Chapter 1 When Su Zhou Arrived in the South Sea

When Su Zhou arrived in the South Sea, both Sheng Sheng and Yan Sheng were already waiting near the Tianchi Realm's portal.

The matter of Jiu Ming's disappearance hadn't spread yet, after all, the disappearance of a true dragon king was a big news for the entire world.

But the most troublesome aspect was that Jiu Ming had only recently been promoted by the Zheng Country government as part of a propaganda campaign for traditional dragon totem worship.

As a handsome dragonkin youth, Jiu Ming, like Jin Qiong, was a leading figure for the Nidao faction—Su Zhou was too strong, already beyond that concept. He had many female fans, was extremely popular online, and every appearance drew huge crowds.

If he really disappeared, it couldn't be concealed, and any attempts to downplay it would be futile.

Therefore, to avoid problems, only Sheng Sheng, representing the Nidao faction, and Yan Sheng, Sheng Sheng's close confidant, knew the most about this matter. The other Holy Seats only knew about 'Jiu Ming's disappearance.'

As the strongest person in Zheng Country and a member of the Nidao dragon shapeshifters, Su Zhou was notified immediately and invited to the South Sea to assess the situation using his Earth Immortal-level abilities.

"I'm here."

A shooting star plunged into the sea, but didn't cause a large disturbance.

As Su Zhou entered the sea, the water parted around him and automatically calmed, as if assisting him. The youth arrived beside the two Holy Seats and asked directly, "What's the situation?"

"The situation is complicated, Chongwen (Yan Sheng's real name) should have told you before."

A magnetic voice spoke, Sheng Sheng was the first to speak.

This was a gaunt middle-aged man with no beard, bright eyes, and wrinkles around his eyes, with a head of silver-white hair unlike ordinary Zheng Country people.

While not exactly having the appearance of an ageless immortal, Sheng Sheng's appearance and demeanor were so good that he looked like the true immortals that the public imagined. It was difficult to imagine how handsome he was when he was young.

In terms of personal image alone, he was probably the best of all the Holy Seats.

But in reality, not to mention this superior appearance, this leader of the Zheng Country's Nidao faction, who possessed the bloodline of Bai Ze, was essentially a truly mad scientist.

Su Zhou remembered the terrifying scene when he met Sheng Sheng in his lab last time, seeing the other party performing live experiments on his clones… It was truly memorable, even Su Zhou, who had no problem eating guiche alive, felt slightly uncomfortable.

And now, the silver-haired Holy Seat frowned slightly, and he solemnly explained the current situation to Su Zhou: "It's not just Jiu Ming. We've learned from various channels that similar disappearances have occurred around the world. Whether in Zheng Country or other countries, from large forces to civilian armed groups, there have been similar incidents."

"But the problem is that the missing people have no pattern. There are strong and weak, rich and poor, and it's impossible to know the conditions for these disappearances."

"That's right."

Yan Sheng's humanoid prosthetic body also spoke. It was difficult for this Holy Seat, who had actively transformed himself into an electronic soul, to experience emotional fluctuations, but even so, his tone revealed a hint of doubt: "For example, among the confirmed disappearance cases, there's Jiu Ming, who is at the high-level of the extraordinary; and Ma Jing, who is only at the mid-level of awakening and comes from a Weiwu-style martial arts gym."

"The two people's strength, identity, personality, experience, everything is completely different. It's impossible to find even the slightest similarity."

While saying this, Yan Sheng's tone was more serious than ever before—as leaders of Zheng Country, a modern superpower in the era of spiritual energy revival, the Holy Seats found it hard to believe that such a thing could happen in the country they led.

Especially since, some time ago, the comprehensive spiritual network monitoring system, driven by Yan Sheng, had officially begun operation. This was an ultra-large-scale array cluster that could theoretically monitor all spiritual energy fluctuations nationwide. Even if someone used a Dust Removal Spell on the street, the network could easily detect it and identify who released the spell through its spiritual energy signature.

But now, this large-scale array cluster was completely useless and hadn't found any clues.

Some time ago, the Qingqiu-originated Soulspring server had made him very happy, and the existence of the Ice Fox collective consciousness had also delighted Yan Sheng, who exclaimed that he had found inspiration for the future.

