I can receive unlimited protection; my parents handed me over to the state.

"A reasonable explanation?" Qian Sen slowly walked up to the podium and turned on the holographic projection behind him again.

This time, what appeared on the screen was no longer information about the void.

Instead, it's a real-time view of the northern defense line, covered in ice and snow, filled with war and smoke.

"Didn't you want to explain?"

"Okay, before I explain, I'll ask you a question first."

Qian Sen's gaze, sharp as a sword, swept over everyone present.

"Does anyone know what happened on the northern border two weeks ago?"

This question surprised everyone.

They had all heard some things about the northern defense line.

"I know!" A well-informed scion from a military family raised his hand and said, "Half a month ago, Lord Azure Dragon and several S-rank seniors repelled a large-scale surprise attack by the Void Army in the Northern Territory! They achieved a glorious victory!"

"That's right! I also heard that in that battle, we not only held the line, but also pushed back and recaptured the previously lost Outpost No. 3!"

"I've heard about it too! They say that battle was so fierce that the sky darkened, and Lord Azure Dragon killed a lord-level void behemoth with a single axe stroke!"

The crowd began to discuss it animatedly, their faces filled with pride and a sense of accomplishment.

After all, it was a victory that belonged to their Chinese nation.

However, Qian Sen only sneered as he listened to their discussion.

"Repel the surprise attack? Achieve victory?"

"Is this all you see in the news?"

He shook his head, his tone filled with disappointment.

"It seems that you so-called geniuses are nothing more than a group of ignorant children who can only passively receive information."

He reached out and quickly made a few gestures on the holographic screen.

Soon, a real combat video, classified as "top military secret" and never before released to the public, began to play on the screen.

The video was taken from the perspective of a high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

The scene depicts a vast, boundless ice field.

On the icy plains, the Chinese Star Envoy Legion, arrayed in neat formations, was engaged in a fierce battle against the surging tide of bizarre void creatures.

The light of energy, the flames of the explosion, the blood and bits of flesh, stained the entire white snowfield red.

Every second, a soldier falls.

Every second, lives are lost.

The cruelty and bloodshed of war shocked everyone present in an unprecedented and direct way.

The discussions in the seminar room gradually faded away.

Everyone held their breath, their faces pale as they stared at the hellish scene on the screen.

Just then, a strange change occurred on screen!

At the edge of the ice field, the spatial rift connecting to the void suddenly began to twist violently.

Immediately afterwards, an indescribably enormous monster slowly emerged from the crack.

The monster had no fixed form.

It was like a colossal shadow composed of pure, flowing darkness. Above the shadow, countless eyes of various colors, filled with madness and chaos, opened and closed continuously.

As soon as it appeared, an invisible mental storm filled with negative energy swept across the entire battlefield!

All the Chinese warriors swept by the storm, regardless of their rank, instantly clutched their heads and let out painful screams.

Some people bled from all seven orifices on the spot and died from a mental breakdown.

Some people, on the other hand, seem to have lost their minds and start attacking their comrades-in-arms in a frenzy.

Even the A-level Star Envoys who were fighting the Void Lord in the sky swayed and almost fell from the sky.

"What...what is this thing?" Gu Tianye's voice trembled as he looked at the indescribable monster on the screen.

He sensed an extreme fear emanating from the monster, a fear that came from the depths of his soul.

"It is the 'Void Nightmare'."

Qian Sen's voice was cold and hoarse.

"A kind of pure spiritual energy life form that we still cannot understand."

"Physical attacks are completely ineffective against it. Even conventional energy attacks are absorbed by its bizarre body, with 99% of them being absorbed."

"It is a walking, unsolvable, soul-harvesting machine."

On the screen, the battle continues.

In order to stop the "Void Nightmare", China immediately dispatched three S-class Star Envoys to intercept it.

One is the "Azure Dragon," wielding a giant axe and engulfed in flames of dragon blood.

One is the "Ice Emperor," who rides on icy storms, freezing everything in his path.

There is also "Zhenyue", who manipulates gravity and can distort space itself.

Three S-class powerhouses, representing the pinnacle of China's combat strength, attacked simultaneously!

However, what happened next filled all the geniuses present with a deep sense of despair.

The Azure Dragon's Star-Slaying Giant Axe, powerful enough to split mountains, struck "Void Nightmare" as if it were striking thin air, passing right through without causing any damage.

The Ice Emperor's frigid storm, capable of freezing souls, was assimilated and devoured by the pure darkness the moment it came into contact with the "Void Nightmare".

