I chose the safe house, and the Human Alliance regretted it.

"What did you say?"

Old Tian's pupils suddenly contracted.

How could Chen Junjie, an SSS-level danger perception ability user who also possesses the Alliance's secret divination skills, have disappeared?

"The literal meaning." Old Liu's voice carried a hint of helpless melancholy.

"Three days ago, he locked up the simulation room, cleared out all the staff, and said he was going to conduct one last disaster simulation to calculate the ultimate source of the disaster."

"No one dared to disturb him; some people thought he was just in seclusion conducting simulations."

He paused, his tone growing increasingly somber: "Until this morning, when the self-locking access control of the simulation room expired, the guards pushed the door open and found the entire sealed simulation room completely empty."

"There were no signs of a struggle, no residual energy fluctuations, and in the very center of the floor, there was only a pool of dark red blood that was already half-dried."

Old Tian's aura instantly plummeted to the bottom, and a fine chill suddenly ran down his back.

He was also aware of Chen Junjie's abilities.

With his SSS-level danger perception, he could avoid danger. Combined with the Alliance's divination skills, no one else could kidnap him silently.

In other words, he wasn't kidnapped; he left voluntarily.

Old Tian remained silent for a long time, his voice dry and hoarse, tinged with uncertain speculation: "Could he have also gone to Jiangnan City?"

On the other end of the phone, Old Liu's tone was complicated: "If he really does go to Jiangnan City... this is going to be really interesting."

Astrological societies, priesthoods, psychics, sorcerer groups, mediums, religious orders, shamanic temples, and Nadiye.

All these top forces that control divination, prediction, divination, and spiritual calculation have gathered in Jiangnan.

As soon as the words were spoken, both ends of the phone fell into dead silence.

.........

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, on the endless wasteland roads...

Blood rain poured down from the sky, the dense, dark red raindrops tearing through the gray sky and crashing onto the ravaged earth, cracked roads, and barren forests, splashing up tiny, blood-red droplets.

The world was dark and silent, stained with blood, and the air was filled with a faint, suffocating smell of rust.

A slender figure walked alone in the middle of a deserted wasteland highway.

Chen Junjie.

The cold rain of blood poured down on him without any obstruction, soaking his entire body.

His black hair was soaked with blood and clung messily to his pale, thin face. Rain dripped down his jawline, hitting his clothes and quickly soaking through them.

There were no wounds on his body, except for a very faint blood-red line between his eyebrows, which was a reverse injury left by forcibly overdrawing his divine soul to deduce the secrets of heaven.

Three days ago, in the Alliance simulation room.

He locked the door, cutting off all external interference, and alone, using his own soul as a guide, forcibly began the deduction.

Countless chaotic, fragmented, and terrifying apocalyptic images flooded his mind.

At the very last moment of the simulation, all the chaotic fragments returned to their original positions, and all the blurry images became completely clear.

He witnessed the end of the bloodbath, the end of the catastrophe, and the only hope for the survival of humanity.

And I also saw that person who was not bound by any fate—Wang Wei.

He disregarded the bloodstains, forcibly suppressed the excruciating pain of his soul shattering, and set off alone for Jiangnan City.

A thousand miles of bloodshed, a journey with no one by my side.

Chen Junjie ignored this and never stopped walking.

His gaze was clear, without weariness or fear, only an extreme peace and devotion.

Along the way, he saw the blood-red desolation everywhere, and his once prosperous homeland reduced to wasteland, leaving him with only endless sorrow.

He has been reborn twice and is omniscient and omnipotent.

These eight words represent the truth he obtained through exhaustive and relentless deduction.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the blurry outline of a city finally appeared on the distant, hazy horizon.

Jiangnan City.

The entire city was shrouded in thick blood rain, like a blood-red island floating in the human world, completely isolated from the desolate wasteland outside.

Chen Junjie paused slightly, a glint of light suddenly appearing in his eyes, and his tense mind completely relaxed.

He arrived.

.........

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Astrology Society, in a secret underground room.

