Chapter 127 The Foresight of the Sword

For a moment, Su Zhou thought it was an illusion. But after he rubbed his eyes, he discovered that behind the cracks in some of the great seals, there was indeed a faint light flickering.

It was almost like the spiritual light that cascaded across the entire universe during a spiritual energy eruption…

“…Which great existence is stirring up trouble again?”

Frowning deeply, Su Zhou vaguely sensed a familiar aura and thought, "Sure enough, it's the Harbinger… If I hadn't personally faced its true form, I probably wouldn't have been able to detect this."

Without a doubt, in the Icy Void, after parting ways with Yala, the Harbinger had launched its plan.

As for what that plan was, Su Zhou didn't know.

But he understood that it was undoubtedly something that ran counter to his and Yala's goals.

At this moment, Su Zhou wished Yala could wake up and tell him about this, to speculate on the Harbinger's purpose together… But since communicating with the Harbinger, Yala had been fast asleep.

That wasn't weakness; it was more like a snake hibernating before growing… Undoubtedly, after returning from the Divine Dragon World, Yala had retrieved a portion of its power. That was the real reason for its dormancy.

It was just hard on Su Zhou. Having lost the Yala-A-Dream wish-granting machine, the magical Yala-brand external search engine, the young man could do nothing but worry.

"In any case, at least for now, the Harbinger can't extend its hand to the Earth Universe… But I think, if it's just infiltrating some power and tentacles, a great existence that has already awakened can definitely do it. Just like Yala contacting the Holy Serpent Litanies back then, creating a few cults and organizations is no problem at all."

Shaking his head, Su Zhou calmed his mind. He took a deep breath. "Well, hopefully, Yala will wake up before the next time I transmigrate to another world."

"Otherwise, whether it's traversing through this void, which has clearly been altered by the Harbinger, or letting it act as it pleases, it's all too risky."

That was pretty much it.

Besides worrying about the great existence, Su Zhou's instructions to the Security Bureau's action team regarding the various anti-progressive groups that were gradually gaining momentum domestically were to 'closely monitor' them. If a large-scale chaotic event occurred, they were to directly arrest the leaders and appease the other ordinary members.

After all, he couldn't be sure if these suddenly emerging organizations were related to a great existence's clan, or whether they were stirred up by evil beings… Anything was possible.

Su Zhou cared a lot about the ordinary people who had suffered great changes because of the turmoil of the times, but he had no goodwill towards those who tried to use these ordinary people to seek their own interests.

Within the Security Bureau, Su Zhou's prestige was very high, because he often gave lectures and training to the action team members.

With Su Zhou's combat experience and advancement, his high-level guidance on the Security Bureau members' cultivation was accurate. Everyone benefited greatly after participating in the training, so Su Zhou wasn't worried that the Security Bureau would be insincere and slack off while he was on a mission in another world.

September 1, 2017.

The day the Yuanwang research ship set off for the Qingqiu Realm.

Before the research ship's crew collectively boarded the ship.

"Is it just our team this time?"

Liu Wuxin, from the Weiwu lineage, touched his buzz cut, which resembled a bald head, and asked with doubt, "I thought multiple teams would explore together, watching out for and supporting each other."

This spiritual martial arts practitioner, whose muscles were barely concealed by his spacesuit, had just returned from seclusion, so he wasn't very clear about the details of this exploration. His cautious nature hadn't changed.

After all, having participated in the exploration of the Beast God Realm, he had experience exploring other worlds, but this was his first time riding a spaceship.

"Of course not. We're just the first batch."

Answering his question was Lin Chengde, a disciple of the Agricultural Sage. This transcendent, who wore glasses and cultivated the Shenmu 'Ruo Mu' lineage, spoke in a gentle tone. "The first batch of exploration teams will be sent to assess the situation. After collecting information, subsequent explorers will be dispatched based on the feedback. It's a very prudent plan."

As his cultivation increased, Lin Chengde's appearance became more and more like a divine tree. For one thing, his hair had begun to grow root-like aerial roots and leaves, and from a distance, it looked like hair hanging down to his calves.

"Indeed, it's just our team this time."

As the team leader, Su Zhou clapped his hands. He signaled Liu Wuxin, Lin Chengde, and the research team from the Third Section of the Dao Discipline Bureau not to whisper to each other. Then, he said, "This is the first time the Zhengguo New World Exploration Department is conducting interstellar exploration on a research ship. Therefore, safety is paramount. If you encounter any problems during the exploration, please be sure to record them and provide them to the relevant departments for subsequent design modifications."