Only Zhenyue's gravity field could barely slow down its movements.

But it was only slow.

"Void Nightmare" is practically invincible!

Ignoring the attacks of the three S-class powerhouses, its enormous, shadow-formed body slowly pressed down on the Chinese army's position.

Wherever it goes, all life vanishes under its invisible spiritual pollution.

despair.

An unprecedented, suffocating despair enveloped the entire seminar room.

Everyone understood.

That so-called "glorious victory" was a complete lie.

In that battle, China almost lost.

The entire northern defense line almost collapsed!

"Then...and then what happened?" a girl asked in a trembling voice. "How...how did we win?"

"win?"

Qian Sen chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"We did not win."

He reached out and drew a circle on the screen, encircling an inconspicuous corner behind the battlefield.

"We just temporarily persuaded it to go back."

Qian Sen tapped the holographic screen with his finger, and the circled corner of the battlefield was instantly magnified countless times.

Everyone present stared wide-eyed, wanting to see clearly what exactly was capable of turning the tide in such a desperate battle.

However, what they saw was neither a secret weapon capable of destroying the world, nor a hidden peerless expert.

What they saw were two people.

One of them was someone they knew very well: the legend of the Chinese military, the S-class Star Envoy known as "Prison King" Su Lie, who was said to be so powerful that as long as he lived, the Abyss would not dare to cross the line.

The other was a tall woman they had never seen before, with long silver hair and her body engulfed in golden flames.

"It's Instructor Flame Princess!"

In the seminar room, several long-time members of the "God-Making Project" recognized the woman.

But most people, including Xiang Batian and Mu Bingli, looked completely bewildered.

They didn't understand what use these two extra people could be when three S-level experts were helpless.

On the screen, Su Lie did not join the siege of "Void Nightmare".

He simply stood there, and heavily planted an enormous, dark purple octagonal warhammer into the icy plain in front of him.

Then, he gripped the hammer handle with both hands, closed his eyes, as if gathering some kind of power.

The silver-haired woman known as "Flame Princess" took a deep breath, and the ornate crimson-gold longsword in her hand instantly burst forth with dazzling light.

The next second, to everyone's utter shock...

The space behind Flame Princess suddenly burst into flames!

A pair of enormous wings, with a wingspan of over a hundred meters, made entirely of pure, golden flames that resembled the true fire of the sun, suddenly unfolded from behind her!

"Phoenix... Phoenix?!"

Gu Tianye stared at the scene on the screen that resembled a god descending to earth, stammering and unable to utter a single complete word.

Flame Princess spread her fiery wings, transforming into a golden meteor that soared into the sky.

Instead of attacking the "Void Nightmare" itself, she flew directly above it.

Then, she raised the crimson-gold longsword in her hand high.

"The Final Move—Phoenix Rebirth!"

With a clear, cold shout, as if proclaiming judgment.

The longsword in Yan Ji's hand, along with the fiery wings on her back, instantly disintegrated, turning into billions of golden sparks.

These sparks quickly coalesced in the air to form an enormous, lifelike phoenix of fire!

The phoenix looked up and let out a clear and melodious cry!

Then, carrying the terrifying power to incinerate and purify everything, like a real sun, it crashed down hard into the huge, dark "Void Nightmare" below!

No sound.

There was no explosion.

There was only one intense, blindingly pure white light!

Amidst the light, the arrogant and almost invincible "Void Nightmare" let out its first and only silent shriek since its appearance, filled with pain and fear!

Its body, composed of pure spiritual energy, began to melt and disintegrate rapidly under the purification of that pure white light, like ice and snow encountering the scorching sun!

Just three seconds!

The enormous shadow that had covered half the battlefield shrank by nearly a third!

"Attack successful! Attack successful!"

In the observation group, a general suddenly stood up excitedly.

However, their joy was short-lived.

On the screen, the enormous fiery phoenix, after unleashing that earth-shattering attack, seemed to have exhausted all its energy. Its light quickly dimmed, turning back into sparks that dissipated into the air.

Although the "Void Nightmare" was severely damaged and shrunk in size, it was not completely killed.

Its remaining body twisted and writhed violently, as if enduring immense pain.

Then, seemingly sensing a deadly threat, it ceased its fight and began to slowly retreat towards the spatial rift behind it.

It's trying to escape!

"Stop it! Don't let it get away!"