But before he could be happy for a few days, these disappearances occurred on Earth. At that time, his political enemies within the committee would definitely question the capabilities of his spiritual network system again.

Therefore, as a last resort, Yan Sheng could only ask Su Zhou, this Earth Immortal, to come over and personally investigate the matter, trusting this Earth Immortal with whom he had a good relationship, to see what was going on.

"I see, I understand roughly."

After listening to the two Holy Seats' explanations, Su Zhou nodded, wearing an expression of understanding: "In any case, let's take a look at the situation."

Of course, he was very calm inside.

Because Su Zhou already knew the cause and effect of this matter.

As early as when he returned from the Divine Dragon World and Pioneer and Yala were at loggerheads, Su Zhou knew very well that Pioneer's actions would inevitably affect many worlds. The youth had anticipated this, and now it was just fantasy turning into reality.

Therefore, his current demeanor was much calmer than Sheng Sheng and Yan Sheng, which in turn gradually calmed the two Holy Seats, who couldn't help but nod inwardly.

"As expected of a genius who could advance to the Immortal Divinity realm far earlier than old fogeys like us!"

"This kind of mind, perfectly integrated, as solid as gold, is truly extraordinary!"

While praising him in their hearts, Sheng Sheng couldn't help but carefully examine Su Zhou again.

Then, the silver-haired middle-aged man couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "Too perfect!"

—Perfect body, perfect appearance!

And this unheard-of talent, the cultivation speed of achieving Immortal Divinity in three years, an unwavering willpower, and combat skills that are almost instinctive but extremely practical.

"If all human beings' innate conditions could be like Su Zhou's, then our human race would definitely achieve even greater accomplishments than the immortals of the past!"

Although he didn't say a word on the surface, Sheng Sheng couldn't help but think when he stared at Su Zhou: "Unfortunately, it's a bit difficult to collect his physical material, his blood and hair lose activity too quickly after leaving his body and can't be tested at all..."

"...If I were a woman, and a little younger..."

Dangerous thoughts surged in the heart of this Holy Seat, who had no ethical morality, only progress and technology.

"Cough cough..."

Although Su Zhou, who could hear his thoughts, didn't actively try to eavesdrop, he could roughly understand what the other party was thinking. He couldn't help but stiffen his face, take a slight step back, and distance himself a bit from Sheng Sheng.

Afterwards, the youth coughed and said with a serious expression: "In short, let me see what the situation is first."

After speaking, he reached out and plunged his hand into his personal space, drawing out the Blade of Annihilation.

"Wait, Professor Su, what are you..."

"Calm down, calm down, let's talk things out, don't draw your blade!"

This scene immediately made Yan Sheng and Sheng Sheng exclaim in alarm. The two stepped forward, trying to make Su Zhou put the blade back.

It wasn't surprising that the two Holy Seats reacted so strongly.

Because not long ago, when Su Zhou was in the Beast God World, accepting official tests and displaying his Overlord-tier strength, he used the exact same movement to draw the Blade of Annihilation and directly shattered a mountain in a remote area.

To put it that way, it's a bit inappropriate - in fact, at that time, Su Zhou, who was urging his full strength, merely drawing his blade caused the weather within dozens of miles to suddenly change from clear to cloudy, with rolling dark clouds, thunder, and hailstorms. And his subsequent slash with the blade was like a heavenly punishment descending, endless heat with blue-purple demonic fire burning everything, directly engulfing the entire mountain.

With just one strike, the entire mountain was split in two, and the lava rolled down like melting cream from a mountain-shaped ice cream cone, eventually turning into a boiling lava lake... And this lake was then frozen by the rain and hail stirred up by Su Zhou, and has now become a flat area where an airport can be built.

Sheng Sheng and Yan Sheng were also present at that time, shocked, and now seeing Su Zhou making the same opening move, they naturally stopped him subconsciously.

—Who knows what he wants to cut?!

However, something unexpected happened.

This time, after Su Zhou drew the Blade of Annihilation, he didn't grip it tightly. The youth simply tossed it away, causing the Divine Blade to fly out of his hand and drift in the sea.

"Clang!"

At that instant, after being released, the Divine Blade was immediately like a wild horse off its leash, a husky off its rope, and made a long, ringing sound - immediately afterwards, it began to wander around in the surrounding sea, dragging a trail of scarlet yang-fire spiritual energy.

