Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At half-past eight in the morning, Lin Huang ate an unhurried breakfast before returning to the Emperor Palace.
“It’s almost time to send out the coordinates.”
He glanced at the time, opened the address book in his Emperor’s Heart Ring, selected Jiang Shan, Huang Tianfu, and Ku Ji’s names, then composed a message and sent it to them.
The contents of this message contained the coordinates of the dimensional gateway that led to the great world.
Lin Huang had really put a lot of effort into this dimensional gateway.
First of all, in order to prevent the people of the gravel world from being teleported into the God Territory, he went through quite a number of places before setting the teleportation point in the human domain.
The next step was to prevent too high a mortality rate of the gravel world’s Virtual Gods after they reached the great world.
After connecting this dimensional gateway, he secretly modified the surrounding area on the gravel world side of the dimensional gateway and, using a divine pattern, enveloped it with an Ice-sealing Elemental Enlightenment.
If an ordinary living creature were to approach within a certain distance from the dimensional gateway, they would slowly be frozen by the cold that radiated from the divine pattern.
For individuals who had not mastered God Rule Power, only those whose Divine Power exceeded Virtual God rank-6 (not including rank-6) could use their Divine Power to overcome being frozen and enter the dimensional gateway.
Those who had mastered God Rule Power could easily resist being frozen by the cold. Since the Elemental Enlightenment that Lin Huang had housed within the divine pattern was only First Glimpse-level, the chill that the divine pattern exuded would not be from the power of the Elemental Enlightenment itself. Instead, it would be pure cold that was isolated from the Elemental Enlightenment.
As for cultivators who were below high-level Virtual God and had not mastered God Rule Power, as long as they retreated in time, the frost from the Elemental Enlightenment would automatically fade away quickly. However, if they were to push through regardless of the cold, they would eventually freeze completely.
Nevertheless, Lin Huang did not tell anyone that he was the one responsible for this. He only vaguely mentioned in the text message that he sent to those few individuals, “The area surrounding the dimensional gateway is enveloped in cold, so Virtual Gods who are not high-level should not enter.”
This set-up was done for the good of everyone in the gravel world.
This was because most of the great world’s resources were monopolized by various major and minor organizations.
Anyone below high-level Virtual God would find it difficult to join a major organization in the great world. Even if they were lucky and managed to join a grade-3 or grade-4 organization, they would basically only be able to rely on odd jobs for a living, and it would be extremely difficult to obtain cultivation resources.
If one were to be a Lone Ranger, not only would the mortality rate be extremely high, but they would have to hand over at least 50% of their gains every time they entered a secret zone ruin owned by someone else—some ruthless organizations would even take more than 70% of those gains. Even if, once in a blue moon, one were to encounter a secret zone ruin with no owner, it would be full of reckless rogue cultivators who were not afraid of death. Without an organization to maintain order, the degree of danger would only be higher.
The exceptions were those who had amazing talent and potential like Chan Dou and Huang Wuji, who could get various organizations to prioritize their training merely at the sight of them. In the meantime, everyone else would have to slowly go through all kinds of trouble and hardships.
If this had been the past, Lin Huang would definitely not have spent so much effort on such matters. He had always been someone who did not like trouble.
However, now that he had refined the gravel world, his thinking had changed slightly, and he had the vague idea that ‘these people are my people.’ That was why he had worked hard and spent several days making these arrangements.
The people who received the message were in varying states of mind after reading it.
Huang Tianfu and Ku Ji had no doubts about the message that Lin Huang sent, and they also did not doubt the warning he had given them. Lin Huang must have had his reasons for stating that those below high-level Virtual God should not try to pass through the dimensional gateway, so they would follow what he said. Lin Huang had also told them not to spread this information, so they would keep it strictly confidential.
On the other hand, Jiang Shan’s reaction after reading the message was completely different.
“He sent the coordinates over so easily? No concrete requirements or trading conditions?” Jiang Shan’s first reaction was to doubt the authenticity of the coordinates, as Lin Huang had given out the information too easily. Even so, he banished this idea in an instant because false coordinates would be too easily exposed. All he had to do was send someone to the coordinates to check, and he would know whether they were real or not. This process would take less than half an hour.
