Outside the Royal Capital City.

On a mountaintop sixty li to the southwest.

"Who was that just now?"

Xiao Xianya craned his neck, gazing toward the Royal Capital in amazement. "That was incredible! He killed an Evil God with a single punch..."

"An Evil God Avatar,"

Nangong Yaoyue corrected him. "A true Evil God is no match for someone in the King’s Body Realm. Forget killing one, you couldn’t even hold your own for a moment. You’d be killed in a single encounter. Unless, of course, the Evil God deliberately kept you alive for its own amusement."

"Besides..."

After a pause, Nangong Yaoyue frowned. "This Evil God Avatar that descended upon the Royal Capital... its strength seems a bit low."

"You call that low?"

Xiao Xianya’s eyes widened. "Those bolts of lightning that rained from the sky just now lit up half the heavens. How can you call that kind of power low?"

"It wasn’t that strong to begin with."

Dongfang He interjected, "The one who used the Great Sun Divine Fist was the Kao Mountain King, the second-strongest expert of the Zhong Family. He’s at the King’s Body Realm, which is certainly impressive, but killing an Evil God Avatar so easily shouldn’t be possible. Not unless this Evil God Avatar wasn’t even a Tier 4!"

"A Tier 3 Evil God Avatar?"

Xiao Xianya was puzzled. "The Yong family of Yue Country spent so much effort, manpower, and resources to summon a god, only to get a Tier 3 Evil God Avatar?"

"Normally, it would be far more than a Tier 3," Nangong Yaoyue analyzed. "Something must have gone wrong in the city, causing an accident in the Yong family’s plan. In the end, the Evil God Avatar they summoned was only a Tier 3."

"That’s got to be it!"

Xiao Xianya said with certainty. "Otherwise, it just doesn’t make sense."

"Oh, right. Now that the Evil God Avatar has been killed and the Kao Mountain King has returned to the Royal Capital, the chaos should be over, right? Should we head back?"

"Let’s wait a bit longer." Nangong Yaoyue shook her head slightly. "The Yong family members have fled, but many of the Corpse Puppets they brought likely remain. Let’s wait half a day until the Corpse Puppets are mostly cleared out before we go back to the city."

Hearing this, Xiao Xianya nodded in support.

"Alright."

...

...

Inside the Royal Capital City.

In a stretch of ruins not far from the royal palace, Gu Zheng regulated his breathing and calmed his mind.

’Just one more Demon Point would be enough to break through to Heroic Body: Melting Furnace.’

’What a pleasant surprise.’

However, Gu Zheng didn’t immediately add the point to complete his breakthrough.

A breakthrough wouldn’t be a quiet affair.

Right now, however, experts from the Zhong Family were searching everywhere inside and outside the royal palace for members of the Yong family from Yue Country.

If Gu Zheng broke through now, it would be too conspicuous.

The main issue was that he had no excuse to cover up the reason for his breakthrough.

Previously, he had used the opportunities from the Domain or the Demon Realm.

’But this time, I’m in the middle of the city. What kind of opportunity could I possibly find here?’

It took others ten, even dozens of years to cross a single stage.

But Gu Zheng was about to break through in less than two months?

’It’s far too conspicuous.’

’It won’t be too late to break through after I get back.’

With that in mind,

Gu Zheng changed his clothes and put on the Great Sun Armor. At a time like this, it was safer to clearly display his identity as one of Jing Country’s own.

He found Zhou Wanghai and Eternal Star and had them follow behind him.

Both of them were undercover agents, but now they were his Seal Slaves. It would be a waste to have them discovered and killed.

But with them by his side, under his protection, things were different.

Of course, just to be safe, Gu Zheng decided to lead the two out of the city first.

His official reason was to hunt down the fleeing members of the Yong family.

As they passed by a stretch of ruins—

[Equippable Item Discovered]

[Evil Thunder Essence]

[Equipment Requirement: Tripartite Unity]

[Equipment Effect: Electric Light Universe]

[Electric Light Universe: A Thunder Dance, omnipresent; where lightning falls, nothing is beyond its reach.]

[Equip?]

Hm?

’A new equippable item!’

’I’ve finally found another one.’

Gu Zheng was thrilled.

He stopped and scanned his surroundings, searching for the target.

’The item is called "Evil Thunder Essence," so it’s most likely related to Gallero, the Evil God who had sent his avatar across realms.’

’After his avatar was destroyed by that single punch, the Evil God only left behind a small patch of light motes.’

’The "Evil Thunder Essence" has to be those motes of light!’

Thinking of this, Gu Zheng activated his Eyes of Golden Flame and scanned the surrounding ruins.

In the next moment, he saw a translucent crystal, about the size of his pinky fingernail, lying in a small pit in the dirt. It didn’t emit any light; even if you got close and walked right past it, you wouldn’t notice it.

You wouldn’t even feel it if you stepped on it.

The crystal simply didn’t have the slightest trace of an aura or presence.

If not for his Eyes of Golden Flame, even Gu Zheng would have missed it.

He slowly walked over, glanced around, and made sure no one was watching.

Spirit Capturing!

He retrieved the crystal from a distance, stored it in his Storage Leaf, and then continued walking with Zhou Wanghai and Eternal Star.

When they reached the western city gate, just as he expected, Heroic Body Realm experts from the Zhong Family were standing guard.

"Who goes there!"

With a low shout, the guard blocked the path of Gu Zheng and his two companions.

"Lord Chen, it’s me."

Gu Zheng cupped his fist and bowed to Chen Wuji, who was standing on the city wall.

"Ah, so it’s Gu."

Hearing his name, Chen Wuji turned and returned the cupped-fist salute from a distance. "Gu, are you leaving the city?"

Before Gu Zheng could reply, he continued, "The Sovereign has issued an order. For the next month, the city is sealed. People can enter, but no one can leave. No exceptions."

"Ah? Is that so?"

Gu Zheng looked apologetic. "My apologies, I hadn’t received the news. I was heading out to look for Zuo Lingfeng, Xiao Xianya, and the others. I’ve been searching the city for half a day and couldn’t find them."

"As you know, Lord Chen, the Celestial Secret is in disarray and the Power of Heaven and Earth is disrupted. It’s like being stuck in a swamp; messages can’t get through, so I have no choice but to search for them myself."

"Since the Sovereign has given an order, I won’t cause any more trouble. I’ll head back to Lord Zhuge’s residence now."

"Oh, by the way, Lord Chen, is Lord Zhuge alright?"

As if remembering something, Gu Zheng asked one last question.

"He’s fine. He suffered a minor injury, but now he’s also out searching for the rats from the Yong family," Chen Wuji informed him in a low voice.

"Thank you, Lord Chen!"

Gu Zheng cupped his fist again. "This time, the Yong family of Yue Country targeted the Royal Capital and harmed hundreds of thousands of people. They’re worse than beasts! I, too, wish I could personally drag them out! I’m willing to do my part and join the search party..."