Heading to Northern Frontier Base City

After returning to his residence, Dongguan did not give it much thought.

When he saw Li Wei, he remembered the plot, along with his past encounter with Li Yao.

Back then, he had not been away from Northern Frontier Base City for long. He had just killed an Intermediate Lord when someone stole his kill.

The ones who robbed him were Li Yao and Vina's squad.

Outnumbered and outmatched, he could only leave.

An Intermediate Lord was hardly worth much to their squad, and War Gods rarely fought over monsters directly.

Yet Li Yao had stolen it anyway.

As Dongguan left, they deliberately spoke loudly enough for him to hear.

"Just having some fun." Those were Li Yao's exact words.

After analyzing the incident, Dongguan concluded that Li Yao had been showing off in front of Vina, though Dongguan could not understand what was impressive about that behavior.

The old Dongguan had not cared about it; he had merely remembered it. Now that his memories had returned, seeing Li Wei made him want to have some fun himself.

Dongguan had actually noticed Li Yao nearby, so he had treated him to a little "just having some fun" as well.

Ultimately, it was only a joke. What was done was done.

He had never expected that little incident to put Li Yao so thoroughly on guard.

He could only call it judging others by one's own standards.

Things were different now. If they met in the wilderness, even Li Yao's entire squad together would be no match for him.

If he truly wanted revenge, he could simply attack Li Yao. Why bother targeting Li Wei?

Thinking of the family's fate in the original story, Dongguan decided to respect destiny.

But destiny had already changed.

After taking a shower and changing into loose robes, Dongguan set up security measures around himself, put on the Consciousness Sensor, and logged into the War God Palace.

When he arrived at the War God Palace's plaza, many eyes turned toward him.

After chatting with a few War Gods he knew, he discovered that the outside world's assessment of his strength had changed.

Once his identity as a Psychic had been confirmed, his standing had risen from High-level War God to Invincible War God.

There were hundreds of High-level War Gods, but only a dozen or so Invincible War Gods-fewer even than Councilors.

Dongguan took it in stride. He went to his usual seat in a corner, ordered a drink, and waited.

Before long, Yang Bei, Lu Gang, and Guo Ruinian all arrived.

"Zhong Yang's in the Wilderness Zone. He can't make it," Guo Ruinian said.

"He's been spurred into action. That monkey really shook him up last time," Lu Gang added.

Who could disagree?

Apart from Yang Bei, who had been far away in Northern Frontier Base City, they had all experienced that narrow escape from death.

If the Ape King had not gone after Dongguan, at least one of the other three would have died.

"By the way, Captain, are you really a Psychic?" Yang Bei finally spoke after finishing an entire glass.

The other two also looked at Dongguan curiously.

"A Psychic? You could say that." Dongguan smiled, then changed the subject. "The Military gave you quite a few rewards for this operation, right?"

All three understood that Dongguan did not want to discuss being a Psychic, and none pressed him.

"Quite a few, yes. I received a dose of jade marrow," Lu Gang said excitedly.

"Jade marrow. Wow." Yang Bei was envious, but not jealous. After all, Lu Gang had risked his life for it.

Jade marrow was less effective than dragon blood, but it was still very valuable, and Huaxia could produce it domestically.

"As for me, I accumulated quite a bit of merit and got promoted," Guo Ruinian mentioned briefly.

The others understood. Guo Ruinian and Zhong Yang were warriors who had formally joined the Military and had access to its internal exchange system. Considering Lu Gang's jade marrow, the Military certainly would not shortchange its own people.

The specifics were classified, however, so he could not discuss them.

"You should use that jade marrow soon. It'd be a disaster if someone stole it," Dongguan reminded him.

"No chance of that. I used it yesterday. Now I'm close to being a High-level War God too." Lu Gang grinned.

War Gods generally did not accept payment for serving their country, but this mission had been officially assigned.

The normal payment was only five billion, more than the value of that Elementary Lord rat.

The Military had probably given Lu Gang jade marrow this time because of the King-level Monster.

