Rendezvous

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

Her martial soul specialized in mental interference and illusion control. She was skilled at observing people's inner worlds and handling relationships between complicated factions, but she was not adept at direct combat.

Outside, she could still use her speed and soul tools to seek an opening.

But within the Rift Realm, Rift Realm energy continuously affected the circulation of soul power, while Rift Realm Creations kept appearing all around them.

Even more troublesome, she had to protect Ye Guyi as well. Shangguan Weier glanced at Ye Guyi beside her.

The girl held the Holy Light Short Sword and stood quietly beneath the rocks. Her face was pale, but her eyes remained bright, and the holy light emanating from her had never ceased.

Shangguan Weier suddenly thought of Ye Guyi's parents. When she had adopted Ye Guyi all those years ago, she had indeed valued the girl's talent.

Beyond that, there was also her friendship with Ye Guyi's parents. Since she had kept Ye Guyi by her side, she could not possibly abandon her at a time like this.

Search for an exit alone?

Shangguan Weier had never even considered that thought.

"Aunt Weier."

Ye Guyi spoke softly.

"Will those things outside come back?"

"They will."

Shangguan Weier did not hide the truth from her.

"But they can't get in for now."

"Are we going to keep hiding here?"

"No."

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

The soul tool was only palm-sized and diamond-shaped. Its casing was made of a special alloy, engraved with exceptionally intricate soul tool formations.

At its center was a dark-purple crystal. A faint glimmer slowly flowed within it, while several silver probes extended from its exterior.

This was a soul tool used by the Sun Moon Empire to locate Rift Realm Lords. Since the Rift Realms had appeared, the Sun Moon Empire had invested enormous manpower and resources into researching the Rift Realm environment and its products.

After six years of accumulation, the Empire had produced many soul tools designed for use in Rift Realms.

This soul tool was one of the results of that research project.

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

Shangguan Weier injected soul power into it.

The formations on the soul tool's surface lit up one after another. Crimson patterns appeared across the dark-purple crystal, intertwining until they formed a clear energy direction pointing deeper into the Rift Realm.

A powerful energy fluctuation existed in that direction.

Shangguan Weier's expression became extremely grave. The Rift Realm Lord should be there, and the lord controlled the core of the Rift Realm.

To completely destroy the Rift Realm, they had to find and kill the lord. As long as the lord remained, the Rift Realm would continue expanding. Even if ordinary Rift Realm Creations were cleared away, they would reappear under the Rift Realm's power.

With Shangguan Weier's level ninety-two strength, bringing Ye Guyi, who had only just obtained her second soul ring, to directly challenge a Titled Douluo-level Rift Realm Lord was truly a little too much.

Moreover, they were inside the Rift Realm.

Rift Realm energy constantly affected the circulation of soul power, while Rift Realm Creations continuously surged out from all sides. If the lord possessed special abilities, the battle would become even more difficult.

"Aunt Weier, are we going there?"

Ye Guyi had also seen the direction indicated by the soul tool.

"Not yet."

Shangguan Weier put the soul tool away.

"First, we'll leave this place and gather more information."

She needed to find the location of the Rift Realm Core and determine the lord's attributes and combat methods. Otherwise, approaching rashly would only send them to their deaths.

Outside, Rift Realm Creations still prowled beyond the crystallized rock wall.

Their claws scraped against the stone with piercing screeches. Dark-purple crystal fragments continuously fell, bouncing across the ground a few times before turning into fine black mist and merging into the air.

Holding the Holy Light Short Sword, Ye Guyi stepped to Shangguan Weier's side.

"I won't hold you back."

Shangguan Weier looked at her, and the coldness in her eyes softened slightly.

"I know."

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

"But this place is dangerous. No matter what happens from now on, you must not leave my side."

"Okay."

Ye Guyi nodded seriously.

Shangguan Weier removed part of the soul power barrier, held the soul tool that detected the lord, and prepared to lead Ye Guyi out of the encirclement.

"This is the Rift Realm?"

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

Everything around them differed from reality.

The sky was dark purple, and heavy clouds slowly churned. Fragments of shattered space floated uncertainly within them, revealing twisted mountains, forests, and lakes.

The ground still retained the rough shape of the Jingyang Mountain Range, but it had already been almost completely corrupted by the power of the Star Core.

Under Jing Hongchen's protection, although they had been attacked by Rift Realm Creations many times, Jing Hongchen had defeated them one by one every time.

Jing Hongchen's strength as a level ninety-four Titled Douluo could not be underestimated. He carried many soul tools, and though the Rift Realm Creations were numerous, they could not break through his soul tool defenses at all.

But the Rift Realm was not suitable for human habitation. Staying in one for too long would inevitably expose a person to erosion from its twisted energy.

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

After every Rift Realm was eliminated, the Sun Moon Empire's detection soul tools would discover that the natural energy where the Rift Realm had vanished had noticeably increased.

In the long run, all of Douluo Continent would benefit.

Even those who participated in destroying Rift Realms would gain certain benefits, such as increased cultivation or longer soul ring lifespans.

But Rift Realms were extremely dangerous.

Ordinary soul masters could not even endure the erosion and would eventually mutate.

Only major powers, such as the four great empires, Shrek Academy, and the Body Sect, could form specialized teams to eliminate Rift Realms.

Moreover, Rift Realms had only appeared for six years, and many mysteries remained unresolved. The Sun Moon Empire was still conducting research.

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

This soul tool was the same as the one Shangguan Weier held. Both were specialized soul tools made for Rift Realms from the same batch.

Basically, anyone dealing with a Rift Realm would bring one of these soul tools.

Jing Hongchen was one of the Sun Moon Empire's three great soul engineers. Even against a level ninety-eight Super Douluo, he could put up a fight, so he did not fear a newly formed Medium Rift Realm.

But with three burdens to protect, he did not immediately seek out the Rift Realm Lord. Instead, he planned to first set up a soul tool array to protect the three of them, then attack the Rift Realm Lord himself.

As for taking the three of them along, the aftermath of a Titled Douluo-level battle alone could kill them. Bringing them would simply be sending them to their deaths.