Besides that, there was no need for more talk. After all, everyone had cooperated once in the Beast God Realm.

The first to board the ship were Tang Yuan and the Tarren electronic wraith. He placed the Netherworld server, which stored a large number of Tarren wraiths, in a slot located at the rear of the research ship, protected by layers of armor and arrays. Then, a large number of crab-like Tarrens could be seen erupting from it like a geyser, then flooding into every module of the ship.

Soon, the interior of the research ship on the teleportation array lit up. This was a sign that the entire ship had been activated.

Following that, the research staff, Liu Wuxin, Lin Chengde, and Ketaren boarded the ship.

As for Su Zhou, he was the last to board.

Because at this moment, Zhengguo's nominal First Sage, the Literary Sage, had arrived and had something to discuss with him.

The Literary Sage was responsible for managing the Central Archive and various transcendent texts. He and the Ritual Sage were the highest figures in Zhengguo's clerical aspect.

This old man with a goatee wasn't very high in cultivation, only at the transcendent high stage. He was only sixty-five years old this year, but he looked much older than the ninety-year-old Reason Sage Su Zhou had seen recently. Both the wrinkles on his face and his gray hair were evidence of this.

With everyone already on board, the Literary Sage, who had directly arrived at the Qingqiu Secret Realm Space-Time Gate through a teleportation array, invited Su Zhou to have a private conversation with him inside the Two Worlds Fortress.

"This is the sword qi condensed weapon of the 'Crimson Firmament Sword'."

Without any preamble, the Literary Sage took out a jade box from his sleeve after seeing Su Zhou in the conference room and seriously handed it to him. "This sword qi condensed weapon has the ability to sense the Crimson Firmament Sword. It can sense the location of any Zhengguo citizen in distress and can also unleash a sword qi comparable to the power of a divine weapon once."

"Besides, although the Crimson Firmament Sword is a national divine weapon forged later, it inherits a large number of imprints from past sages. It can completely open most of the secret realm seals related to our Zhengguo immortals and gods… In other words, it's equivalent to a master key."

So he said. After Su Zhou took the jade box with some surprise, the Literary Sage narrowed his eyes and sized up the other party.

Neither the jade box nor Su Zhou showed any reaction.

This was the result he wanted.

—Mm, not bad.

Gently stroking his beard, the Literary Sage was thoughtful in his heart: At least, the Crimson Firmament Sword completely acknowledges Su Zhou—he is indeed a person who is thinking about Zhengguo and the future of our Shenzhou people, and he is very simple and kind.

The so-called Crimson Firmament Sword was the clan-guarding object that the former emperor used to unify the world and grant a name to his clan… Not a national guard, but a clan guard. Whether it belonged to a unified dynasty or not, whether it was moved to other worlds or outer planets, the Crimson Firmament Sword would react.

Besides… Even a wisp of sword qi from this divine weapon would discern the holder's heart and soul. If their heart was impure, then not to mention touching it, the Crimson Firmament Sword would directly leap up and unleash its power according to the person's thoughts, forcing them back or even killing them.

Su Zhou held the jade box containing a wisp of the Crimson Firmament Sword's qi and was not attacked or forced back, which was enough to prove Su Zhou's reliability.

"The test for granting the Holy Seat has passed another stage… The Hetu Luoshu in the Dao One Celestial Pivot, the Sunset Bow, and the Crimson Firmament Sword. The next one will be the Mountain Moving Whip… When he returns from this trip to Qingqiu, it's time to let him come into contact with it."

At this time, Su Zhou, holding the jade box, felt an extremely pure and powerful sword qi stored in this seemingly unremarkable cyan jade box, condensed into a small crimson sword only the size of an ordinary person's finger.

This feeling was a bit like a variant of the 'Qi Forging Divine Weapon' method of the Grand Craftsman Shi Jiling in the Divine Wood World, but this really only used spiritual energy to forge, so it couldn't really condense the divine weapon's main body. However, it still had the power of a single strike of a divine weapon!

It could be seen that the sword's blade was straight, with dragon-like patterns like a glow of light. In the initial sense, Su Zhou felt that this small qi sword had condensed for an unknown amount of time, even comparable to the power of will on the Blade of Annihilation, which had absorbed the power of will from several worlds.