"What, what does this mean?"

For a time, Sheng Sheng and Yan Sheng didn't understand what Su Zhou and the Blade of Annihilation were doing, after all, this scene looked a bit too strange.

But soon, they discovered that in the flickering light of the Blade of Annihilation, it was faintly outlining a dragon-shaped empty shadow in the sea!

That seemed to be a silhouette of Jiu Ming's state before his disappearance?!

Regarding the surprise of the two Holy Seats, Su Zhou stood with his hands behind his back, smiling without saying a word.

The Blade of Annihilation had made considerable progress since the battle on Qingqiu Star.

Although its intelligence hadn't improved much, the Divine Blade's spirituality had greatly increased, and its sensitivity to spiritual energy was almost comparable to Su Zhou, who was an Overlord Earth Immortal.

Why would he need to personally search for the residual spiritual energy traces of Jiu Ming for such a small matter? It was completely possible to let the Blade of Annihilation do it, which could also maintain his image and kill two birds with one stone.

Soon, in the ringing sounds of the blade, one after another phantom of Jiu Ming was outlined.

It could be seen that the True Dragon had been very quiet for a long time, staying there without moving a single step, seemingly asleep.

But at some point a few days ago, Jiu Ming suddenly raised his head. After spacing out for a while, the entire dragon disappeared without a trace.

"This, is perplexing..."

Although still somewhat immersed in Su Zhou's incredibly agile 'Blade Manipulation Technique,' Sheng Sheng shook his head. After he reacted, he said in a deep voice: "To forcibly take away a True Dragon so silently? What kind of method is this? It's simply inconceivable!"

Yan Sheng also nodded slightly. He looked at Su Zhou, his tone solemn: "Professor Su, you are an Overlord, do you think you can quietly capture Jiu Ming, and abduct him before he issues a warning?"

"I can do it, but it would be a bit difficult, after all, Jiu Ming is a True Dragon. Just abducting him, not killing him, would be a hundred times more troublesome."

To this, Su Zhou first nodded slightly, then shook his head, and said calmly, "But the problem is, this may not be a forced action."

Perhaps Yan Sheng and Sheng Sheng didn't know, but Su Zhou himself was very clear that Jiu Ming left because of his own choice.

Pioneer didn't forcibly abduct members of its kindred - like Shao Shuangyue. According to Shao Shuangyue's description, she left Pioneer's pop-up window open for several days, but until the end, Pioneer didn't forcibly abduct her, but simply attracted her attention, letting her notice its existence.

Pioneer's plan was actually very simple, that was to directly seduce the pure desire for exploration in people's hearts. After this desire reached a certain level, it would be recognized by it, and then the other party would be given the right to choose.

This choice must be from the heart, sincere, it doesn't need to be induced, doesn't need to be deceived, and doesn't need any coercion.

Because, if it wasn't someone who sincerely wanted to explore the unknown and go to faraway places, Pioneer wouldn't bother wasting its energy to select them as kindred - even if that person was strong and talented.

After all, if the route is wrong, the stronger the power, the more of an enemy it becomes. If one doesn't embark on this path due to spontaneous desire for exploration and curiosity, then they don't deserve to be called His kindred.

"Sheng Sheng, Yan Sheng, I don't know, do you remember the 'Ancient Primordial Ones'?"

Without any hesitation, after the Blade of Annihilation finished detecting Jiu Ming's aura, Su Zhou turned his head and said solemnly to the two Holy Seats: "Those powerful existences that are mentioned obscurely in the immortal divinity texts."

To this, the two Holy Seats both nodded slightly.

Of course they remembered.

Throughout the world, in the texts left by the ancient immortal divinities, there would often appear strange and powerful existences.

They were called 'Fate,' 'The Heavenly Way,' 'Irresistible Force,' and 'The Torrent'... Faced with these powers, even the most powerful immortal divinities would be troubled, or even die because of them.

They guessed that it was a force above the world, the power of this existence was invisible, but it could affect countless worlds, and they had been carrying out various secret purposes and plans.

'Ancient Primordial Ones' was a collective term used by ancient immortal divinities for those existences, and the Order Array on the entire Earth was created to guard against the power projection of the Ancient Primordial Ones.