As for Dongguan, he had yet to receive anything.

They chatted a while longer about cultivation.

When they were about to part ways, Dongguan told Yang Bei, "I'm heading back to the Northern Border tomorrow. I've already booked my ticket."

Yang Bei froze for a moment, then punched him in the chest. "You're finally coming back."

"Want to meet your child?"

"Yes." Dongguan nodded.

Lu Gang and Guo Ruinian thought nothing of it. After all, they had married and had children long ago.

A "lonely War God" like Dongguan was truly rare.

"I'm planning to visit the Northern Border too," Lu Gang suddenly said.

"What for?" Guo Ruinian asked, puzzled.

"To have a look. The monsters there are a little different from the ones around here."

"That's true." Yang Bei nodded. "I'll take you out to experience it when you get there."

"They certainly are different," Dongguan agreed.

Around Jiangnan Base City, monsters liked to gather in cities. Around Northern Frontier Base City, although monsters still occupied cities dating from before the Great Nirvana, there was another kind of hunting ground-the desert.

Northern Frontier Base City lay in the northwest, bordering Asia's largest stretch of desert.

After the Great Nirvana, the desert had developed a distinctive ecosystem, with monsters different from those found in cities.

Cities mostly housed pig, rat, cat, and dog monsters, while the desert had plenty of snake, scorpion, and lizard monsters, among others.

Fighting in the desert was more difficult than fighting in cities. The environment was secondary; more importantly, one could not afford to get wounded.

Many desert monsters were venomous. Even a Beast Soldier Level monster's venom could kill a War God if the dose was large enough.

"All right. I'll pick you up at the airport," Yang Bei said, and they parted ways.

Guo Ruinian and Yang Bei planned to stay in the War God Palace a little longer. Lu Gang went to buy a plane ticket, while Dongguan returned to his private space.

In his private space, Dongguan opened the store.

He had already mastered the Ninefold Thunder Blade to its limit. Next, he wanted to find a new manual to practice.

"《World Destruction》?" Looking at the manual ranked above the Ninefold Thunder Blade, he hesitated.

In terms of force multiplier, 《World Destruction》 fell short of the Ninefold Thunder Blade. But as the first person on Earth to comprehend a domain, Hong would have left traces of it in his manual, even if he did not discuss domains explicitly.

The problem was that 《World Destruction》 taught spear techniques, while Dongguan was accustomed to using a blade.

"I'll buy it."

He had long since met the requirement for four-star contribution points. As for money, although he had spent some, he had still accumulated nearly three hundred billion in Huaxia Currency.

The items currently listed online, including dragon blood and jade marrow, were no longer useful to him. Surely they could not raise his strength to the Planetary Grade?

Things useful to him were almost never sold publicly.

Under those circumstances, it did not matter even if buying the manual turned out to be a waste.

After he purchased it, the manual appeared directly in the War God Palace.

Those below the War God rank still used physical manuals and discs. Once someone joined the War God Palace, accessing manuals and such became much more convenient.

He started reading from the first section.

The force application technique in 《World Destruction》 is somewhat similar to the Ninefold Thunder Blade, but there are differences too. They probably stem from Hong and Thunder God's different fighting styles.

Since he was already thoroughly familiar with the Ninefold Thunder Blade, he could spot similarities in the 《World Destruction》 manual.

As Earth's strongest and second-strongest fighters, Hong and Thunder God sparring with each other was no secret. Similarities were only natural.

He was tempted to start at the end and read backward, but restrained himself. Dongguan began at the beginning, intending to read through the whole manual before materializing a spear to practice.

Sure enough, at the end, he found Hong's insights into breaking through to the Planetary Grade.

"Perceive heaven and earth; become one with them." That was how he described it.

Hong also described his own experience of breaking through to the Planetary Grade.

After reaching a bottleneck in his cultivation, he had sat motionless on a cliff for a full day and night, watching the sun and moon alternate. As the sun rose in the east, he sensed an opportunity and broke through.

