"Now is not the time to sit down and chat or drink tea leisurely with you all." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Zhou Huai gazed toward the end of the horizon. "I have more important things that I must do immediately."

Hearing this, Zhao Qingcang's brows furrowed, and he pursed his lips.

"Are you going to deal with that... Mr. Duan, whom even you are wary of?"

As the commander of Great Xia, he sensed the urgency in Zhou Huai's words. How terrifying must an enemy be to make the now god-like Zhou Huai find them troublesome?

"With your current strength, are you still not his match?" Zhao Qingcang pressed, unwilling to accept it.

Zhou Huai nodded, his smile fading as his expression turned serious.

"To be honest, it's difficult. Very difficult."

"That old monster has not only lived for countless ages and completely become a Transcendent, but he also holds Origin trump cards that can change the course of the world." Zhou Huai clenched his fists. "I don't have absolute certainty for this battle; I can only do my best."

These words brought silence to the surroundings.

Zhao Qingcang remained silent for a long time, lowering his eyes. He flew forward, reached out his calloused hand, and patted Zhou Huai's shoulder.

"Zhou Huai... our strength is far from being able to help you anymore."

The iron-willed veteran cleared his throat. "This path, you must walk alone. The future of Great Xia, and even the future of this world, rests on your shoulders."

"You... take care!"

Beside him, Lin Zhu's eyes were slightly red as she nodded in agreement. "That's right. No matter how great the storm outside is, just remember that Great Xia will always be your home."

Speaking of this, Lin Zhu remembered something and smiled, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"By the way, when you return safely, remember to come for a celebratory drink." She took Zhao Qingcang's arm and said softly, "Qingcang and I have decided to hold our wedding in the Imperial Capital three months from now."

"When the time comes, you, the God of War of Great Xia, must come to be our witness."

"Oh?"

Zhou Huai was somewhat surprised. His gaze swept between the two of them, then he looked at Zhao Qingcang and couldn't help but tease, "Marshal Zhao, does this count as an old tree blooming?"

"I suppose so." Zhou Huai sighed. "Having been given a rare chance at a second life, you must firmly grasp the person before you and not let past regrets repeat. Stop putting all your focus on the Military Department like before."

Being teased by a young man in his early twenties, the usually dignified Zhao Qingcang's face flushed in a rare display of embarrassment, and he coughed twice.

"Anyway... leave Great Xia to us and go with peace of mind!" Zhao Qingcang straightened his back and looked directly at Zhou Huai. "Even if it means sacrificing every last soldier, I will protect your rear!"

"With those words from you, I'm at ease."

Zhou Huai said no more.

Time was pressing; that madman Mr. Duan would be devouring more Old Era Origins in some corner of the world. He had to race against time.

"I'm off. See you in three months."

Zhou Huai waved to the two of them, then leaped up and landed steadily on Xiao Hei's broad dragon back.

"Roar—!"

Sensing its master's Battle Intent, the Abyssal Demon Dragon Xiao Hei let out a deafening roar toward the sky. It flapped its sun-blotting black wings, and the violent hurricane dispersed the surrounding clouds.

"Bang!"

A sonic boom rang out, and the massive dragon turned into a streak of black lightning, vanishing at the edge of the sky in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a Void Realm rift that would not heal for a long time.

Zhao Qingcang hovered in mid-air, his gaze fixed on the departing figure of the black dragon for a long time, not snapping out of it for a while.

"What are you thinking about?" Lin Zhu gently held his hand and asked softly.

Zhao Qingcang let out a long sigh and patted his chest.

"I'm just feeling fortunate..."

"Fortunate that such a terrifying monster is a person of our Great Xia. If he were born in the Dawnbreaker Guild or the Free Federation... then there would have been no place for us in this world long ago."

...

Meanwhile.

Tens of thousands of meters high in the sky, the astral winds howled.

But the Abyssal Demon Dragon's powerful high-dimensional shield blocked all the gales, making the dragon's back as stable as level ground.

Zhou Huai sat cross-legged with his eyes slightly closed, organizing the massive power that had just fused within his body.

"Swish—"

Just then, a mass of green life energy slowly condensed in front of Zhou Huai.

The light dissipated, transforming into the stunningly beautiful physical form of the Nature Goddess, Chun, who appeared on the dragon's back. Her long green hair fluttered gently in the breeze, and her beautiful eyes, which had seen through the vicissitudes of time, gazed at Zhou Huai.

"That trick of yours to harvest faith just now was truly played to perfection." Chun chuckled, covering her mouth and raising ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) her eyebrows. "Not only did you charm the high-ranking officials of Great Xia's Military Department into being utterly devoted, but you also managed to fleece millions of Mortals. With this foundation, you have one more chip to counter the backlash of the will of heaven."

Zhou Huai opened his eyes and glanced at her.

"This is called mutual benefit. I saved their lives, and they provide me with the power to counter the world-ending crisis. It's fair."

Zhou Huai stood up, walked to the edge of the dragon's head, and looked down at the mountains and rivers rushing past below.

"The progress of the world-class mission 'Eight Directions Chaos' issued by the System is already two-eighths. That old dog Mr. Duan has not only devoured the Blood Ancestor but is also frantically searching for other relic monsters."

"We can no longer defend passively."

Chun's smile faded, and she turned serious. She nodded. As the former companion of the origin sacred tree, she knew Mr. Duan's terrifying ambition better than anyone.

"The mess on Great Xia's side has basically settled down. That Grand Elder you let go should already be on his way to lead the way to the Dawnbreaker Guild's lair." Chun looked at Zhou Huai and asked, "What about us? Where are we going?"

"Where are we going?"

He raised his right hand and pointed toward the distant west. There lay a deathly wasteland shrouded in billowing yellow sands and ancient curses.

"To Ancient Egypt."

At the same time, in the Free Federation.

This was once the most famous Old Days Mountains within the Free Federation, where a range of active volcanoes stretching thousands of miles erupted with scorching lava all year round, a Holy Land dreamed of by countless fire-attribute Professionals.

However, at this moment, this continuous range of volcanoes had been completely erased from the world.

The continuous range of volcanoes had been leveled by high-dimensional power, turning into a bottomless wasteland.

Instead, it had been forcibly pushed into a bottomless wasteland by a high-dimensional power that transcended everything!

Within a hundred-mile radius, there was no living creature.

The once-churning sea of lava was forcibly frozen by an indescribable black Law, turning into black glass across the mountains and fields. The scorching heat of the past was gone from the air, replaced only by violent and hair-raising spatial fluctuations.

Above the firmament, that huge black gap that once represented the wrath of the will of heaven and rained down endless destructive thunder was now weakly closed, with only faint purple lightning flashing in the clouds.

And in the center of the devastated battlefield.

"Huff... puff..."

Accompanied by heavy gasps like a broken bellows, a lava giant over a hundred meters tall fell onto the black glass ground.

This descendant of the Fire God—Chaidamen—who once commanded the wind and rain in the Old Era and even made the Holy Lord Francis wary, was now in a wretched state.

His proud, supposedly indestructible lava body had actually been half-melted by a strange black substance!