Chen Beixun looked tense. His breathing quickened, as if the sensation had ignited his curiosity about the unknown.
This was Slanted Axe Tower's unique way of "greeting" visitors.
Everyone who came had to experience it.
They were gradually drawing closer to something unfathomable. It felt as if flames surrounded them; the heat seeped through their skin and surged straight to the crown of their heads.
It was a harrowing test of their reason and their lives.
"If I leave now, I'll never be able to let it go," Pavadode said.
The Machine Race Spaceship slowly approached, then stopped more than two hundred kilometers away.
The three continued on foot.
They soon reached Slanted Axe Tower's first ring.
Plaster statues resembling those of ancient Greece stood everywhere in the first ring.
Each statue was lifelike, as if it were a real person—or perhaps it was one.
Chen Beixun stood atop a plaster statue kneeling on the ground and gazed into the distance. A long white staff was strapped to his back.
A building shaped like a giant axe stood far away, its blade pointed down and embedded in the ground. Several emerald-green vines stretched downward from the handle.
The largest of the vines were 254 meters in diameter. Their textured surfaces looked as if they were covered in clusters of green geckos.
For a moment, it seemed he could even hear the "geckos" making a "kee-kee" sound.
"How strange." An Changyan clutched her chest, swaying unsteadily.
"Huff, huff..." An Changyan drew in a long breath, then forcefully exhaled.
"Can't take it?" Chen Beixun's gaze flickered as he stared coldly at An Changyan.
An Changyan shook her head. Her face was visibly turning from rosy to deathly pale.
Chen Beixun went to her side, gently rubbed her back, and said quietly, "Don't deliberately listen to those sounds."
The strange buzzing and "kee-kee" noises kept looping endlessly in An Changyan's mind.
An Changyan's vision gradually blurred, but she still stubbornly insisted, "I'm fine!"
"Take... your hand away." An Changyan raised a slender, pale hand, weakly pushing at Chen Beixun.
The sounds continued to echo in An Changyan's ears, driving her to the brink. A moment later, she collapsed.
Chen Beixun caught her and pinched her back hard. Then he twisted and ripped away a large chunk of flesh.
"Ah! Hah!" An Changyan's eyes flew wide open, and the pain jolted her awake.
Before setting out, Chen Beixun had explained the situation. Everyone had therefore set their armor to manual activation, so they could be roused if necessary.
Wearing armor would make it much harder.
"I almost..." An Changyan's face was deathly pale.
"Ah..." Pavadode sighed, then said solemnly, "Your willpower isn't very strong, Your Highness."
Pavadode had watched the whole thing.
"It's fine. We just need to remind her," Chen Beixun said, sounding somewhat reluctant to stop.
"You..." An Changyan had been a little grateful to him, but that gratitude vanished without a trace.
"Heh." Chen Beixun smiled broadly as he waited for Qishan to finish planning the route.
Beep beep!
Chen Beixun raised his eyebrows and glanced over the route map. "Let's go, everyone."
Several figures shot into the sky and headed toward Slanted Axe Tower.
There were thirty people in all: Chen Beixun, Pavadode, and An Changyan; fifteen of Chen Beixun's guards; and twelve guards from the Lotte Family.
"Enter through that cave up ahead!" Chen Beixun said, then sent everyone the general location.
Chen Beixun changed course and broke away from the group.
He had keenly sensed a hint of danger. In his early years, he had often ambushed his enemies himself.
"Scatter!" Chen Beixun thought.
The Heng Divine Weapon on his back released several small white swords.
Whoosh!
A streak of white light plunged from the sky, radiating endless cold. It slammed into the ground.
Boom!
A terrifying shock wave swept through the area.
In an instant, icy white mist billowed everywhere, turning the area into a white world. Ice crystals fell through the mist, slicing at everything like tiny knives.
"Fuck you, die!" Chen Beixun's face twisted as his aura surged with explosive force, reaching its peak in an instant!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground shook with repeated blasts, and a massive crater appeared.
Chen Beixun gradually emerged from the white mist, holding three heads in his hands.
The corner of his mouth twitched. He chuckled softly. "Heh, thought you could sneak up on me?"