“The area surrounding the dimensional gateway is enveloped in cold, so those who are not high-level Virtual Gods should not enter?” Jiang Shan was also skeptical of this warning. “So, those who are low-level and middle-level Virtual Gods can’t enter the dimensional gateway?”
As for the part of the message that mentioned not spreading this information, conversely, Jiang Shan did not doubt that at all. This kind of information was top-secret in itself and could be sold at a high price. Why would he spread it for free?!
After carefully reading Lin Huang’s message three times and confirming that there were no hidden messages, Jiang Shan closed the text. He then dialed the communication numbers of the two vice chiefs as well as other senior officials to call for an emergency meeting.
By nine in the morning, everyone was already gathered in front of the Emperor Palace.
Huang Tianfu and the other senior officials of Dynasty stood nearby and looked on quietly.
In addition to Lin Huang and Lin Xin, Mr. Fu, Lin Xuan, Xiao Mo, Chan Dou, and Huang Wuji were all present as well.
As for Yi Zheng and his sister Yi Yeyu, Leng Yuexin, and Li Lang, their combat levels were still at imperial-level, and they had not elevated to virtual god-level yet, so Lin Huang did not want to take them with him.
As for Fatty, even though he had good potential after using the Flawless Card, he spent a lot of time in his restaurant, so the amount of time he could devote to cultivation was far less than the others. Just a few days ago, he had contacted Lin Huang to inform him that he had broken through to transcendent. He was still a long way from virtual god-level.
Lin Huang glanced around at everyone present, then nodded slightly. “We’re all here, so let’s get going!”
After saying that, he stretched his hand out, and a whirlpool like a black hole automatically coalesced out of thin air.
Chan Dou and the others were all taken aback when they saw this; it was the first time they had seen this kind of ability.
Lin Xin and Lin Xuan took the lead and disappeared into the whirlpool. Mr. Fu and the others followed behind them and stepped in one after the other. Lin Huang was the last one to go.
Before entering the whirlpool, he turned to look at where Huang Tianfu and the others were standing, then gave them a slight nod.
“Take care, Your Majesty!” Huang Tianfu and the others shouted, waving to Lin Huang.
Only then did Lin Huang turn around and step into the whirlpool.
After a moment, the whirlpool in front of the Emperor Palace slowly disappeared.
“We don’t even know when His Majesty will be back again…”
Huang Tianfu and the others watched with forlorn expressions as the whirlpool disappeared; only after a long while did they turn and leave.
Upon stepping out of the whirlpool, Lin Xin and the others found themselves in a deep sea.
Not far away was a massive shipwreck that was half-buried under sand and silt, and they could only faintly make out the shape of a large ship.
After a while, Lin Huang walked out of the whirlpool as well.
His gaze lingered on the shipwreck in front of him for only a moment before he suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction.
At this point, Lin Xuan also frowned slightly. “Is someone coming here?!”
“It’s the Union Government’s people. I sent the coordinates to Jiang Shan half an hour ago,” Lin Huang explained with a calm expression, “They’ve probably come to check on the dimensional gateway.”
As Lin Huang spoke, he slapped his hand down on Huang Wuji’s shoulder, imbuing a portion of Ice-sealing Elemental Enlightenment into his body.
Mr. Fu and Lin Xuan were both True Gods, while Lin Xin was a Virtual God rank-9. Xiao Mo and Chan Dou were both Virtual God rank-3s, but both had mastered Rule Bending Power. Huang Wuji, who had only just elevated to Virtual God rank-1, was the only one who had not been able to learn Rule Bending Power yet. He was also the only one who could not enter the dimensional gateway on his own.
Huang Wuji merely felt a chill within his body, but it was quickly replaced by a different mysterious sense soon after. Before he could perceive it in more detail, though, the Union Government’s team had arrived.
Surprisingly, the leader was Lin Huang’s old acquaintance—Guan Zhong, the head of Agency EA.
