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nAt the entrance of the stronghold, the scene of everyone watching the team as it set off had already disappeared and was replaced by a slightly lively street.

nA small number of people who still had the intention to observe the situation were walking around the stronghold. They wanted to familiarize themselves with their surroundings as soon as possible and make friends with others to find out more about the situation.

nChen Yiming separated from the team and walked alone on the simple street.

nAlong the way, people were coming and going. Most of the shops on the street were empty, and a few were under renovation. Clearly, the trial operation of the base city had been decided at the last minute, and the relevant facilities were far from complete.

nIf not for the fact that these shops were built with modern materials, since there was no electricity or electronic devices and everything was powered by manual labor, one would think that they were in an ancient city.

nHe couldn’t help but sigh. “The attraction of the otherworld is extraordinary. Just by providing a space where one can live, countless people are already gathered here.”

nAs he walked, he encountered several people holding notebooks and recording the situation in the stronghold in a primitive manner using paper and pen. These people were wearing the clothes of the factions they belonged to.

nChen Yiming saw the symbols on the clothes and recognized some, but not all of them.

nThe presence of these people meant that the civilian martial arts factions would soon officially enter the stronghold. The strength of the humans would also increase rapidly.

nOn the other hand, the human stronghold would also come into contact with more creatures from the otherworld. Chen Yiming inadvertently felt the pressure on him.

nWhen he strolled near the space-travel passage, a group of people happened to enter the stronghold from the base city.

nA middle-aged man in black stopped Chen Yiming, who was deep in thought. Behind him were more than 10 young people, their faces filled with curiosity and nervousness.

n“Little brother, can we take some of your time? We are the second batch to enter the otherworld. How’s the situation outside the stronghold?” the middle-aged man asked apologetically.

nChen Yiming swept his gaze across the group of young people and saw the words “Gensei Martial Arts School” printed on their chests. He didn’t hide anything and suggested, “If you set off immediately and catch up to the teams before you, you might still have a chance to encounter the weaker creatures from the otherworld.”

nThe middle-aged man had a look of disbelief on his face. He asked again, “Aren’t the creatures from the otherworld very ferocious? How can it be…”

nThe young people behind also looked at him doubtfully, afraid that Chen Yiming was trying to trick them.

nSeeing this, Chen Yiming felt that there was no need to waste his breath. He continued walking, leaving them behind.

n“School Head, should we ask around or do we follow his suggestion?” a young man asked after Chen Yiming left.

nThe middle-aged man fell silent. He compared the current situation of the stronghold to the crowd that had surged into Jiangdu City last night and realized that the truth might be as Chen Yiming had said.

nHe felt an indescribable sense of regret. If only he had humbled himself and asked for more information.

nHe waved his hand and said, “Let’s not be too concerned and just set off immediately.”

nAlthough the young people of the Gensei Martial Arts School wanted to find out more before taking action, they did not dare to disobey the head’s decision.

nJust like that, they ran along the streets of the stronghold and rushed towards the exit.

n…

nNear the space-travel passage, a row of shops were being renovated. There was a small square at the entrance, allowing those who had just entered the stronghold from the base city to stay there for the time being.

nThinking about the issue of their safety, if the stronghold encountered any trouble, the people working in the shops would be able to retreat from the otherworld with their goods almost immediately.

nAs for the footfall, people would need to pass through this row of shops to enter and exit the space-travel passage. This could be considered the best location to set up shop in the entire stronghold.

nChen Yiming passed by and saw Wang Bowen directing the workers who were renovating the place, so he walked over.

nWhen Wang Bowen saw who it was, he was pleasantly surprised. “Where have you been for the past two days? I haven’t heard from you at all.”

nChen Yiming smiled and said, “Keep a low profile. I just came to the otherworld to take a look.”

nWhen he met Wang Bowen, he deliberately dispersed the illusory internal force around him to reveal his true appearance.

nThe intelligence agents from the Jiangnan province’s military immediately noticed the appearance of the person they had been instructed to keep an eye on. The news quickly spread to the higher ups.

nWang Bowen pointed at the shop behind him and said, “A few days ago, someone from Jiangnan City came to East Lake City to find our company and asked us to send some people to the otherworld to take over this row of shops.

nFurthermore, they provided free transportation of our supplies. Until now, we still don’t know what’s going on. How did it become like this?”

nChen Yiming took a look. These shops were not of much use to him, but they were of great value to the Chen clan. Over the years, they could earn an astronomical amount of money from this business.

nThe higher-ups of Jiangnan province had set the time between entry and exit to the otherworld to be a week apart. Naturally, they had an interest in building the stronghold into a complete city that had commerce, military power, and logistical support as soon as possible.

nThe value of every inch of land in the stronghold could not be measured by money. This was because there was a qualitative difference between the people gathered here and the major cities in Jiangnan province.

