Lu Qi and Lu Shi’s schemes had already trapped and killed many intruders from other worlds.

Yet even when Lu Qi’s final formation was broken, the stream of intruders emerging from the portal showed no sign of stopping.

“…Here they come again.”

Many present had witnessed the invasion of the Spirit Mountain Realm firsthand; it had taken only three days to completely wipe out the invaders.

But now, they had been fighting at the portal for several days, and the invaders still poured in endlessly.

Without Lu Qi’s formation, everyone stopped hiding in the shadows; they each grabbed their weapons and charged into battle!

“If they’re coming, let them come! We’ll fight until the very end!”

Qin Zhou’s grip on the Book of Civilization Evolution tightened.

Starting with the first Qingqing Realm, this was already the twentieth world—and thus the twentieth wave of invaders.

With a total of one hundred and thirty-two worlds, just how many people had those from the Hongyun Realm incited to attack the Zhutian Realm?

He looked up; the sky was overcast with dark clouds, as if rain were about to fall.

The small mountain village in the rain was eerily quiet. A faint, lingering scent of blood hung over the back mountain, intertwined with fresh spiritual energy, yet the rusty, metallic tang in the air still made one hold their breath.

Exhaustion was etched on everyone’s faces as they floated in the air.

The rain grew heavier, as if determined to wash everything clean.

The teleportation gate glowed once more.

Fourth Brother shook his head, flinging the rainwater from his face. “They really are a bunch of people you can’t kill off. Is our world’s World Tree really that desirable?”

Sixth Sister held up her flowered umbrella; not a single drop of blood had touched the hem of her skirt. She called out softly, “Fifth Brother, I’ve run out of my Core Stabilizing Pills.”

Instantly, a bottle of pills was tossed in front of Little Six.

After swallowing two fifth-tier Core Stabilizing Pills, her spirits lifted considerably.

“It really is different from last time. Who would’ve thought we’d be so well-prepared this time around?”

“The Village Chief really had foresight. He knew these people wouldn’t just come in one wave.”

They had supplies.

Even if the fighting lasted another ten days, they could still hold out!

Qin Zhou remained silent, listening to the slightly more relaxed chatter around him.

Just as he had instructed Lu San and Yan Qi to prepare new weapons for everyone in advance, he had also reminded Lu Wu long ago to stock up on sufficient pills.

The twenty-first wave of invaders.

Bring it on.

In the midst of a fierce battle against the new wave of invaders, the people Qin Zhou had been waiting for so long finally arrived.

The portal suddenly burst into brilliant light, illuminating that corner as if it were broad daylight.

Qin Zhou and Wen Jue, standing at the back of the crowd, looked up almost simultaneously.

It seemed the people from the Hongyun Realm had calculated exactly when to appear.

This confirmed their intention to reap the benefits of others’ struggles.

Compared to the cautious travelers from other worlds who had arrived earlier, this group that had just emerged from the portal appeared to be the most composed.

There were three people leading the group.

“Dao Si, it looks like we’re late.” The woman in red had a sly, wicked gleam in her eyes. She was slender and alluring, but what stood out most were the claws attached to the back of her hand.

She raised her hand to her forehead and immediately spotted the crowd engaged in a fierce battle mid-air. “Hmm? So many people. Where’s the World Tree?”

“We’re not late—it seems we’ve arrived just in time.” The other speaker, a slender young man in green, wore a loose-sleeved, wide-cut robe. with upturned corners of his eyes that gave him a shrewd look.

A burly man named Dao Si stood between the two, seemingly the leader of the group.

He carried a sword on his shoulder, his upper body bare, revealing sinewy muscles; a scar ran down his torso from his shoulder.

“Just in time. I can already smell the blood.” Dao Si gripped the hilt of his sword, his eyes already betraying a thirst for battle and a bloodthirsty excitement.

These three stood at the front, while behind them, the teleportation gate continued to disgorge people. Before long, a dense, dark crowd had gathered. At a glance, there were as many as forty or fifty of them.

And these forty or fifty people… were almost all at the Fusion Realm.

The strongest among them were undoubtedly the three in front, all at the Great Perfection Realm. Wen Jue’s gaze swept over them.

No, there were even more than three at the Great Perfection Realm.

In terms of average strength, the enemy was even superior to the Zhutian Realm.

On the side of Zhutian Realm, aside from the villagers handling logistics, there were only about forty or fifty combatants, and most of them were also at the Fusion Realm. Only a few were at the Great Perfection Realm.

In terms of numbers and overall strength, the two sides were essentially evenly matched.

The number of Fusion Realm cultivators didn’t matter much. But having even one more Great Perfection Realm cultivator would turn the tide of the battle.

