"First wave of interception encountered... three Level 32 Ash Worms. Resolution time: twelve seconds."

Zhao Zhen stared at the screen.

On the display, Xu Wuyi’s figure weaved between the three dark red worms. The tip of his spear delivered precise stabs, a Dark Gold Flame flickering for just an instant before the worms stiffened and withered.

The whole process was so fluid it seemed rehearsed.

"His combat rhythm is steady," Zhao Zhen said in a low voice. "Keep an eye on the other teams."

"Lei Lie’s squad has slowed by thirty-five percent. They’re engaging a mixed pack of Star Beasts, including two Level 33 Lava Lizards and numerous Radiation Beetles. Estimated time to full clearance is over three minutes."

"The solo target to the southeast has slowed by twenty-five percent. Encountered and quickly broke away from a Level 34 Mutated Shadow Claw Mongoose, avoiding entanglement."

"The remaining two teams... both have slowed by over forty percent."

The gap was widening.

Xu Wuyi was like a precisely honed dagger. Even as the environment grew thicker and more dangerous, he still found the most efficient path, slicing through all obstacles.

His Spiritual Power was like a fine net, warning him of most dangers in advance.

Energy Turbulence? He’d detour ahead of time or dart through a momentary gap in its fluctuations.

Hidden pitfalls or a fragile surface? A light tap of his feet and he’d use the momentum to skim past.

A Star Beast ambush? The very moment they lunged, they were met by an awaiting spear tip and flames.

But there were still surprises.

When he was about five hundred meters from the fissure, a seemingly peaceful patch of scorched earth suddenly gave way, revealing a cavern below. It had been melted into existence by extreme heat and was now half-buried by fallen rock.

Seven or eight Molten Core Crystal Spiders, their bodies completely covered in dark red crystals, swarmed out.

Their Energy Levels weren’t high, generally only Level 28-30, but the webbing they spat was incredibly viscous, and they were swift, excelling at coordinated encirclements.

Caught off guard for a moment, Xu Wuyi’s left leg was grazed by a strand of webbing. Sizzling white smoke instantly billowed from his combat suit as the outer layer corroded, and a searing pain shot through his leg.

His brow furrowed slightly, but he didn’t panic.

The profound Intention of a great sun atop a mountain peak radiated outward. The surrounding air grew still, and the charging Crystal Spiders froze in unison.

His long spear swept out, the [Undying Flame] coating the spearpoint and tracing a searing arc of dark gold light!

Wherever the arc passed, the sticky, tough webbing melted away like snow under a blazing sun. The three foremost Crystal Spiders were sliced in two, and flames spread wildly from the wounds.

The remaining Crystal Spiders let out sharp shrieks and tried to retreat back into the cavern.

Xu Wuyi wasn’t about to let them escape.

He executed Instant Shadow Step, his figure ghost-like as he pursued them into the cavern. A flurry of spear-shadows erupted within the confined space.

Ten seconds later, he leaped from an exit on the other side of the cavern, spear in hand. Behind him, only scattered, smoldering dark gold embers remained within.

He glanced down at his left leg. A palm-sized patch of his combat suit had been corroded away, but the protective lining underneath was intact. His skin was only slightly burned, not enough to impede his movement.

He took out a universal repair spray, gave the wound a quick treatment, and continued on his way.

This small episode had slowed him down a notch, but he still had a firm grasp on the overall pace of his advance.

Further back, Lei Lie had just shattered the hard carapace of the last Radiation Beetle. Catching his breath, he glanced at the map on his terminal.

The blip of light representing Xu Wuyi had already left him nearly four hundred meters behind, and it was still advancing steadily.

"This kid..." Lei Lie wiped the grime—a mix of sweat and dust—from his face. His scar twitched. Instead of feeling bitter, he cracked a grin. "Interesting."

With that, he hefted his heavy Wide-Blade Battle Saber and broke into a run, charging forward even faster than before.

His two teammates exchanged bitter smiles but could only grit their teeth and keep up.

To the southeast, the man with the saber on his back looked at Xu Wuyi’s position on the map, then looked ahead at an area with particularly dense Energy Turbulence.

He was silent for a few seconds. He didn’t choose to force his way through. Instead, his figure flickered, as if melting into the shadows, and he chose a more roundabout route. His speed decreased, but his advance was exceptionally steady.

「Time passed.」

Xu Wuyi was intercepted by Star Beasts three more times, in groups of varying sizes.

Each time, Xu Wuyi relied on his prescient Spiritual Perception and the potent lethality of his [Undying Flame] to either resolve the battle or disengage in the shortest time possible.

The cost was an accelerated drain on his Spiritual Power and Qi and Blood. His combat suit also gained several more tears and scorch marks.

But his gaze remained serene, his grip on the spear firm and powerful.

Finally, thirty-seven minutes after entering this area, he broke through the final barrier formed by dense Energy Turbulence, and the view before him suddenly opened up.

Less than fifty meters ahead lay the unnerving depression in the land.

The edge of Fissure 7-C.

The ground here had taken on a strange, vitrified quality—smooth and reflective, mirroring the dim sky and the distorted light spilling from the fissure.

The air was hot enough to burn, and the dense, chaotic Energy formed visible, pale gray vortexes that slowly swirled above the fissure.

The fissure was not the pitch-black spatial tear one might imagine. Instead, it was a hundred-meter-wide, dark red membrane of light that constantly twisted and shifted.

The membrane’s surface roiled like boiling magma, periodically swelling with a bubble that would burst and release a blinding flash of Energy.

Beneath the membrane lay a bottomless darkness, as if connected to some scorching hell.

Even after being scoured by missiles, the area retained a suffocating, oppressive aura.

Xu Wuyi did not approach immediately.

He stopped at the edge, first unleashing his Spiritual Power at full strength to meticulously scan the surroundings.

After confirming there were no lurking Star Beast life signs within fifty meters, nor any particularly active focal points of Energy Turbulence, he cautiously moved forward.

According to the terminal’s instructions, the deployment point for the last signal base station was about thirty meters from the fissure’s edge, on a relatively stable rock ridge.

He quickly reached the position and took out the silvery-white base station unit that marked a critical juncture of the mission.

This unit was slightly larger and more complex than the previous ones, its surface etched with runes meant to reinforce and stabilize Energy. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

He installed the base station firmly into the pre-set slot on the ridge and activated it.

HUMMM—

A low hum sounded as the patterns on the station’s surface lit up sequentially in blue-white light. The antenna on top slowly extended, and a signal wave, far more powerful than any of the previous stations, began to radiate outward.

"Ultimate Base Station KZ-1 activated successfully. Connecting to regional network... Connection established. Signal strength: Optimal. Energy stabilizer activated. Attempting to pacify localized Energy Turbulence..."

The feedback from his personal terminal was crystal clear.

Xu Wuyi let out a slight sigh of relief.

The successful activation of the base station meant that the monitoring and communication infrastructure for this most dangerous area had been established.

Without pausing, he immediately took three specialized Energy collection tubes from his tactical backpack.

Collecting Energy samples was another core objective of the mission.