Shanhai City had become uninhabitable. After taking care of the details regarding Ming Zhaoshu’s funeral, Ming Yan and many other ministers moved out and headed towards Mingdu so that they could start preparing for her to officially ascend to the throne.

When Lu Yin arrived in Mingdu, he found that the busiest city on Shenwu Continent had already recovered a tremendous amount. During the last battle there, the entirety of Mingdu had been destroyed. Ming Zhaoshu had ordered a group of cultivators to aid in its reconstruction, which allowed it to quickly return to its former appearance.

Although Mingdu’s appearance had been restored, the people who had died during that battle could not be revived, and it would remain in history as Mingdu’s darkest day.

Lu Yin felt apologetic towards the people of Mingdu, but even if he went back in time, he would not change a thing. If they had not taken care of the Neohuman Alliance at that moment, more than a billion people on Shenwu Continent would have eventually been turned into zombies, and the continent would have ultimately been completely destroyed by the Hall of Honor, and that would have been a truly miserable affair.

After escorting Ming Yan to Mingdu, Lu Yin roamed across Shenwu Continent once again, determined to ferret out any remnant Corpse Kings from the Neohuman Alliance.

Half a month later, multiple ships all arrived at a single isolated island that lay outside Shenwu Continent, and each ship was filled with crude pirates. They had kidnapped many people, who they were bringing to the island. Cries were occasionally heard from the group of captives, which incited angry rebukes from the pirates.

The entire island was under the control of the pirates, and there were probably a few thousand of them there.

The leader of the pirates was a cultivator who had reached the Martial King realm, which was the equivalent of the Limiteer realm.

On the island’s coast, there was a group of girls dressed in tattered clothes who were being forcefully pulled onto the ship. They were being sold to other pirates as goods, and some of the girls were crying in a rather heart-wrenching manner.

At this moment, a figure trod over the waves, walking across the ocean at a leisurely pace.

Some pirates noticed the person’s arrival, and they immediately shouted, “Heads up!”

During this era when cultivators reigned supreme, there were times where just a single cultivator was enough to destroy an entire troop of soldiers, and this was even a somewhat normal occurrence. The pirates were also afraid of encountering such an expert.

The pirates closely observed the approaching person, and they quickly saw that it was a young male carrying a long sword on his back. He walked towards the isolated island, crossing the waves step by step.

A few pirates exchanged glances before stepping forward and shouting, “Who are you?”

The youth looked ahead as his eyes ran across the coast, covering an immense distance to focus in on the Martial King realm pirate leader. At that moment, the leader felt a chill run down his spine, and he even pushed the woman in his embrace away. He pulled out his warblade and then stared out at the ocean.

“Hey, brat, we’re talking to you. Who are you?” a pirate shouted.

The youth shifted his focus and grabbed the hilt of his sword. Nobody saw him make a single movement, but the pirate standing in front of the youth slowly crumbled to the ground. In the distance, many of the pirates’ expressions suddenly changed. “Ambush!”

In just a few breaths, all of the pirates who had been on the shore fell to the ground, not a single one able to withstand the youth’s sword qi. Meanwhile, the girls who had been kidnapped by the pirates were screaming at the youth to save them.

The youth looked towards the interior of the island again, and this time, his sword sliced out at an angle, causing the void to fluctuate as the air was torn apart. Visible streaks of sword qi cut through the space and chopped off the peak of the island, right where the pirate leader was standing. The sword qi that surged towards the pirate leader split him in two, as he also had no ability to withstand the youth’s attack.

The sight of the pirate leader’s death shocked everyone, as just one sword had almost split the entire island in two. What powerful strength.

The remaining pirates quickly fled.

The youth did not pursue any of them, and he simply sheathed his sword. He then looked up. “It’s time to break through.”

The sky had dimmed without anyone noticing, and the wind whistled as the waves churned back and forth.

The people who had been kidnapped and dragged to the island by the pirates all hid in the center of the island, and they stared outwards in fear. The entire region was being buffeted by strong winds, and anything more than a hundred meters away became fuzzy.

From a commoner’s point of view, these winds were just gales, and only cultivators would be able to recognize these gusts of winds as martial power. Someone was breaking through.

There was another island that was relatively close to the isolated island, and it was similarly occupied by pirates. The pirates who had fled from the island sought shelter at this neighboring island, and they also tried to coerce the owner of this island to seek revenge for them.

That island’s pirate leader was arrogant to begin with, and after he heard just a few sentences from the refugee pirates who were trying to convince him to help, he immediately gathered a group of pirates and a naval fleet to mount an invasion. However, they were quickly frightened away by the strange phenomenon. The pirate leader was not a fool; such drastic changes in the sky could only be caused by someone who was breaking through to the Martial Emperor realm at the minimum. At that time, a cultivator would be able to freely explore outer space, and mortal cultivators like the pirates could not compare to such powerhouses.

This entire area was filled with martial power. There were some Martial Emperor experts exploring above the ocean, and they were able to feel the sharpness of this aura when they approached the island, nearly being injured in the process. They were shocked by this, as a breakthrough at this level indicated that the person was definitely not just any ordinary Martial Emperor.