At the sight of Lin Huang and the others, the expression on Guan Zhong’s face betrayed visible embarrassment.
“Your Majesty!” Despite this, he still took the initiative to greet Lin Huang. “Are you getting ready to leave now?”
Lin Huang glanced at the troop that Guan Zhong was leading. There were not many members—only six of them—and their combat levels were all different. They were at virtual god-level rank-1, rank-3, rank-4, rank-6, rank-7, and rank-9, respectively.
Although Guan Zhong was only a Virtual God rank-4, he obviously held the highest position among them.
“Yes.” Lin Huang gave an indifferent nod. He did not have any particular opinions about Guan Zhong, nor was there any conflict between them. It was just that they had different standpoints, so it was difficult for them to be friends.
“Then… will you all go first?” Of course, Guan Zhong did not dare to jump Lin Huang’s queue.
“Don’t worry, I really want to see the results of your exploration trials in this area,” Lin Huang replied with a smile.
Guan Zhong obviously had not expected Lin Huang to say this, but he quickly responded nonetheless.
“Then hold on for a moment, Your Majesty. We’ll try it out first.”
Once he finished speaking, he let the Virtual God rank-1 and rank-3 enter the shipwreck first.
The Virtual God rank-1 approached the shipwreck, but even before he could get within a hundred-meter range, a layer of white frost began rapidly condensing on the surface of his body without any warning. He tried taking two more steps forward, and the speed at which his body was being frozen began to accelerate rapidly. It was too late for him to retreat.
At this point, the Virtual God rank-9 from the Union Government suddenly made a move. A long rattan vine lashed out, wrapped around the other’s waist—as yet still not completely frozen—and pulled him out.
Fortunately, the Virtual God rank-1 had not been completely frozen; after leaving the shipwreck, his body slowly began to defrost. However, his face was full of fear and terror. “It’s so cold, it’s like the chill is freezing my soul along with my body… After I took the last two steps, I couldn’t move at all—I couldn’t get away even if I wanted to…”
After seeing what had happened to his companion, the Virtual God rank-3 was obviously more cautious, and he took very small, slow steps.
As soon as he was within a hundred-meter range, his body also began swiftly freezing, but he frantically fought back using the Divine Power within him. Even so, the cold was all-pervasive, and his Divine Power was being rapidly consumed with every second that passed…
He moved forward slowly, step by step. As soon as he was within a fifty-meter range, his body began to freeze even more quickly. Remembering his previous companion’s misfortune, he did not dare to rashly advance any further. He decided to ignite his Divine Power, sending his body flying backward in retreat.
“It’s no good. I can only make it to about a fifty-meter range at most. I think I’d be completely frozen if I were to take one or two more steps forward…” His body was shaking with cold, and he shook his head at Guan Zhong.
Guan Zhong hurriedly handed him a Divine Crystal so he could replenish his Divine Power.
The Virtual God rank-3 could only reach about fifty meters, so the Virtual God rank-4 did not even have to try. He turned his head and nodded at the Virtual God rank-6.
The Virtual God rank-6 looked solemn, but he still began to approach the shipwreck one step at a time.
A few minutes later, he finally arrived at the shipwreck, but the moment he set foot on the wreck itself, a layer of white frost suddenly crawled up his legs and ankles like a living creature, then quickly spread upward.
The Virtual God rank-9 from the Union Government already had his rattan vine on hand, ready to come to the rescue at any time.
The Virtual God rank-6 activated the Divine Power within his whole body, but after only a moment of resistance, his Divine Power was completely exhausted. Seeing the frost rapidly enveloping his teammate’s body, the Virtual God rank-9 made a move again, and the rattan vine lashed out.
Just as the rattan vine came in contact with the Virtual God rank-6’s waist and was about to pull him back, the frost started to spread onto the vine as well. The moment the Virtual God rank-9 pulled on it, the part of the vine around the other’s waist disintegrated.
“Crap!” The Virtual God rank-9’s heart thumped hard in his chest.
However, at this moment, the body of the Virtual God rank-6 suddenly rose into the air, as if he was being pulled back by some invisible object, and flew backward.