The heavy blue stone door slowly closed, cutting off all outside light. Inside the secret room, an oil lamp flickered, its dim yellow light dancing and illuminating the mottled stone walls around it.

Isaac, a white superhuman, traveled thousands of miles back from Jiangnan City at full speed. His clothes were still stained with the blood-red rainwater of Jiangnan City, and his brows were filled with undisguised resentment and unwillingness.

This trip to Jiangnan was nothing short of a disgrace.

The Astrology Society, having exhausted its century-long heritage, brought out eight supreme treasures imbued with celestial secrets and profound wisdom—treasures that would drive major powers into a frenzy—all in exchange for a single piece of information about the source of the catastrophe.

But the result?

The other party simply dropped a vague statement: "The blood rain will last for ten days, and the catastrophic weather will disappear after two months," and then fell silent.

What frustrated him the most was that when he was eagerly asking for the ultimate answer, the other party calmly changed their tune, saying, "You misunderstood. If you want to know the truth, you have to pay more," which completely shattered all his expectations.

He was completely fooled and humiliated. As a core member of the astrology society, he had never suffered such humiliation.

What made him even more powerless was that he didn't even have the confidence to refute or confront them.

The opponent's strength surpasses that of all their forces.

Isaac slammed open the stone door to the secret chamber, his suppressed rage almost bursting from his chest.

From the depths of the dimly lit chamber, a deep, aged voice slowly rang out, devoid of any emotion: "Isaac, you're back."

In the very center of the secret room, an elderly woman with white hair sat quietly on a futon.

Her head of silver hair cascaded down her shoulders, her face was etched with the lines of time, and her eyes, though cloudy, held a hidden glimmer of starlight.

She is the contemporary astrologer of the astrology society.

The dim light of the oil lamp fell on her, revealing a figure that was clearly frail and old, yet exuded a profound aura that seemed to survey the world from above.

Upon hearing this, Isaac instantly suppressed all his emotions, lowered his head, and said in a voice full of guilt and dejection: "President, I am incompetent. I failed to uncover the truth on this trip and was even played by Wang Wei. I have failed the trust placed in me by the gang."

"It's alright, tell me in detail." Granny Xing's tone was calm, without the slightest hint of reproach.

Isaac took a deep breath of the stuffy air and began to recount the events of Jiangnan City in detail.

From Wang Wei's initial indifference to his nonchalant mockery of everyone, to his perfunctory and vague statements, and finally his last-minute price increase and refusal to discuss the truth, every word tells the story.

He grew increasingly indignant as he spoke, his chest heaving violently, his voice trembling slightly: "President, this man is utterly untrustworthy and insatiably greedy! We offered him our most precious treasure with the utmost sincerity, yet he gave us a perfunctory response, refusing to divulge even a single word of the core truth. He's simply toying with us!"

That's enough.

Granny Xing gently raised her hand and uttered two simple words, directly interrupting his accusation.

Isaac suddenly fell silent, looked up in surprise, but the expected rebuke and disappointment did not come.

In the dim light, a deep smile slowly bloomed on Granny Xing's wrinkled face, peaceful and insightful.

"You did a great job."

Isaac was completely stunned, his eyes filled with disbelief: "President? Your subordinate..."

Granny Xing slowly rose, her aged steps steady and light, and walked slowly toward the wall of the secret room.

Hanging on the wall is an ancient star chart, with countless stars crisscrossing and outlining the complex and mysterious trajectory of the heavens. Each star corresponds to a wisp of heavenly secret.

"You don't understand the deeper meaning." The Star Granny gazed at the star map, her tone calm and clear. "He accepted our treasures, and thus accepted our sincerity, providing corresponding information. Even if the information seems superficial or not entirely accurate, the transaction is complete, and the contract is established."

"The Way of Heaven places the utmost importance on cause and effect, and on contracts. Once a deal is struck, bonds will take root."

Isaac frowned, his face full of confusion: "But we didn't get the truth about the cataclysm we wanted. This deal was a losing proposition for us."

