SSS-level catastrophe? That's my wife!

Wang Quan sneered, his eyes full of disdain: "Ignore him!"

"Continue to send reinforcements to ensure we have people at every intersection on Qing Shou Mountain!"

The newcomer was visibly startled, then immediately straightened his back: "Yes, Chief Commander!"

Wang Quan's expression was grim as he gazed at the distant night sky and muttered to himself, "Is this another power struggle from above?"

He remained silent for a moment, then turned and left, his voice carrying a hint of ruthlessness: "This Jiangcheng belongs to Master Gu!"

"Disobeying central orders is just a matter of issuing a written approval."

"Disobey Master Gu? I'd be dead before I see the sun rise tomorrow!"

The cold wind on the mountaintop cut like a knife across my face, and a simple temple stood there all alone.

A man and a woman were walking side by side toward the temple when they suddenly stopped at the same time.

A monk emerged from the temple, hands clasped in prayer, his face expressionless: "What brings you two benefactors here?"

Feng Xi's cool voice rang out in the wind: "When was this temple built?"

"It has been more than twenty years," the monk replied calmly.

"Is there anything unusual on the mountaintop?" Feng Xi raised an eyebrow and asked, her eyes scrutinizing him.

"This humble monk has been practicing here for over twenty years, and nothing unusual has ever happened to me."

The monk added, "Do you two have anything else to do?"

Feng Xi ignored the monk's question and turned to leave: "Let's go, Lü Ping."

"We'll stay on the other side of the mountain tonight. This Jiangcheng is really as Ning Mo predicted; it's quite interesting."

Lu Ping followed closely behind. After walking a distance, Feng Xi suddenly stopped and looked at Lu Ping with her beautiful eyes: "That monk seems suspicious."

Lü Ping nodded in agreement: "Indeed! I always feel there's something strange about him, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Ask Gu Cang later."

Looking down at the night view of Jiangcheng, Feng Xi added, "If he doesn't even know the monk's background, then it means that the monk definitely has a problem."

She paused, then asked, "Did you inform Ning Mo? What did he say?"

Lu Ping scratched his head, his tone slightly confused: "He said... he and Qinghe are on their way."

"Hmm...hmm?!" Feng Xi's beautiful eyes flashed with surprise, and she stopped in her tracks. "Why did they come?"

"A mountain peak in Jiangcheng, and you've mobilized four chief advisors from Zhen'e Court?"

Lü Ping also looked puzzled: "They said... they had nothing better to do at night, so they came over to take a look."

Feng Xi: "…………"

……

The northernmost mountain peak of Ming City.

The fierce wind swept across the mountain peak like a roaring beast.

The swirling pebbles were instantly frozen in mid-air by the extreme cold, turning into ice crystal powder that fell down in a flurry.

A blue, icy-blue domain suddenly expanded outwards from the mountaintop.

The rocks, vegetation, and even the air within a radius of 100 meters were coated with a thick layer of solid ice, and even the howling wind was frozen into icicle-shaped air currents.

In the center of the area, several hurricanes were spinning wildly.

The transparent wind blades at the center of the hurricane were faintly visible, each strike accompanied by a sharp sound as if tearing through the air.

Two figures collided fiercely in the gap between the ice and the wind.

The figure on the left was surrounded by an ice-type domain, while the figure on the right was enveloped by a wind-type domain.

"Bang—"

The instant the invisible blade clashed with the black shovel, the ground beneath their feet suddenly cracked, and rubble flew everywhere in the hurricane, only to be frozen into ice crystal powder in the next second, falling like raindrops.

The battle lasted for a full half hour.

The ice and hurricane on the mountaintop finally dissipated slowly, revealing the ground riddled with holes, with rubble mixed with ice crystals covering the entire mountaintop.

"Haha! Not bad, bro, you haven't gotten any worse!"

He slammed the black shovel into the ground, his wild laughter causing the surrounding ice crystals to fall. He wiped the sweat from his face and looked at Lin Mu opposite him.

