The Death Emperor came in, leaned close to Zhang Shou, and said, "Master says that if you don't have urgent business, it's best not to leave the Aska lightly."
"Can you tell me why?" Zhang Shou asked.
He didn't think Yu Xian was imprisoning him, nor was he angry about it; it was mostly curiosity.
The Death Emperor didn't hide anything and directly told Zhang Shou about the demonic fall phenomenon's effect on Mighty Ones. After hearing this, Zhang Shou's brow furrowed. Zhang Buyao's students had all suffered demonic falls, and many powerful figures across the myriad worlds had also succumbed to demonic falls under the influence of an unknown power. It truly was too bizarre.
"Even Salty Fish hasn't found the reason?" Zhang Shou asked, rather puzzled.
Yu Xian possessed numerous investigative abilities, including ones that gave answers directly, such as Auntie Number Two.
"No. It is still being investigated," the Death Emperor replied, shaking his head.
In fact, Yu Xian had already used all sorts of abilities to trace the source, but without exception, they had all ended in failure.
Even miraculous items and soul treasures had been unable to provide an answer.
However, one could infer from this that the demonic fall phenomenon was anything but simple, and exceedingly dangerous at that.
"Then I'll help investigate too!" Zhang Shou pondered for a moment and said, eager to give it a try.
"Wait, Zhang Shou! Big Brother said you'd better stay on the Aska," Little Nora piped up immediately.
Zhang Shou laughed. "Don't worry. My inner fortitude is far stronger than you think. External forces can forget about twisting my will. Besides, I have this skill—even if they want to twist it, they can't."
With that, he showed his skill to Little Nora.
[Intent Saber Astral Qi: The will is as unyielding as saber astral qi, invulnerable to myriad arts, and immune to erosion from all spiritual and willpower-based attacks.]
"Wow, amazing!" Little Nora marveled after seeing Zhang Shou's skill.
The viewers in the livestream were curious too, but Zhang Shou had no intention of showing his skill to them. After all, these abilities were his trump cards.
"Heh heh, so relax. I'm not that fragile," Zhang Shou said smugly as he tucked the skill interface away, brimming with confidence.
Little Nora looked at the Death Emperor. The Death Emperor calmly replied, "I merely came to advise on Master's orders. As for how Mr. Zhang chooses to act, that is his own freedom."
"Alright, but you have to be careful," Little Nora urged Zhang Shou upon seeing that the Death Emperor raised no objection.
Zhang Shou smiled. "Rest easy. I'm a Mighty One, after all. Investigating a mere incident is child's play."
He then glanced at the livestream, his eyes locking onto Siberian Rat. He decided his first stop would be Siberian Rat's world; investigating was mostly incidental anyway, since what he really wanted was to wander the myriad worlds and fool around.
In a certain world, a little white rat surfing the internet suddenly shivered, a bad premonition welling up from the bottom of its heart.
……
……
In the Zhen Realm.
Yu Xian and the others were holding a banquet near Qilin Mountain.
Although Zhang Shou couldn't attend the banquet, it was indeed held to celebrate his successful shattering of the void.
Of course, another reason was that everyone hadn't gathered together in a long time, so they took this opportunity to catch up and bond.
After eating and drinking their fill, Yu Xian looked at the group with curiosity and asked, "Old Zhang has already succeeded. Quite a few of you are even stronger than him—when do you plan on leaving?"
"I'm afraid I'll need some time to sort out my emotions," Jin Sheng said with a wry smile.
Cheng Pi looked at Jin Sheng with slight surprise and asked, "Captain Jin, don't tell me you have an inner demon?"
"I do. To tell the truth, my inner demon... is a bit complicated. As you all know, I was in a coma for a very long time. When I woke up, the whole world had turned into something completely unrecognizable to me.
"Because of that, I always have this lingering doubt: could I actually be dreaming? Is all of this truly real?
"After all, this is just too crazy. Salty Fish has become something like a savior, Earth has established diplomatic relations with extraterrestrial civilizations, and then there are all those diverse aliens... It's too dreamlike, too unreal," Jin Sheng said with a bitter chuckle, squeezing the wine cup in his hand.
It was like someone going to sleep only to wake up and discover that humanity had gone extinct, pigs ruled the world, oceans drifted in the sky, birds occasionally burrowed through the earth, the expanse beyond the sky wasn't space but magma, and the center of the Earth had a sewer leading straight into outer space.
And outer space was filled with planets shaped like pig heads...
Presumably, any normal person would be incapable of accepting such a radical upheaval and would only want to wake up as quickly as possible.
Jin Sheng was essentially in that state. So when shattering the void, the first two trials were manageable, but he genuinely lacked the confidence to pass the third, even though his strength was by no means inferior to Zhang Shou's.
"Captain, in a situation like this, you probably have to work through it on your own. Besides, reality is reality. If it still doesn't work, just travel around and see more of the world. Once you've built up enough confidence, challenge it again," Yu Xian said with a helpless smile after listening to Jin Sheng.
Actually, he thought of a joke: think it's fake?
Slap them right across the face.
Still fake?
If they still think it's fake, slap them again, until they believe it's real.
"Shuishui, what about you?" Yu Xian then looked at Shui Yuetian and asked out of curiosity.
Among the group, Shui Yuetian, like Little Huangquan, was practically invisible. She was the type to talk a lot in familiar environments, but in unfamiliar settings, she became far quieter.
"Me? I'm still a long way from shattering the void," Shui Yuetian waved her hands hurriedly when she saw everyone looking at her.
Her current class was neither weak nor strong. After a thousand years of cultivation, she had reached Level 166, which had inadvertently become the bottom of the pack among everyone present.
"Then among the three trials, which one are you least confident in?" Yu Xian asked.
He genuinely wanted to help everyone. After all, he held the entire database of the Zhen Realm and could offer targeted, fitting advice. Unless it was a psychological issue like Jin Sheng's, he could lend a hand.
"I feel like... all three trials are really hard," Shui Yuetian glanced at Gong Qian beside her and muttered softly.
Yu Xian sighed and gave a wry smile. "Alright then, keep leveling up. When your level is high enough, we'll discuss this again."
He then looked toward Gong Qian. Gong Qian calmly said, "If Zhang Shou could succeed, how could I possibly fail? I won't have any problem with the three trials, but I plan to wait a bit longer. I still have room to grow; I'll talk about it once I've achieved complete perfection."
"Ambitious," Yu Xian praised with approval.
Niman smiled. "Qianqian's strength really is impressive now. She should be able to rank in the top three among us."
"Speaking of which, that Gong Yinhu seemed to have failed an enhancement a while ago," Nora spoke up at this moment. "Didn't he already succeed in reaching +10 before? How did he end up failing?"
Hearing Nora's question, Yu Xian answered, "It's mainly because of different focuses. Different classes have different rules, and everyone's adaptability varies. For instance, for someone who specializes in fists, enhancing legs certainly carries risks; for someone who specializes in kicks, enhancing fists carries risks as well.
"Besides, even along the exact same path, one's state of mind at this moment differs from their state of mind at another moment, which produces completely different outcomes."
Still, it was indeed a bit of a pity that Gong Yinhu had failed.
Yu Xian's eyes rolled slightly, suddenly thinking that Gong Yinhu had the makings of quite the beast of burden. Perhaps he could give him another chance.
Chapter 621