At least in the current situation, Zhutian Realm was at a disadvantage.

No sooner said than done.

A flash of red light streaked across the sky, and the woman in red arrived at the side where Lu Jiujiu was fighting another Fusion Realm expert. She asked with a playful smile—

“Hey, which worlds do your two sides belong to? The Hongyun Realm has arrived. Would you mind making way?”

The moment those words were spoken, the combatants present all stopped fighting in unison.

Hongyun Realm.

The Hongyun Realm has actually arrived?!

Jiujiu shot her a glance. “Hongyun Realm? What on earth is that?” They’re just invaders from another world anyway.

The woman in red swept a glance at Jiujiu and exclaimed in surprise, “What a beautiful face.”

“Little girl, you’re so beautiful I just want to destroy you!” No sooner had the words left her mouth than a crimson glow surged from the claws on the back of her hand, striking toward Jiujiu without warning.

Her speed was astonishing. Jiujiu was startled and stepped back just in time to narrowly dodge the attack.

Lu Jiujiu wasn’t one to take things lying down. A streak of spiritual light shot out, heading straight for the woman in red.

Upon seeing this, Baiyi said, “Sis Jiujiu, I’ll help you!”

The woman in red curled her lips. “Another one. But the two of you are at the Fusion Realm and still only in the Spirit Soul stage… Useless. You’d better know your place and get out of the way quickly, or I’ll take your lives.”

Soon, the three were locked in a fierce struggle.

Before long, Jiujiu and Yibai were slightly at a disadvantage.

Just as the woman in red’s claws were about to slice across their throats, Lu Jiu suddenly grabbed the two of them and flung them behind him, then struck out with a palm strike, sending the woman in red reeling backward.

The woman in red took a few steps back to steady herself, narrowing her eyes. “Great Perfection Realm.”

“There are many Great Perfection Realm cultivators here,” said Dao Si, the leader, in a cold tone. “Gu Yan, be careful.”

The woman in red flickered back to their side. “It seems this world is indeed a bit strange, just as the Immortal Venerable said.”

“It’s not just that. Before we arrived, quite a few people had died here.” The slightly shrewd-looking young man finally spoke, his voice slightly hoarse, “They’re still protecting that World Tree. This suggests that most of these people are the inhabitants of this world.”

“That’s impressive. So many people, and they’re all at the Fusion Realm.”

Upon hearing this, the woman in red’s eyes grew more wary.

“Their strength is almost on par with our world.”

Dao Si: “The World Tree is strange too—it’s still just a sapling.”

The fact that the World Tree was a sapling was what concerned them most.

This world was no ordinary place.

Just as they were observing the Zhutian Realm, the people of the Zhutian Realm were observing them as well.

Many noticed that after the woman in red announced the name of the Hongyun Realm, people from other worlds immediately ceased fighting and huddled together.

It was as if they were already accustomed to making way for them.

Qin Zhou’s expression was inscrutable.

Just then, Xiao Liu beside him suddenly said, “I feel like I’ve seen her before.”

“It’s not just her,” Lu Er chimed in, which was highly unusual for him. “The one in the middle.” He had a vague recollection.

Back in the day, when the village chief took them to the Tongtian Secret Realm, they’d also encountered some formidable opponents.

Like this woman in red, or this man wielding a sword.

Only Wen Jue frowned. “Why don’t I recognize them?” He had visited the Tongtian Secret Realm more than anyone else.

Xiao Liu laughed out loud. “Because you never even gave them a second glance, Big Brother.”

Wen Jue:?

“Am I really that arrogant?” Wen Jue couldn’t help but wonder.

Qin Zhou replied matter-of-factly, “I’ve never kept track of which villages rank in the top ten of the Tongtian List either.” Otherwise, perhaps hearing the words “Hongyun Realm” might have jogged his memory.

Wen Jue tilted his head and smiled at him. “Then I’ll take a cue from you.”

“I’ve actually fought that woman in red before,” Xiao Liu said, propping up his little flowered umbrella and thinking for a moment. “Though I probably wouldn’t stand a chance against her now.”

After all, it’s been so many years since she died.

“I remember that person too,” Lao Ba chimed in. “That swordsman had some real skill.”

As they chatted, the Great Perfection-stage youth from the Hongyun Realm also noticed Wen Jue standing behind the group.

“That person… looks familiar.”

As the words fell, the three of them simultaneously fixed their gaze on Wen Jue, their expressions changing drastically. That face, so strikingly handsome…

“It’s him!”

“How could it be him?”

“This world is…” The three exchanged glances, furrowing their brows in unison, and even spoke in unison—

“The Zhutian Realm.”