The three S-rank experts, Azure Dragon, Ice Emperor, and Zhenyue, immediately reacted and tried to intercept them.

But at that moment...

Su Lie, who had been standing at the back with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them!

A terrifying glint flashed in his cloudy old eyes!

"Trying to run? Did you even ask me first!"

Su Lie let out a deafening roar, gripped the massive warhammer stuck in the ground with both hands, and with all his might, lifted it upwards!

"Secret Technique - Spatial Shackles!"

"Buzz—!"

An invisible yet terrifyingly powerful wave, strong enough to distort space, spread out instantly from the octagonal warhammer as its center!

The space within a radius of several hundred meters around "Void Nightmare" suddenly solidified as if it had turned into a transparent jelly!

Just as "Void Nightmare" was preparing to retreat back into the spatial rift, its body suddenly froze, like an insect sealed in amber, firmly imprisoned in place, unable to move!

"A great opportunity!"

Seeing this, Canglong and the others immediately seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and unleashed their most powerful attacks without reservation onto the imprisoned body of "Void Nightmare".

However, the results were still minimal.

Their attacks still failed to inflict effective damage on the very essence of the "Void Nightmare's" soul.

The "spatial shackles" only last for a short thirty seconds.

It seemed that "Void Nightmare" was about to break free of its restraints.

At this critical moment.

Su Lie made his move again.

He raised his octagonal warhammer high, a ferocious smile spreading across his weathered face.

"You beast, taste this 'Soul Impact,' a move tailor-made for you!"

He did not bring down the warhammer.

Instead, he imitated Tang Long's actions on the training field, aiming the massive hammer at the imprisoned "Void Nightmare" from afar.

Then, he struck the end of the hammer handle hard!

"Thump—!"

A deep, muffled sound, as if it came from the deepest hell, resounded in the depths of everyone's soul!

"Aaaaaaahh ...

The "Void Nightmare," a body composed of countless eyes, exploded instantly upon hearing the tolling of the bell!

Its enormous body, composed of pure spiritual energy, began to violently collapse and disintegrate from the inside out, as if an antimatter bomb had been dropped on it!

It couldn't even utter a complete lament before, under that invisible soul-shaking force, it was completely erased from this world, leaving no trace of its existence!

Soul fly away!

When the last wisp of black energy from "Void Nightmare" dissipated into the air.

The entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone stared in disbelief at the incredible scene before them, their minds blank.

Won?

Just like that... they won?

That seemingly insurmountable monster, which had baffled three S-class powerhouses and nearly driven the entire northern defense line to the brink of collapse, was easily and effortlessly annihilated by two weapons they had never seen before.

The seminar room was equally silent.

Gu Tianye, Xiang Batian, Mu Bingli... all these proud and arrogant young talents were like ducks with their necks choked, their mouths agape, unable to utter a single word.

They were completely stunned.

They weren't intimidated by Su Lie and Yan Ji's power.

Instead, they were stunned by those two mysterious weapons that they had never seen before, yet were so powerful as to be unreasonable!

That crimson-gold longsword that can transform into a phoenix and unleash the "fire of rebirth"!

That octagonal warhammer that can imprison space and shatter the soul with a single blow!

These two weapons...

What exactly is their background?

Why have they never appeared in any materials?

Just as everyone was still immersed in the great shock, Qian Sen's voice rang out softly.

"Now, do you understand?"

He pointed to the screen at the two artifacts that had dimmed their light but still exuded a terrifying aura.

"The reason we were able to 'persuade' it was not because of people, but because of them."

Qian Sen's gaze slowly swept over the blank faces below the stage.

"Now, I'll ask you one more question."

"Does anyone know who...forged these two legendary artifacts, which are worthy of being recorded in history and changed the entire course of war?"

This question, like a switch, instantly ignited the curiosity and desire in everyone's hearts.

Yes!

who is it?

Who is it?

Which reclusive, highly respected master blacksmith could create such an astonishing work?

All eyes were fixed on Qian Sen, waiting for him to reveal that great name.

However, Qian Sen simply smiled.

He did not answer.

Instead, he slowly turned around.

Then, amidst everyone's expectant and reverent gazes...

He stretched out his hand and pointed to the one who had sat quietly in the front row the whole time, the one whom everyone despised, mocked, and regarded as a good-for-nothing...

F-rank blacksmith.

"Far away, yet right before my eyes."

Qian Sen's voice wasn't loud, but it exploded like a nuclear bomb in everyone's mind.

"It's him."