The old woman slowly turned around, a sharp glint flashing in her cloudy eyes as her all-knowing gaze fell directly on Isaac: "He's right, the exchange is equal, what you get is what you give. If you want the deeper truth, you naturally need to pay a higher price. Paying more is perfectly reasonable."

Isaac was speechless for a moment, a strange sense of absurdity rising in his heart.

He even had a vague feeling that the usually wise and insightful president might be getting old and senile, and his mind had been clouded by this inexplicable transaction.

Before he could think further, Granny Xing moved to a corner of the secret room and gently flicked a hidden clasp on the wall with her fingertips.

With a soft click, the hidden compartment in the stone wall slowly popped open, and a warm, profound, and mysterious aura, encompassing the Great Dao of the Stars, instantly filled the entire secret chamber.

In the hidden compartment, a small wooden box, about the size of a palm, lay quietly.

The wooden box is unadorned and simple, yet it contains a myriad of starlight within, and is the secret treasure of the astrology society passed down for thousands of years.

"Take this box and go to Jiangnan again." Granny Xing solemnly handed over the wooden box.

Isaac took the wooden box with both hands, and the moment his fingertips touched it, his whole body trembled slightly, and his pupils suddenly contracted:

"President, this is... our sect's prized Starwood! This is our sect's most valuable asset, and we absolutely cannot give it away lightly!"

"It's alright." Granny Xing's smile deepened, her eyes full of certainty. "If Wang Wei wants an opportunity, we'll take the initiative to increase our stakes and deepen our bond."

"When he accepts our sincerity once, he establishes a karmic bond; when he accepts our treasures twice, he deepens the contract. With the bonds accumulating and the karma intertwined, one day he will be firmly bound by this favor and contract, and will have no choice but to stand on the side of my astrology society."

Isaac suddenly realized, and all the resentment and anger in his heart vanished, leaving only extreme shock.

It turns out that the president was not compromising, but was playing a grand game that transcends reincarnation and encompasses the secrets of heaven.

"Go," the old woman said slowly, waving her hand.

Isaac composed himself, carefully put the wooden box away from his body, bowed, turned and quickly left the secret room, heading once again towards the blood-red city of Jiangnan.

The stone door slowly closed, and the secret chamber returned to silence.

The old woman returned to her meditation cushion and blew out the flickering oil lamp.

The lights went out, plunging the entire secret room into complete darkness.

In the depths of darkness, an aged, hoarse voice echoed, seemingly traversing the vast expanse of past and present lives, carrying endless sighs and a sense of relief:

"Having lived two lives, possessing both knowledge and power... the variable has finally manifested..."

.........

At the same moment, at the headquarters of the seven major celestial forces in the world, the exact same understanding and the exact same choice were quietly unfolding.

Inside the sacred temple of the priesthood, dappled sunlight shone down, illuminating the ancient runes covering the walls.

After listening to his subordinate's report, the high priest lightly stroked his sacred scepter, a knowing smile slowly spreading across his aged face. He softly instructed, "Prepare the core sacred object of my priesthood, and send it to Jiangnan with utmost sincerity."

Inside the dimly lit sanctuary of the Psychic Cult, a translucent crystal sphere was enveloped in a faint glow. The cult leader stroked the sphere's surface with his fingertips, gazing at the chaotic crimson light and shadows within, and murmured softly:

"To get the truth, you have to increase the stakes; that's reasonable, that's how it should be..."

Atop the ancient tower of the warlock guild, the guild leader surveyed the vast land below, casually tossing a key with a shimmering bronze luster to a trusted aide beside him with a resolute tone:

"Take this house to Jiangnan and tell Wang Wei that this is the sincerity of our sorcerer group."

Above the serene altar in the spirit medium's circle, wisps of smoke curled and lingered. The elder lit three sticks of incense that reached the heavens, and gazing at the rising smoke, said in a calm and even tone: "Sincerity is not enough. We can go again."