And this was just a diverted sword qi!

"As expected of a national divine weapon! The accumulation of thousands of years is terrifying!"

He exclaimed, "What great power! If the sword's main body completely erupted, it would be enough, enough to…"

For a moment, even Su Zhou couldn't say what would happen—but at least, that was a power that he absolutely couldn't resist now.

Sure enough, whether it was the Sunset Bow held by the national envoy Liu Li, or the Crimson Firmament Sword in the hands of the Literary Sage… they were all trump cards enough to shoot down alien spaceships and resist interstellar invasions!

And the reason why they asked me to take action as the main force before was probably to hide the power of these trump cards.

Moreover, using divine weapons beyond one's level must also require a certain price…

"Mm."

Smiling as he looked at Su Zhou's surprised expression, the Literary Sage slightly raised his head. "That's pretty much it, Professor Su. I don't think there's any need for me to say more to you. I wish you a successful start to this trip and a smooth journey."

"Don't worry, I will definitely complete the mission."

Putting the jade box into his chest, Su Zhou solemnly replied, "As long as someone is suffering, I will not sit idly by."

"Because of the Crimson Firmament Sword, the authenticity of these words is truly astonishing… It seems that we may have all been overthinking things."

After sighing, he chuckled lightly, left such a sentence, and the Literary Sage left the Two Worlds Fortress quite easily.

And Su Zhou also returned to the research ship, preparing to set off.

All the personnel were gathered and seated in their respective cabins, waiting for departure.

Inside the fortress's control room, the relevant staff in charge of the arrays began the countdown.

"—Teleportation array activated."

"—Yuanwang main engine ignited."

"—All stationed personnel prepare to resist the impact, shock absorption array is activated."

"Teleportation countdown, 10, 9… 3, 2, 1! Start!"

"Buzz!"

In an instant, a cyan light lit up.

Along with the huge array engraved before the Space-Time Gate, mysterious runes rose like clouds of mist, enveloping the entire Yuanwang research ship, and then stirring up the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, space-time was distorted for a moment.

The Yuanwang was directly teleported into another world.

"…Teleportation, successful!"

Then came the belated success announcement.

—Another world, Qingqiu Realm.

The desolate planet of brownish-red color, above Qingqiu Five.

A silver-white research ship appeared out of thin air on the planet's orbit.

Boom—a roar that sounded inside the ship. Along with the engine firing at full power, a silvery-cyan spiritual light stream thousands of meters long erupted from the nozzles at the rear of the Yuanwang.

The incredibly bright light was as dazzling as a star the moment it lit up, illuminating half the starry sky, and the terrifying thrust allowed the Yuanwang to break free from the gravity of Qingqiu Five and begin to travel towards the dark space of the universe.

In an instant, switching from the Two Worlds Fortress in the mountains to the vast cosmic starry sky was an incredible feat that would only be a fantasy in the eyes of people a few decades ago.

But now, with the changes of the times, everything has become reality.

But this is the charm of this strange world.

Su Zhou was immersed in this romantic change. He and Ketaren were sitting together in the captain's cabin. The Zhou Tian observation screen allowed him to clearly see the entire Qingqiu planetary system.

However, before he could really focus on observing his surroundings, the young man felt a tremor in the jade box in his chest.

"Is this the Crimson Firmament Sword's warning?"

Taking out the cyan jade box from his chest, Su Zhou sensed the sword qi vibrations belonging to the divine sword. He couldn't help but sigh, "After a long delay, everything is finally fully prepared—compatriots, don't blame us for being too slow. After all, those who can't even guarantee their own safety are not qualified to save others."

"Huh? Wait, this tremor…"

Just as Su Zhou was carefully feeling the vibrations of the Crimson Firmament Sword's qi, Su Zhou suddenly realized that something was wrong.

He raised his head and looked around the entire cosmic starry sky. The Yuanwang's AI also marked the location of each planet in this planetary system on the screen for him.

But in this way, Su Zhou became even more puzzled.

"Strange."

He stared at the planet location markers on the ship's panoramic screen and muttered to himself, "Although it's very weak."

"But why is there a 'human race in distress' warning not only on Qingqiu Three, which is a life-bearing planet, but also on Qingqiu Four, which is also a lifeless planet?"