Are they all this gifted? Thinking of Hong and then Thunder God, Dongguan felt like tearing his hair out.

Besides those two, his conversations with other warriors had taught him how other Councilors had broken through. Some, for instance, had simply consumed a treasure and advanced directly.

He had no treasures, and the opportunity differed from person to person. In other words, he had no way to break through right now.

Tests showed that his spiritual force had also reached a strength of roughly over four hundred tons. He had long since become a ninth-order apprentice, so by rights, he should have been on the verge of a breakthrough too.

Do both have to reach their limits?

The original story had never mentioned such a requirement. Luo Feng's spiritual force and warrior cultivation had broken through separately, but Dongguan's circumstances were different, so he could not be sure.

Another problem, however, made his expression turn grave.

The noise is getting worse. I have to return to the Northern Border.

Although heading to the Northern Border would make the noise louder, he had to go to its source if he wanted to solve the problem.

Besides, at first he had only been able to hear the noise in the Northern Border. Now he could hear it in Jiangnan too. Would it cover the entire globe after some more time passed?

Unless he resolved the noise, he would struggle to quiet his mind and seek insight. It could even affect him in battle.

Virtual space could block out the noise, but that treated the symptoms, not the cause. He still had to cultivate in reality.

Sometimes, he wondered whether the noise grew stronger because he was getting stronger, or whether it was simply changing with the passage of time.

If it was the former, he could not possibly abandon his pursuit of strength in a world like this.

If it was the latter, he had no way to turn back time.

At noon the next day, he boarded a plane at Jiangnan Base City's airport.

The planes of this era differed from those before the Great Nirvana. They were all shaped like flying saucers.

Inside, the seating was arranged in rings across three levels, with premium seats on the top level.

Dongguan and Lu Gang both sat on the top level.

A three-dimensional virtual projection in the center of the seating area played a movie to entertain passengers during the journey.

Dongguan closed his eyes and waited to arrive.

It would be quick; the trip took less than an hour.

Yet throughout the journey, the noise in his mind grew increasingly intense.

Jiangnan Base City.

After learning that Dongguan had left, Li Wei could no longer restrain himself and proposed going out to gain experience.

His parents had kept him cooped up at home lately, and he was getting restless.

Li Yao was still uneasy.

But Li Wei pleaded with his mother. Vina doted on her son, and together, they finally persuaded Li Yao.

"Fine. You can go gain experience, but be careful," Li Yao finally agreed.

"We'll make certain the young master returns safely," Steward Liu and the burly white man, Kalong, promised.

"I'm a grown man. What's there to worry about?" Li Wei was rather dismissive.

He did not believe he would encounter any danger.

"Then where should he go?" Vina considered the question and asked for Li Yao's opinion.

"City 003."

"Wouldn't that be a little too dangerous?" Vina asked worriedly.

"Wang Tong and Li Que are there too. We can have them look after him. He'll only be in the outskirts anyway, so there shouldn't be much trouble." Li Yao glanced at Li Wei's two attendants as he explained to Vina.

"All right." Vina accepted that reasoning.

This was not Li Wei's first trip out to gain experience. At first, the two of them had accompanied him personally. Only after he gained experience had they stopped doing so.

"No one knows where that Long-Armed Ape King has gone lately. Keep an eye out for him too," Li Yao reminded them.

"In that case, perhaps he shouldn't go," Vina said, beginning to reconsider.

"I want to go, Mom." Li Wei was unhappy.

"Then go." Unable to resist his pleading, Vina turned to Steward Liu and Kalong. "Hire another squad to accompany the two of you."

"Yes."

The Fire Hammer Squad gathered once more.

Luo Feng had not revealed his identity as a Psychic, but his physical fitness was approaching that of a Primary General.

Moreover, the Wei Brothers and Chen Gu had reached the Warrior General level after taking genetic drugs, greatly increasing the squad's overall strength.

"This time, we'll go to City 024," Gao Feng decided. The other four all agreed.

Zhang Zehu was dead, and Luo Feng had been living quite comfortably lately.