Lin Mu sheathed the silver-white hilt, and the transparent blade light suddenly dissipated: "You're not bad either."

A moment later, the two sat side by side on a boulder, the mountain wind carrying a chill.

The shovel patted him on the shoulder, his tone disdainful: "Brother, I told you long ago, that Zhenguo Envoy is a complete scoundrel!"

"You wouldn't believe me back then, tsk tsk, not only is your strength terrifying, but you also always do shady things behind people's backs. I really despise people like that!"

Lin Mu sighed, "I was foolish back then..."

His tone shifted abruptly, his eyes sharpening: "Wait a minute, Shovel, how did you know that in the final battle, the National Protector pierced my heart with a sword from behind?"

The shovel's expression froze for a moment, then he chuckled and changed the subject: "Is there anything in this world I don't know?"

"But don't ask me how I know the specifics; everyone has their secrets, haha!"

"Since you know I was pierced through the heart, why aren't you surprised at all that I'm still alive?" Lin Mu asked with a puzzled look in his eyes.

Tieqiao chuckled憨厚ly and scratched his head: "Didn't I just say it? I have as much confidence in you as I have in myself."

Even if others say you were turned to ashes, I still won't believe you're dead!

"Everyone has secrets, right?"

He paused, then his eyes suddenly hardened, and he smashed a deep crater in the ground with his shovel: "So, brother? Should we take him down?"

"So what if it's at the eighth rank?"

"With our combined abilities, I refuse to believe I can't kill this bastard!"

A hint of killing intent flashed in Lin Mu's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure: "It's still unclear where he's hiding, and his abilities are rather troublesome."

Iron Shovel sneered, his tone laced with disdain: "It was only a matter of time before he was exposed!"

"Also, his so-called time-related abilities are fake."

"At most, it will only temporarily halt our operations! And the cooldown period is long. With the two of us working together, we can reliably achieve a 40/60 split!"

Lin Mu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised: "We can get 60%?"

Tie Qiao scratched his head and chuckled, lowering his voice: "He's 60%."

Lin Mu: "..."

Suddenly remembering something, Tieqiao nudged Lin Mu with his elbow and, suppressing a laugh, asked, "By the way, now that Ning Mo knows your identity, why are you still studying at the academy?"

Lin Mu's face instantly darkened: "Tomorrow is the last day."

"After tomorrow, Zhen Erting's documents will be sent directly to Jiangcheng Academy, so that I won't have to go to school and my family can rest assured."

"Hey, congratulations on graduating!"

The man with the shovel patted him on the shoulder and laughed, his voice echoing across the mountaintop. "You, Bai Jueting, have pulled some strings for yourself, huh? Haha!"

"Alright, tell me about yourself," Lin Mu interrupted him. "We only met briefly last year, and you ran away, refusing to say anything when asked. Was your faked death because of the Zhenguo Envoy?"

The shovel's laughter abruptly stopped, and his tone unusually somber: "Brother, back then, I could clearly sense his murderous intent."

"If I don't do it this way, the outcome will be the same as yours in the final battle."

"So he believed it?" Lin Mu pressed.

A confident smile curved Tie Qiao's lips: "Of course, after all, I really went toe-to-toe with Red King back then!"

He paused, scratched his head, and added, "Although... I suffered a crushing defeat and had to run away, that's not important!"

"Whether it's the SSS-level Calamity King or the National Guardian Envoy, even if we can't beat them, we still have the ability to protect ourselves."

Lin Mu's lips twitched: "You didn't mention this before..."

"Hey, it's not honorable to talk about something we didn't win!" Shovel waved his hand, then became serious again.

"But to be honest, that woman is really ruthless! If you ever run into her, you'd better be a thousand times more careful!"

Lin Mu choked for a moment, hesitated for a long time, and then said calmly, "Speak more politely."

"Huh?" The shovel looked confused, thinking to itself: I didn't swear, did I?