Zhao Jundu had said so, and Qianye also knew how much of a capable genius he was, yet he didn’t feel very optimistic at all. No matter how miraculous that origin crystal was, it was still an outside object. To the heavenly monarch realm, which focused greatly on purity, any kind of outside object meant a breakage in the path. Being a divine champion might be the dream of many an expert, but not reaching the heavenly monarch realm was a failure for Zhao Jundu.

If Zhao Jundu hadn’t fought his way into Whitetown that day, he would never have incurred such foundational damage.

Song Zining broke the gloomy atmosphere with a change in topic. “What is this base for? Why the great fanfare?”

Zhao Jundu replied, “It’s fine to tell you guys, it’s not a secret anymore these days. This is the Empire’s forward base for the new world. We had to use such a method because of the pressing schedule.”

“There’s news about the new world?” Qianye’s ears perked up.

Zhao Jundu nodded. “We finally received detailed information from the other side. When the new world opens, entrances into the world will appear on every continent, hmm… just like the Great Maelstrom. According to the calculation of powerful divination experts, an entrance will also appear here on the Qin Continent. That was why the Empire decided to build a base here in advance, just in case.”

“If the new world has so many entrances, what are those Evernight powerhouses doing?”

“They’re probably off to open the doors.”

At this point, Qianye and Song Zining understood what was going on. Song Zining said, “That means we’ll likely run into dark race experts once the entrance opens here.”

“Likely.”

Song Zining looked worried. “They claimed the initiative this time.”

Since the gateway to the new world was opened by the dark races, the first batch to enter was naturally from their faction. By the time the other gateways opened up for the Empire, they would be lagging behind already.

Zhao Jundu said, “It’s not a pity at all. From the current intelligence we’ve received, Evernight has been preparing for a thousand years. It’s just that all secrets are held in the hands of those supremes. And only they can sense the moment at which to open the gates. There’s no way we can outdo them in this regard. So, just like with the great maelstrom, there’s no need to bother with temporary gains or losses.”

Zhao Jundu then asked about Qianye’s situation on the Fort Continent. He was greatly surprised to find out that the most important support came from Empress Li. The three talked about it for a good while but couldn’t figure out why this unfathomable character was so impressed with Qianye. Song Zining’s expression remained neutral all the while, so the other two never figured anything out.

Zhao Jundu had no advice for Qianye since he was doing so well there. He placed an order of equipment for Qianye within his scope of power with instructions to ship them to the Fort Continent. With Empress Li’s example in place, no one could say anything about this batch of armaments. Besides, the equipment wasn’t free—Qianye would need to compensate the Empire with all kinds of mineral resources from the Fort Continent, with a time limit of three years. This was within range of the Empire’s policy for third-party trades.

This relieved Qianye’s urgent situation, and the Empire—with its thousand-year foundations—was in no rush to find a use for them. They would store up as many rare minerals as they could find and use them as needed, maximizing their value.

This base could be considered the Empire’s most recent secret base. Although Zhao Jundu was the commander here, Qianye and Song Zining couldn’t stay here for too long. Hence, they got ready to leave after a brief chat.

Just as the two were about to leave, an officer ran over and said, “Commander Jundu, a secret missive!”

“Speak.”

Glancing at Qianye and Song Zining, the officer whispered, “Sire, this is the highest level of confidential information, only you can read it. Others cannot be present.”

Zhao Jundu paid no heed. He took the secret document, unraveled the origin power seal, and scanned its contents. Then, following an exclamation of surprise, he fell into contemplation.

That officer didn’t dare blame him and only stood cautiously to the side.

Zhao Jundu looked up at Qianye. “Lil’ Five, you must be careful after going back there. Our higher-ups don’t intend to watch as Evernight opens the doors to the new world. They’re going to take action to disrupt them. Whether this fails or succeeds, the dark races will retaliate with great ferocity. You’re alone out there, so be careful.”

Qianye said, “Fort Continent is distant and barren. The gains of sending an army won’t cover their losses. If it’s just a couple of experts, I have no fear of them.”

“Very well then.”

Zhao Jundu didn’t detain them any longer, either. He ordered one of his men to guide Qianye and Song Zining back to the airship before returning to oversee the construction work.

…

In the depths of the void, an old worn-out airship was driving swiftly on its own. It flew with great speed and stability, not something an old cargo ship could do. Clearly, it was a disguised vessel.

It flew around a group of floating islands and, using them as cover, landed at a remote edge of Twilight Continent. Several people walked down from the airship. One of them was wrapped tightly in a cloak, his face hidden in the shadows and his aura so well retracted that one could hardly discern his race. The others, however, were humans.

