Early the next morning.
After Yang Fan and the others finished breakfast, their consciousnesses entered the Virtual World one after another.
Spatial fluctuations rippled into existence.
Army after army began teleporting across space to the coordinates determined in advance.
Meanwhile.
At the outskirts of the Secret Realm.
Gu Jiuheng and Han Qing had already arrived with their respective forces.
Large numbers of believers were stationed in the outermost area.
Yet these normally well-trained believers were now utterly bedraggled.
They had long since stripped off their expensive rank A armor.
Many simply sat cross-legged on the ground, panting heavily.
"Phew..."
"Is this damned place even fit for people?"
"Quick, bring over more water!"
In the distance, vast quantities of cool water were being transported continuously through their respective Divine Kingdoms.
Cart after cart arrived, with barely a moment's pause.
The environment in this Secret Realm was simply too harsh.
Even believers who had cultivated to the Qi Refining Realm found the heat throughout their bodies unbearable after staying here for too long.
That was because the heat here was more than a matter of temperature.
The greater problem was... the air was saturated with incredibly dense fire-attribute spiritual energy.
That violent fire-attribute energy scorched their flesh every moment.
They could resist ordinary heat with their cultivation.
But this fire-attribute energy acted directly on their bodies and meridians, leaving many believers in extreme discomfort.
That was precisely why Gu Jiuheng and Han Qing had been stopped dead at the outskirts.
Before long.
The consciousnesses of Yang Fan, Gu Le, Lu Wan, and Lu Mingshi descended there together.
As soon as they appeared, Gu Jiuheng and Han Qing came forward to greet them.
But the moment Han Qing saw the army behind Lu Mingshi, her brows furrowed.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, why