n“When the company saw that the base city had started its trial operation and that more than half of the warrior factions in East Lake City had made a move, many people couldn’t help but suggest moving into the stronghold.”

nWang Bowen told him about the company’s situation. Without Chen Yiming’s approval, no one in the company dared to make a decision.

nChen Yiming thought for a moment and made the arrangements. “No problem, but we should still prioritize gathering information. The situation around the stronghold is still far from clear.”

nWhen Wang Bowen heard this, his expression turned solemn.

nAlthough Chen Yiming didn’t specify the reason, he could tell from his tone that the truth wasn’t what it seemed on the surface.

nAt dawn this morning, a large number of martial arts practitioners had set off from the stronghold. The commotion they created was countless times larger than that of the scouts in an army. Even if they were in Jiangnan province, it would be best to avoid such a force.

nMost of them were confident, but Chen Yiming didn’t think highly of them. It was clear how dangerous the otherworld was.

nBefore he left, Chen Yiming stuffed the four soul crystals into Wang Bowen’s hands. He told him how to use them and the benefits of tempering his spiritual power.

nThe spirits in the undead creatures’ bodies were born in an environment filled with spiritual energy. Unlike the spirits born through sacrificial rituals, there were no unstable emotions. One could just use their spiritual power to fight against them.

nIn the end, the soul crystal was an inanimate object. During a spiritual confrontation, a small amount of pure spiritual power would be absorbed.

nOther than his own family, Wang Bowen was the person he could trust the most. He had to help him increase his strength. Otherwise, if Chen Yiming didn’t have the time to manage his people, it would be difficult to control the growing Chen clan.

nThe two of them did not need many words to communicate. Wang Bowen understood that without sufficient strength, the company might get out of their control one day.

n…

n10 kilometers away from the human stronghold, near a cave connected to the underground passages,

nChen Yiming chose a spot on higher ground. From this spot, he could observe the situation in the cave while carrying out his daily cultivation.

nHis current cultivation was mainly focused on the transformation of his spiritual power. This process could not be achieved overnight. It required a long time to accumulate gradually, unless he was willing to take some risks.

nHe fused with the figure in his mind and entered the ring again.

nThe second time he entered, the space no longer seemed mysterious. The fog that blocked his perception was instantly dispersed by the figure in his mind. He saw the female spirit bound by the golden and silver vortexes again.

nIt was daytime in the otherworld. The sun-like light shone down from above, and the golden vortex was extremely active.

nThe figure in his mind automatically used its incomplete breathing technique. Golden and silver vortexes appeared near it, just like those around the female spirit.

nChen Yiming’s consciousness started to scream again. The cultivation environment in the otherworld was better, and his consciousness felt like it was in a sea of flames.

nThe strength of the sea of flames was being controlled by the figure in his mind and was increasing bit by bit, causing his spiritual power to undergo a transformation.

nNormally, humans at this stage would temper their spiritual power gently and carefully. If they were to temper their spiritual power violently like Chen Yiming, there was only one possibility. They would be burned to a crisp.

nOn the other hand, Chen Yiming’s consciousness was in extreme pain, but with the recovery ability from the Level-2 Undying Body talent, the damage he suffered had already been healed without getting more serious.

nThis process was also taken a step further, accelerating the transformation of his spiritual power.

n…

nAfter a long period of time, Chen Yiming couldn’t withstand it any longer and fainted. The figure in his mind stopped.

nAfter sensing the situation in the cave in the outside world, he realized that the stones at the entrance of the cave were arranged in the same shape. There were no signs of them having been moved at all. As expected, no otherworld creatures had come out during the day.

nThe more Chen Yiming looked at the female spirit, the more it seemed like a pile of Skill Points to him.

nHe did not know what level the female spirit was at, but the figure in his mind could learn a portion of the breathing technique from it. He felt that it was at least one level higher than the master realm.

n“Eh?”

nAs soon as this thought appeared, he could not stop himself. He was definitely not after the female spirit because of her appearance. He really just wanted the Skill Points.

nHe couldn’t help but think that the Skill Points provided by this female spirit might be able to increase his swordsmanship talent by one level.

nHowever, how could he kill the female spirit? He did not dare to take the risk to get too close. The other party’s spiritual power was not on the same level as his consciousness. It would be troublesome if he fell under its control.

nCould his consciousness use the Sword Aura?

nThinking of this, he used his spiritual power to create a sword and activated his Sword Aura to slash at the female spirit.

nA storm instantly brewed in the ring, and the Sword Aura slashed out towards the female spirit.

n“There’s a chance,” Chen Yiming said excitedly.

nThe female spirit could not move at all and was about to be hit by the Sword Aura without putting up any resistance. However, when the Sword Aura reached her side, it was suddenly stopped by an invisible force.

n“Crack!”