Inside the solemn study of the Divine Word Order, a yellowed, thousand-year-old parchment scroll lay flat on the table. The leader picked up an ancient quill pen, pondered for a long time, and solemnly wrote the two characters "Wang Wei" on the blank scroll.

The ink settled, and after a moment of contemplation, he wrote another word heavily: Go.

On the desolate altar of the shaman's temple, a heavy ancient drum made of animal hide was gently struck. The muffled drumbeats reverberated through the hall. The old shaman looked towards the south of the Yangtze River and ordered in a deep voice, "Take the spiritual artifacts from the temple and send them to the south of the Yangtze River immediately."

Within the Nadiye Secret Realm, the spiritual energy is ever-present and the temperature remains constant.

Lord Ye raised his hand and plucked a divine leaf that was entirely gilded and had naturally formed patterns. With a gentle flick of his fingertips, he handed half of the golden leaf to the messenger in front of him.

The envoy stared in astonishment at the half-golden leaf, a leaf powerful enough to shake the very fabric of the world, and exclaimed, "Lord Leaf! Is it truly worthwhile to bestow such a precious gift upon him?"

Lord Ye gazed into the distance at the blood-red sky, his tone utterly resolute: "It's worth it."

In an instant, the eight major celestial forces, their eight trusted envoys, each carrying one of the eight items, set off simultaneously once again.

.........

In the city south of the Yangtze River, the rain poured down, and the blood-red rain threads wove together a dense, impenetrable curtain that enveloped the entire city.

Inside the residential buildings, the warm and peaceful atmosphere was completely different from the apocalyptic bloodshed, oppressive coldness outside.

Wang Wei stood quietly in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing calmly at the endless dark red rain curtain outside.

A series of crisp, tinkling sounds came from the direction of the kitchen.

Wearing a simple apron, Zhou Yao busied herself around the stove, muttering to herself, "How much water did I put in the porridge last time... I can't remember. Oh well, I'll just go with my gut feeling. It shouldn't taste too bad."

Wang Wei couldn't help but smile, and was about to turn around—

He suddenly stopped.

My gaze pierced through the rain and landed in the north of the city.

There, a slender figure was walking step by step through blood.

With no one to protect him, no umbrella to shield him from the rain, no fear of the blood rain, and no regard for the surrounding calamities and malevolent energy, he slowly stepped into Jiangnan City all by himself.

Chen Junjie.

"Wang Wei, the porridge is almost ready! We'll be eating soon—wait, what are you looking at?"

Zhou Yao, carrying a steaming bowl of porridge, poked her head out of the kitchen and followed Wang Wei's gaze to the blood-soaked rain outside the window, her face full of confusion.

Wang Wei did not respond, but simply withdrew his gaze.

The next moment, he stepped out of his house.

The cold wind in the stairwell, mixed with raindrops, rushed towards him, but an invisible force quietly spread out within a three-foot radius around him.

The blood-red raindrops falling from the sky automatically bent to the sides and avoided him the moment they touched his body, as if an invisible barrier had blocked them all away.

With just a simple step, his figure traversed countless distances and instantly appeared on the streets of the north of the city.

North of the city in Jiangnan, a long street stained with blood.

Chen Junjie was walking slowly forward when his tired but determined steps suddenly froze on the spot.

The void before him rippled slightly, and a figure silently materialized, standing calmly amidst the rain of blood, serene and indifferent, overlooking all things.

The moment Chen Junjie saw the person's face clearly, his pupils suddenly contracted sharply.

At this moment, countless scenarios flashed through his mind, but only the figure in front of him remained.

Without the slightest hesitation or doubt.

puff-

A dull thud as someone knelt down.

He looked up intently, his gaze burning with utmost awe, submission, and relief. His hoarse, cracked voice was forced out from the depths of his throat with all his might.

"Jun Jie, pay homage to the Prophet."

[I went out for Qingming Festival and just got back tonight. I frantically wrote a chapter and am going to have dinner now. Regular updates will resume tomorrow, my darlings, mwah!]