At this point in the memory, things became quite straightforward.

Find the Cangming Overlord dominating the current era, engage in a friendly meeting and exchange, and then...

Hold tightly to their support.

There really wasn’t much maneuvering room left in other areas.

Previously, when battling the Six Gods of Destruction, the Earth side already exhausted all of their combat power, giving everything they had, just barely managing to eliminate the Divine Court’s advance squad.

So going forward, it mainly depended on whether the reinforcements would be reliable or not.

On Earth’s side, at this point, it was a matter of doing one’s best and leaving the rest to fate.

The final meeting summary offered little substance, as everyone was somewhat distracted, eager to see just what kind of person the [Lord of the Red Lotus] was.

After the summit ended, there weren’t many attendees qualified to join the Chinese representatives in welcoming the guests; besides the elite members of the Academic Society, there were only five international representatives.

[God] Gray, [Yin Yang Master] Ogata Shitou, [Light Speed Gentleman] William, [Industrial Dominator] Julius Adenauer, and [Soul of Slav] Tegnev.

The remaining attendees were either arranged to return to their residences or went to visit Guangyu Academy.

In the car heading to greet the [Lord of the Red Lotus], besides the driver, there were only Ma Ran, Su Qiangwei, and a few others, making the spacious car seem a bit empty.

Su Qiangwei sat by a window, in the same row as Ma Ran, with an aisle between them.

With outsiders present, she didn’t pester Ma Ran with questions but closed her eyes slightly, pretending to conserve energy, exuding an exceptionally cold demeanor.

"New crisis, new challenges, new hurdles."

At this moment, Su Qiangwei didn’t gather her thoughts but let them drift freely.

Even someone as carefree as her, after consecutive battles throughout the past half year, felt somewhat exhausted...

Though reluctant to admit it, sometimes she couldn’t help but sigh internally.

Thankfully, Ma Ran was there.

Otherwise, she couldn’t imagine the state of Earth now.

No need to dwell on past events.

The enemy Earth now faced was the [Divine Court].

This organization, gathering an unknown number of deities and spanning countless civilizations, compared to the Earth Civilization, was like comparing the sky and the Earth, belonging to an entirely different level of existence.

If the former was akin to a Tyrannosaurus, then the latter was a group of ordinary ants.

The phenomenon of ants devouring an elephant doesn’t easily occur.

Moreover...

Even when simply counting numbers, Earth might not have the advantage.

After all, under the Divine Court’s banner were three major civilizations, and beneath those were countless vassal civilizations.

No need to send true gods; just sending some cannon fodder to attack Earth would be enough to drive the nations of Earth into a frenzy.

Having a clear understanding of the current situation, Su Qiangwei remained as calm as ever, her expression serene, not a trace of emotional fluctuation.

Under such circumstances, it was reasonable for ordinary people to think about running away.

However, she knew very well that Ma Ran wouldn’t.

The reasons this guy mentioned earlier were, in Su Qiangwei’s view, merely to convince other attendees, nothing more.

No one understood him better than Su Qiangwei.

If it wasn’t for calming the troops and stabilizing morale, in battle, this guy would probably always be the one charging in front!

This guy was a pure boor wrapped in a thinker’s skin!

Thinking of this, Su Qiangwei, while eating some honey walnut preserves, sneaked a glance at the nearby Ma Ran, who was pretending to nap.

"Is something the matter?" Ma Ran opened his eyes, raising an eyebrow slightly.

The girl’s ears turned slightly red, flustered, she indignantly accused him first: "Why are you peeking at me?"

The logic was sound...

If this guy wasn’t peeking at Master Qiangwei, how would he know she was peeking at him?

Nuisance!

Ma Ran glanced at her indifferently, then changed the topic: "I just thought you and the [Lord of the Red Lotus] might have quite a few topics in common."

Obviously attempting to change the subject, speaking nonsense, Su Qiangwei only listened for amusement and wouldn’t take it seriously.

However...

Watching her calm, composed comrade, the girl felt her previously anxious heart gradually settling down.

If Ma Ran wasn’t afraid, why should she be?

Was Master Qiangwei weaker than him?!

What a joke!

The title of Martial God wasn’t earned by cowardice!

...

Fifteen minutes later.

The vehicle engine ceased running, and the seven top Earth Extraordinary Ones successively disembarked.

"Is this the legendary Great Wall? It’s my first time here,"

remarked the stern-faced [Industrial Dominator] Julius Adenauer.

He glanced around, an expression of amazement on his face: "Without industrial support or reliance on extraordinary power, the people of ancient China, through sheer diligence and wisdom, constructed such a majestic miracle..."

"I suddenly feel that, with such good conditions now, we’re confident we can overcome any difficulty!"

After Julius finished speaking, [God] Gray immediately began to explain in German: "This isn’t the entirety of the Great Wall, just a part of it."

"To be precise, it’s a pass of the Ming Great Wall."

"Previously, this was a 5A-level scenic spot, labeled as the Badaling Great Wall, an important outpost of Juyongguan."

"The Great Wall is China’s ancient number one military engineering project, its construction history can be traced back to the Western Zhou period."

Gray, transformed into a China expert, enthusiastically continued: "Those who haven’t seen it might subconsciously think the Great Wall is a scenic spot in a certain region or province, but only by visiting it in person would you realize just how exaggerated its length is!"

"It spans fifteen provinces!"

"Even by today’s standards, it’s a super large project!"

Cut down by Ma Ran over a hundred times, Gray was resurrected under the influence of his [God] authority, after which his disposition changed, establishing his ultimate goals and ideals.

Although still as gentle as ever now, he was no longer the easily manipulated person he once was, becoming more proactive in his interactions.

"What’s that?"

Initially hugging a bottle of Erguotou and downing it, the [Soul of Slav] Tegnev suddenly pointed northwest.

Following the direction he pointed, everyone saw...

A bizarre apple floating in the air.

The crimson apple was ablaze with eerie flames, possessing a strong presence that made it nearly impossible to overlook it once your gaze swept past.

Yet, everyone present vaguely felt...

This strange apple seemed to lack mass and heat.

It appeared to be merely an illusion, and the surrounding flame wasn’t real.

Everyone instinctively tensed, ready to initiate an attack at any moment.

Recently, countries had all been suffering from alien influence invasions, making these top Extraordinary Ones somewhat paranoid, having a heightened reaction to unusual phenomena.

"No need to be nervous,"

Ma Ran explained with a smile: "That’s the fourth generation Cangming Overlord."

"To be exact, it’s a thought of that person."

As if to confirm Ma Ran’s statement, just as he spoke, the apple with its bloody glow began to expand, blooming like a flower, turning into scattered flames, drifting into the wind. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Moments later, a purple-haired, blood-red eyed, tall woman stepped out from within the flame.

"My name is Ye Fengqing."

"Nice to meet you all, your first impression of me is not bad after all."