nChen Yiming watched helplessly as the Sword Aura was destroyed.

nDuring this process, the golden and silver vortexes above and below the female spirit’s feet moved slightly. It was almost imperceptible.

n“What!”

nChen Yiming gasped in shock.

nHe could not afford to offend the female spirit. From the fact that the Sword Aura was easily destroyed, it could be seen how powerful the golden and silver vortexes that bound the female spirit were. This also meant that the female spirit was not weak.

nEscape! Escape!

nSeeing that it was not something he could deal with at the moment, he fused his consciousness with the figure in his mind and wanted to escape from the ring.

nSuddenly, the female spirit opened her eyes.

nThe temperature in the ring seemed to have dropped drastically. As pressure descended from the sky, the figure and Chen Yiming’s consciousness fell to the ground.

nThe change happened quickly, but it was over even faster. The golden and silver vortexes spun quickly, and the entire space in the ring was awakened. Strange runes appeared on the inner wall.

nThe runes resonated with the vortexes, and incomprehensible notes echoed in the ring. Every sound felt like it could dissipate one’s consciousness.

nFacing a life-or-death situation, countless transparent threads appeared around his consciousness and the figure in his mind, and their forms gradually stabilized.

nIn the outside world, a large amount of light and heat had gathered in the area where Chen Yiming was, causing a large portion of the sky to be dyed red. This phenomenon could be seen from dozens of kilometers away, and looked just like a cloud of fire.

nHis body was automatically covered by his protective internal force. Perhaps it was because the space in the outside world was too big compared to the space in the ring, but the protective internal force that was constantly being melted was constantly being repaired, and his body was not injured at all.

n“What am I doing? I was almost killed.”

nChen Yiming’ consciousness cursed in the ring.

nThe golden and silver vortexes calmed down, and the runes on the inner wall gradually disappeared. Everything returned to normal.

nEarlier, he almost thought that he was doomed. His consciousness had already been broken. However, he had the powerful recovery ability from his Undying Body talent. Coupled with the fact that the incident had only lasted for a few seconds, he had just managed to survive.

nAt this moment, the female spirit looked tired. She raised her head in surprise and exchanged glances with Chen Yiming.

n“Run!”

nChen Yiming’s consciousness communicated with the figure in his mind and instantly left the ring and returned to his body.

nHe was afraid that if he was half a second late, the female spirit would act up again. He was not confident that he would still be fine the second time.

nLooking down from the sky, a circle of scorched earth extended out from Chen Yiming.

nThe scorched ground had actually only suffered the aftershock, but it had also left behind a black circle several kilometers wide.

nThe moment Chen Yiming opened his eyes, he took off his ring and threw it to the side as if the ring was a hot potato.

n“I’m afraid of you. Even if I really offended you, I can still hide from you.”

nHe patted his chest to calm his pounding heart. It had been a long time since he had been this nervous and shaken since he had achieved success in martial arts.

nThe ring that was stuck in the scorched earth shook slightly, and Chen Yiming happened to see its movement. His eyes widened and he retreated hundreds of meters with a whoosh.

n“We’ll never see each other again!”

nChen Yiming turned around and ran for his life.

nHowever, the figure in his mind synchronized what he had comprehended with Chen Yiming’s consciousness. Symbols appeared on the blurry walls of his spiritual world.

n“This is?”

nChen Yiming couldn’t help but stop in his tracks. He could clearly feel that after the symbols appeared, the stability of his spiritual world had increased qualitatively.

nThis feeling was similar to a rubber ball turning into a steel ball. He had an urge to charge straight into battle. His intuition told him that there was no need to panic.

nHe turned around stiffly and looked towards the ring in the distance.

nAt this moment, complicated emotions welled up in his heart. He was reluctant to part with it, but he was also afraid that he could not deal with it. This made him feel extremely conflicted.

nThe ring was undoubtedly a good thing, but the level of the female spirit was beyond his imagination. It seemed to be hiding an unimaginable secret. Carrying such a dangerous thing by his side… just the thought of it was terrifying.

nHe thought about it for a moment. As long as his consciousness did not enter the ring, could the female spirit do anything to him?

nPreviously, it could not even kill him. Now that he had secretly learned the drawing of the runes from it, he might be able to deal damage to it one day. Even if he couldn’t defeat it, he could at least make it feel fear.

nHow great!

nAt this moment, Chen Yiming’s eyes lit up, and the feeling of submission disappeared from his body.

nIn a flash, he crossed hundreds of meters and picked up the ring again to put it on his thumb. The ring shook slightly, then calmed down.

n“Hmph! Hmph! Come out if you have the guts!”

nChen Yiming stared at the ring. He wanted to be arrogant, but he didn’t say anything in the end.

nIt would not be too late to get back at it after he became stronger. He did not believe that the restrained female spirit could win against him, who had the help from the martial arts talent system.

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