Back in the early days of the Ascension Rankings, the ‘Zhutian Realm’ was a nightmare for every village chief and villager character.

Because the Zhutian Realm had consistently dominated the Tongtian Arena rankings. For a very long time, one person stood at the very top of the Tongtian Rankings; he was the obstacle blocking everyone’s path to the summit and the opponent everyone longed to defeat.

However, over the course of a thousand years, no one had been able to defeat that confident young man.

His methods were unfathomable, and his talent was absurdly high.

A thousand years, and not a single defeat.

He had only one name: Lu Yi.

“Zhutian Realm vanished long ago!” Dao Si gritted his teeth. “There’s no way it could reappear.”

“If it’s them, we’d better be cautious.” The shrewd young man tucked his hands into his wide sleeves, his tone growing slightly somber.

“But Zhutian Realm has been gone for so many years,” the woman in red said hesitantly. “Are we really going to back down? If the Immortal Sovereign were to see this, it wouldn’t make any sense.”

Although they recognized Lu Yi, they had rarely crossed swords with him. Back then, they didn’t even have the qualifications to do so.

“Why fear him! Who backs down before even fighting?” Dao Si snorted coldly. “The Zhutian Realm has long been struck from the Tongtian Rankings; everyone there is on their last legs. The Realm has been gone for thousands of years—even if we knew it still existed, what is there to fear?”

“Haven’t you noticed? They’re all just in their spiritual essence forms. In this space, I sense the power of the laws of the universe.”

“You mean…”

This group is being suppressed by the laws.

They don’t even have their true physical forms.

Without true physical forms, even if they’re at the Tribulation Stage—one tier higher than the Great Perfection Realm—there’s nothing to fear!

“Since we’re leading the charge, we must show our might. Let’s clear out these minor pests first! Even if there are some we can’t handle, the Immortal Sovereign will take care of them.”

It goes without saying who those “unhandled” ones are.

“All, follow my command!”

“Slaughter everyone in this world and seize the World Tree’s energy!”

As soon as the words fell.

Dozens of people simultaneously summoned their magical treasures. One dazzling beam of light after another shot toward the villagers of the Zhutian Realm.

“So, this is where the real fighting begins, is it?” A gleam of excitement flashed in Old Four’s eyes.

“Bring it on. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.”

Suddenly, the dozens of figures in front of him vanished all at once.

Only Qin Zhou remained standing in his original spot.

The people from the Hongyun Realm froze in shock.

What does this mean?

Where did they go?

“Where did they go?!” Dao Si frowned as he stared at Qin Zhou.

Qin Zhou: “They’ll be here soon.”

Dao Si:?

“Dao Si, kill him first!” The woman in red flew toward him, intent on taking Qin Zhou’s life.

Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out in the sky, and a fine crack appeared on the horizon.

She jerked her head up.

“Is that a barrier?”

“The barrier has broken.”

“They’ve gone back to retrieve their bodies,” Qin Zhou explained as he flipped open the villager’s handbook in his hand, his finger hovering over the one-touch summoning button, waiting. Due to the barrier between the Upper and Lower Realms, the laws of the universe prohibited cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage or above from entering the Lower Realm and disturbing mortals.

But the spiritual energy sustaining the barrier between the Upper and Lower Realms was about to be exhausted.

With the barrier shattered and the laws of the universe rendered ineffective, the lower realm could no longer be a place off-limits to Nascent Soul cultivators.

Zhutian Realm would finally have a new future.

Starting from this very moment.

“Forget everything else—kill him first!” Dao Si glared intently at Qin Zhou. He had never seen this man before, yet for some reason, the sight of him standing there holding a book was all too familiar…

He looked too much like that man.

That old friend who had once raised them all with his own hands, only to abandon them in the end.

The three Great Perfection Realm cultivators charged forward together—

A thunderous clang rang out, and the fluctuations of spiritual energy sent all three flying.

In their bewilderment, they finally saw what stood before Qin Zhou.

A massive hammer.

It was as black as night, yet resembled a star-studded sky.

A single man could hold the pass against ten thousand.

“What is this…”

In that brief moment, Qin Zhou finally pressed the ‘One-Click Summon’ button.

【Do you wish to summon all villagers here to ‘defend against the enemy’?】

【Confirm】

In that instant, the rain clouds parted, and dawn broke.

Hundreds of figures instantly appeared before Qin Zhou. Each carried at least one seventh-tier spiritual artifact.

And behind these hundred, a flock of spirit beasts was flying in from even further away.

The upper and lower barriers shattered, and the spirit beasts were set free. Countless streams of spiritual light surged down from the upper realms—

Qin Zhou gripped his hammer.

Today, he would fight for the Zhutian Realm.