"Doesn't what's happening now seem very similar to the texts?"

Saying so, Su Zhou's tone had a hint of subtle sincerity: "This kind of power that even immortal divinities cannot see through, the source is unknown... Isn't this precisely the characteristic of a Great Primordial One?"

—Spiritual energy has revived, and the Ancient Primordial Ones have also revived.

Fate, the Heavenly Way, powers called Irresistible Force and The Torrent, have once again descended on our world.

"So that's how it is..."

Hearing this, the two Holy Seats fell silent, their faces extremely solemn.

Whether it was Sheng Sheng or Yan Sheng, they were no strangers to the rumors of the Ancient Primordial Ones, but they hadn't thought of it in that way at first.

"In that case, what should we do?"

Sheng Sheng couldn't help but mutter to himself - the Ancient Primordial Ones, a power that even immortal divinities of the past couldn't resist, how could humans of today contend with it?

—Just deal with it.

Although he thought so in his heart, Su Zhou on the surface laughed heartily.

He put on an expression of 'I'm not pretending anymore, I confess, no one understands the Great Primordial Ones better than me,' and directly laid his cards on the table with the two Holy Seats: "As far as I know, among the Ancient Primordial Ones with similar incident records, I only remember one - and that one probably won't do anything to Jiu Ming, at most they'll just set up a little test."

"Don't worry, if nothing unexpected happens, Jiu Ming should be able to come back from time to time - although he can't reveal the specific situation over there, he's definitely safe."

While saying this, it was actually Yala speaking in the soul space, and Su Zhou was repeating it in reality. He roughly described Jiu Ming's current situation, comforting the two Holy Seats.

"Oh, right." And at the end, Su Zhou seemed to suddenly realize something. He emphasized seriously: "This news is all from the immortal divinity ruins - that immortal divinity ruins."

—Immortal divinity ruins? I don't believe you.

Although such a thought flashed through their minds, Sheng Sheng and Yan Sheng instantly understood Su Zhou's hint.

—Su Zhou's abnormally rapid advancement, and the guesses they had made long ago, and the immortal divinity ruins that he repeatedly emphasized, and the various inheritances and technologies he obtained from the immortal divinity ruins...

Sure enough, he knows a lot about these, the information of the Ancient Primordial Ones.

Although they had already made guesses in their hearts, Su Zhou was now an Earth Immortal, an Overlord Immortal Divinity.

The information he revealed now, and the information he revealed when he was an Extraordinary, were not the same concept at all.

So Sheng Sheng didn't continue this topic. Having roughly understood this process, he nodded slightly and said, "If Jiu Ming is okay, then that's good."

"It's just that what follows will be a bit troublesome... After he disappears, we need to give an explanation to both the fans and the media."

But, at this moment.

Suddenly, before the entrance to the Tianchi Realm, where the three were.

With the Blade of Annihilation issuing a warning sound, the space in front of everyone suddenly twisted for a moment.

In a flash of time and space, a dragonkin youth with dragon horns appeared in the sea.

"Eh - I can really come back! 10 Exploration Points a day, I accidentally exchanged for 10 days' worth... But it's good to be back!"

It could be heard that the blue-haired dragonkin youth was happily talking to himself. He seemed very happy to be back in the water, and his mood had relaxed a lot: "Sure enough, the sea is comfortable. The pool inside the space is big, but it just doesn't have the same feeling... Eh?!"

But before the dragonkin youth could prepare to happily wander in the sea.

Jiu Ming suddenly realized that three huge spiritual energy reactions were pressing towards him like a tidal wave.

—Boom!

In an instant, Su Zhou, Sheng Sheng, and Yan Sheng appeared before him with expressionless faces, as if they had teleported.

"W-What are you doing?!"

Startled, Jiu Ming subconsciously squatted down and hugged his head - this was also an instinctive reaction after a long time of fighting, because this posture could block and withstand the most attacks.

"What do we want to do?"

Su Zhou and the two Holy Seats looked at each other, then showed gentle smiles. He kindly reached out his hand to the returning Jiu Ming and said softly, "Of course, we're asking about your situation during this recent period of time."

"Don't be afraid, tell Gege Zhou all about it, let me hear your troubles!"