A middle-aged man produced a sealed wooden box and handed it to the mysterious man. “Do you remember how and when to activate it?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Very well, don’t disappoint us.”

The group returned to the airship, leaving only the mysterious person outside. The latter watched as the airship took to the sky and left, finally revealing his face and eyes filled with blood energy. He was actually a vampire.

Only after the airship had vanished into the void did he wear his hood again and leave. He ran swiftly and soon vanished into the mountain ranges of Twilight Continent.

In a remote region of Twilight Continent, there was an ancient but elegant-looking castle. It stood atop a precipitous mountain, looking down over the vast plains. The cliffside was covered in traces of wind and frost, yet there were also stubborn vines and shrubbery. Even under the cover of passing years, one could see the scars left behind by past battles. Some sword and blade marks stretched dozens of meters long.

Castle Ducasse was one of Twilight Continent’s oldest and most famous castles. Back during the era of war, it was at the forefront of the vampire race’s fight against the other dark races. Countless great battles had taken place here.

Later on, the humans awoke to daybreak origin power and rallied under the founding ancestor’s leadership. It was this castle that they had captured while fighting their way out of the Twilight Continent, and it was here that they defeated their pursuers several times.

In this castle where every brick had its story, one could see fully-equipped vampire elites everywhere. All patrols contained titled experts among them, and the guards’ ranks were extremely high.

This wasn’t normal at all because there were rarely any fights here after the human exodus a thousand years ago. The conflict between the vampires and the other races rarely extended to the core region of Twilight Continent. Most of them took place on the lower continents where different races existed together. Usually, there was only a small force garrisoned in Castle Ducasse, but now, the number of soldiers alone was over ten times that number.

The main building of the castle was somber and desolate. Simply approaching the place would fill the vampires with a fear that arose from the depths of their bloodline, a natural intimidation exerted by a high-ranking vampire.

The warriors here all hailed from the twelve major clans and their bloodlines were fairly high. Yet, there was not a single patrol in sight for dozens of meters around the main building. Even titled experts would rarely appear, and those who did would hurry away as quickly as possible. From this, one could see how terrifying the bloodline suppression was inside.

As for the empty guard posts in the main building, that was not a problem. Anyone who would dare sneak in was truly courting death.

The ancient castle was made up of four levels, the first of which was exceptionally large. The top floor was an open framework supported by countless large pillars, overlooking the entire fort. Only the second and third floors were livable. The second level was home to some counts and viscounts, while the large third floor only had three rooms, all occupied. Even the owner of Castle Ducasse, Count Pinot, could only squeeze into the second floor.

The vampires living on the third floor kept their auras under control, but the faint friction of suppressive might between them still made it difficult to breathe.

A vampire viscount rushed into the main building and straight to the third floor. There, he checked the family crest on the door before knocking.

“Come in.” A cold, clear voice appeared as the thick bronze door opened on its own.

The viscount entered the spacious living room. Every piece of furniture here had gone through a hundred years of history, perfectly complementing the exquisite sculptures everywhere. The combination was a perfect interpretation of magnificence but without overcrowding the space. There was a vampire lady in black robes seated on the sofa. She was flipping through a thick ancient tome and never bothered to even glance up.

The viscount’s blood core couldn’t help but beat a bit faster, and his breathing also grew coarse. However, he exerted good control over his emotions and didn’t touch the borders of rudeness.

The lady on the sofa was secretly known as one of the most beautiful vampires in history, even comparable to the Queen of the Night. At the same time, her terrifying strength was also a proven fact as she could crush a viscount to death with her finger.

“Your Majesty Nighteye, a viscount from a lower continent wishes to see you. He claims to be one of your clan members."

Nighteye’s gaze remained on the book. “Lower continent? A clansman? Which branch is he from?”

“No, he claims to be from Evernight Continent.”

“Evernight?” Nighteye finally looked up and said after some thought, “Let him in.”

Moments later, a vampire viscount appeared before Nighteye. His grey hair was somewhat messy, the blood color in his eyes was dull, and his sunken face was as pale as a sheet. As a viscount, he seemed to be doing pretty badly in life.

He stared at Nighteye for a while before recalling his manners and lowering his head. “Are you Nighteye, Your Majesty?”

Nighteye’s pupils lit up with a sanguine hue, reflecting the man’s image in them. She found a familiar scent amidst the turbid blood energy, which gradually merged with her memories, stirring up certain scenes from before her bloodline awakening.

“Is everything… fine in the territory?” Nighteye asked.