Rendezvous

Shangguan Weier herself was a ninety-second-level Titled Douluo.

Her martial soul primarily dealt with mental interference and illusion control, making her skilled at observing the inner worlds of others and handling complex relationships among various factions, but unsuited for direct combat.

In the outside world, she could also utilize her speed and soul tools to find a breakthrough.

Within a Rift Realm, however, rift energy would continuously disrupt the circulation of soul power, and Rift Realm Creations would constantly appear all around them.

To make matters worse, she also had to protect Ye Guyi. Shangguan Weier glanced at the girl beside her.

The girl held the Holy Light Short Sword, standing quietly beneath the rock with a pale face yet bright eyes; the holy light radiating from her body had never ceased.

Shangguan Weier suddenly thought of Ye Guyi's parents; when they had adopted her back then, they truly had taken a liking to her talent.

Aside from that, there was also her friendship with Ye Guyi's parents. Since she had brought Ye Guyi along with her, she could not possibly abandon her at a time like this.

Search for an exit alone?

Shangguan Weier had never even entertained such a thought.

Aunt Weier, Ye Guyi said softly.

Will the things outside come back again?

They will.

Shangguan Weier did not hide this fact.

But for now, they cannot enter.

Are we going to keep hiding here?

No.

Shangguan Weier retrieved a silver-gray soul tool from her storage soul tool.

This soul tool was only the size of a palm and diamond-shaped, its outer shell crafted from a special alloy material, etched with extremely delicate soul guidance array patterns upon its surface.

In the center was a dark purple crystal, within which a faint glimmer of light slowly flowed, and several silver probes extended outward from around the crystal.

This was a soul tool used by the Sun Moon Empire to locate the whereabouts of Rift Realm Lords. Following the emergence of Rifts, the Sun Moon Empire had poured massive amounts of manpower and resources into researching the Rift environment and its products.

After six years of accumulation, the empire had already manufactured many soul tools utilized for Rifts.

This soul tool was also one of the achievements of that research project.

It could not directly detect the strength of a Rift Realm Lord, but it could sense the strongest energy source within the Rift and, based on the direction of the energy flow, roughly deduce the approximate location of the Rift Realm Core.

Shangguan Weier channeled her soul power into it.

The array patterns on the surface of the soul tool lit up one after another, and crimson lines correspondingly appeared on the dark purple crystal. These lines intertwined with one another, finally forming a clear energy pointer that aimed deep into the Rift.

A powerful energy fluctuation existed in that direction.

Shangguan Weier's expression grew very solemn. The Rift Realm Lord should be right there, and the Lord held the core of the Rift.

To completely destroy the Rift, they had to find the Lord and slay it. As long as the Lord still existed, the Rift would continue to expand, and ordinary Rift Realm Creations, even if thoroughly cleared out, would reappear under the influence of the Rift's power.

With Shangguan Weier's ninety-second-level strength, taking along Ye Guyi—who had just obtained her second soul ring—to challenge a Rift Realm Lord head-on like a Titled Douluo was truly somewhat reluctant.

Moreover, this was inside a Rift Realm.

Rift energy continually affected the circulation of soul power, and Rift Realm Creations would endlessly pour out from the surroundings. If the Lord possessed special abilities, the difficulty of the battle would only increase.

Aunt Weier, are we going there?

Ye Guyi also saw the direction indicated by the soul tool.

Not for now.

Shangguan Weier put the soul tool away.

Let's leave this place first, then gather more information.

She needed to locate the Rift Realm Core and figure out the Lord's attributes and combat style; otherwise, approaching rashly would only lead them to seek their own destruction.

Outside, the Rift Realm Creations still lingered outside the crystallized rock walls.

Their claws scraped against the rock, producing a harsh sound, and dark purple crystal debris constantly fell off, bouncing a few times on the ground before turning into fine black mist that melted into the air.

Ye Guyi held the Holy Light Short Sword and stood beside Shangguan Weier.

I won't hold you back.

Shangguan Weier looked at her, the chill in her eyes softening slightly.

I know.

She raised a hand and patted Ye Guyi's shoulder.

But it's dangerous here. No matter what happens from now on, you must not leave my side.

Okay.

Ye Guyi nodded earnestly.

Shangguan Weier removed a portion of the soul power barrier, held the soul tool used for detecting the Lord, and prepared to lead Ye Guyi in breaking through.

Is this a Rift Realm?

Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen looked around cautiously. This was their first time seeing a Rift Realm, let alone being sucked into one.

Everything around them was different from reality.

The sky was a dark purple, thick clouds slowly swirling around. Shattered spatial fragments drifted uncertainly within them, and distorted mountain forests and lakes could be seen inside.

The general shape of the Jingyang Mountain Range still remained on the ground, but it had already been nearly corrupted by the power of the Stellaron.

Under Jing Hongchen's protection, although they had repeatedly been assaulted by Rift Realm Creations, every single attack was defeated by Jing Hongchen.

Jing Hongchen's strength as a ninety-fourth-level Titled Douluo was not to be underestimated, and he possessed numerous soul tools. Although there were many Rift Realm Creations, they simply could not break through his soul tool defense.

However, Rift Realms were unsuited for human habitation. Staying in a Rift Realm for a long time would inevitably result in erosion by distorted energy.

They had heard that after a Rift Realm was eliminated, the power of the Rift would merge into Douluo Continent, thereby raising the upper limit of the entire plane.

Every time a Rift Realm was eradicated, the Sun Moon Empire's detection soul tools would discover that the heaven and earth energy distinctly strengthened in the place where the Rift vanished.

If this continued for a long time, the entire Douluo Continent would reap the benefits.

Even those who participated in eliminating the Rift would gain certain benefits, such as increased cultivation or an extension of soul ring ages, and so on.

However, Rift Realms were extremely dangerous.

Ordinary soul masters could not even withstand the erosion and would ultimately mutate.

Only major factions—such as the Four Empires, Shrek Academy, and the Body Sect—would assemble specialized teams to eliminate Rifts.

Furthermore, Rifts had only appeared for six years, and many unsolved mysteries remained; the Sun Moon Empire was still conducting research on them.

Jing Hongchen took out a detection soul tool to locate the position of the Rift Realm Lord.

This soul tool was identical to the one held in Shangguan Weier's hand; both belonged to the same batch of specialized soul tools manufactured for Rifts.

Basically, anyone who dealt with Rifts would carry one such soul tool.

Jing Hongchen was one of the three great soul engineers of the Sun Moon Empire. Even against a ninety-eighth-level Super Douluo, he had the capability to fight and did not fear a newly born Medium Rift Realm.

However, to protect three dead weights, he did not immediately go find the Rift Realm Lord; instead, he planned to first deploy a soul guidance array to protect the three of them, and then go attack the Rift Realm Lord by himself.

As for bringing the three of them along, the aftermath of a battle at the Titled Douluo level could wipe them out instantly, and bringing them along would simply be sending them to their deaths.