Those from the Union Government activated their Divine Telekinesis; only then did they discover an invisible telekinetic thread wrapped around the Virtual God rank-6’s waist. Their gaze followed the telekinetic thread as it retracted, finally landing on Lin Huang.
“No need to thank me.” Lin Huang gave them a faint smile.
He took it upon himself to save this individual because this was his doing after all. Furthermore, its purpose was not to kill people but to prevent those who were not powerful enough from hastily charging into the great world.
After the Virtual God rank-6 had been settled, the Virtual God rank-7’s expression darkened slightly, but he still moved forward steadily and walked toward the shipwreck.
His Divine Power surged throughout his whole body, and he quickly stepped onto the shipwreck. The moment his feet made contact, frost began to condense on both his legs but was suppressed by his Divine Power.
He hesitated for a moment but decided to move forward. After entering the hole in the shipwreck, he kept going down, following the coordinates given by Lin Huang.
Fortunately, things went relatively smoothly this time.
After entering the shipwreck, the Virtual God rank-7’s aura did not significantly weaken.
After about ten minutes, he withdrew from the shipwreck, his body covered in frost. Although he had an exhausted look on his face, he was obviously relieved.
“How was it? Did you see the dimensional gateway?” Guan Zhong promptly asked.
“I saw it.” The Virtual God rank-7 nodded.
“How intense was the cold?” The Virtual God rank-9 asked from the sidelines.
“At the current strength of my Divine Power, I could barely pass through the area enveloped by the cold. However, just entering and exiting once has depleted almost all of my Divine Power,” the Virtual God rank-7 explained, “Also, the closer one gets to the dimensional gateway, the stronger the chill, and the greater the consumption of Divine Power. My guess is that a Virtual God rank-6 wouldn’t be able to pass through even if they took a large number of Divine Crystals with them because the rate of Divine Power absorption would be far lower than its consumption rate.”
“I’ll go check it out.” The Virtual God rank-9 nodded slightly, then walked straight to the shipwreck, evidently preparing to try it out himself.
Although the Virtual God rank-7 had come back alive, the Virtual God rank-9 was still very cautious as he walked. It also took him about ten minutes before he came out of the shipwreck.
He went back to Guan Zhong, and the two exchanged a few words through voice transmission.
After a short while, Guan Zhong turned his head and looked at Lin Huang again.
“Your Majesty, I apologize for holding you up for so long.”
After that, his gaze came to rest on Xiao Mo, Chan Dou, and Huang Wuji for a moment. “You’ve seen the results of our trials. I’m afraid that it’ll be difficult for you young men to pass through.”
Seeing the results of the Union Government’s trial explorations, Chan Dou and the others were indeed a little worried.
“Thank you for the reminder.” Lin Huang nodded slightly at Guan Zhong. He did not refute Guan Zhong’s words either, merely led his group toward the shipwreck.
Guan Zhong and the others fixed their eyes on Chan Dou and the other two, waiting to see what Lin Huang would do after they froze. Instead, to their surprise, Lin Huang and his group all proceeded smoothly until they stepped into the shipwreck—none of them showed any signs of becoming frozen.
Within the shipwreck, Chan Dou and Xiao Mo had long since understood what was happening. The moment the two of them were within a hundred-meter range of the shipwreck, the Rule Bending Power within them automatically activated, completely isolating the chill so it was on the outside of their bodies.
As for Huang Wuji, who had yet to learn Rule Bending Power, Lin Huang had imbued a small trace of Elemental Enlightenment into him for protection. Because of that, he had a common origin with the Ice-sealing power, so he did not feel the chill at all.
Those from the Union Government watched on as Lin Huang and his group entered the shipwreck. A moment later, there was a wave of spatial fluctuations from under the shipwreck, and the auras of Lin Huang and his group vanished.
Guan Zhong and the others fell silent for a moment.
“How did they do that?”
At this, the Virtual God rank-9 spoke up, “It’s probably due to Rule Bending Power. Lin Huang imbued the two Virtual God rank-3s and that one Virtual God rank-1 with Rule Bending Power to protect them…”