The youth’s breakthrough caused the ocean to surge, and the surrounding islands trembled one after another. Lines of sword qi shot through the water, causing all living organisms on the ocean bed within a radius of over 10,000 kilometers to flee.

After a few hours, one final strand of sword qi ripped the sky apart and released a gas that dispersed in all directions before the area returned to normal. Aside from the completely ruined state of the island, nobody could tell that there had just been a martial power phenomenon sweeping across the heavens and earth in this place.

The youth let out a slow breath and looked up at the sky. He had finally broken through after being stuck in the Martial King realm for so long. In fact, some of the people who had stepped into the List of Tempering at the same time as him had long since broken through. Meanwhile, he had been ranked second on the List of Tempering, but it had taken him this long to break through.

The youth was Li Zimo, second on the List of Tempering and commander of the Ming Vanguard.

Ever since that battle in Mingdu, a new regime had been born. The Ming Constables’ master, Ming Zhaocai, had been forced to commit suicide, and the Ming Constables themselves had been forced to disband. Li Zimo could have joined the Demon Hunters Society or the Reverent King’s Residence to work for Ming Zhaoshu, but he had declined both. Instead, he had decided to roam the continent and focus on his cultivation.

He had taken this trip to the ocean when he felt like his breakthrough was. He had then followed the natural order of things and become a Martial Emperor expert, which was an Explorer.

If it was before, he definitely would have been elated upon breaking through to the Martial Emperor realm. But now, after Ming Zhaoshu cooperated with the outsiders, foreign civilizations had brought their culture into Shenwu Continent, which had made Li Zimo realize just how insignificant his view of the universe actually was.

Li Zimo looked up at the five sealing planets in the sky. He strongly desired to head out into the wider universe and see what sort of experts those boundless heavens contained, and also to see how far his path of the sword could take him.

However, it was impossible for him to leave Shenwu Continent, unless, of course, he relied on the new empress. His only option was to seek her permission.

Li Zimo looked down at his own sword. His sword path did not allow him to lower his head and sacrifice his self-respect. Otherwise, he would have no sword path, and there would be no Li Zimo.

“Congratulations on breaking through and becoming a Martial Emperor,” a voice called out from behind him, which made Li Zimo feel a chill. Someone had actually managed to approach this close to him without his realization. When had they appeared? He suddenly turned around and saw a familiar, yet foreign face.

“It’s you?” Li Zimo asked in an overcast tone as he stared at the man before him.

It was Lu Yin, who had been searching for the Neohuman Alliance. This time around, he was doing a very thorough job, and while he was scouring the ocean, he had been attracted by the telltale activity of a breakthrough. To his surprise, he had not expected to run into an old friend.

Actually, they weren’t really friends, as Lu Yin had changed his appearance when he joined the Ming Constables during the Outerverse trial. Although the two had fought at the Tower of Resonating Light, it had been too brief of a fight. Their most recent meeting had been during the battle at Mingdu, where Lu Yin had broken Li Zimo’s sword and spared the swordsman’s life.

Lu Yin’s impression of Li Zimo was rather deep, and Li Zimo’s impression of Lu Yin was the same. This was especially so because of the battle at the Tower of Resonating Light, as that had been Li Zimo’s most miserable loss in his life. The person before him looked young, but Lu Yin clearly possessed the strength to crush Li Zimo. Now, the disparity in their strength was even more evident, as Lu Yin had broken his sword during the battle at Mingdu. If not for Lu Yin showing mercy, Li Zimo would already be dead, and that was the same battle that had steeled his resolution to roam the continent.

He wanted to grow stronger, until he could at least somehow retaliate when he met Lu Yin again in the future.

“Are you surprised to see me?” Lu Yin smiled.

Li Zimo tightly clenched his sword hilt. “Not surprised. The Shenwu Continent has already become a garden for you aliens, and you guys can come and go as you wish.’

Lu Yin looked at Li Zimo’s sword. “Did you change swords? Or get it repaired?”

Li Zimo stared at him. “What do you want?’

Lu Yin was surprised by his reaction. “You don’t want to challenge me?”

Li Zimo gloomily answered, “It wouldn’t be a match, so there’s no point in fighting.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Being able to judge your own strength clearly is pretty good. Just now, you looked up at the sky thrice. Why? Do you want to leave Shenwu Continent?”

Li Zimo’s eyes lit up, and he looked up once again, not responding.

Lu Yin sighed emotionally. “Shenwu Continent is too small, and it’s not enough to hold you. Here, your accomplishments will forever be limited. I believe that you must have heard of the Sword Sect.”

Li Zimo looked back at Lu Yin. “The aliens’ Sword Sect from the Innerverse?”

“The Sword Sect has Thirteen Swords, which have long since been unrivalled. Aside from the Sword Sect in the Innerverse, there’s also the Myriad Swords Peak, and the Outerverse also has the Moke Sword Sect and the Shadowsword Sect. There are too many sword sects in the universe to count, so do you want to go out and experience them?” Lu Yin said.

Li Zimo clenched the hilt of his sword even tighter. “You can take me out?”

Lu Yin nodded.

Li Zimo said in a low voice, “Conditions.”

“Join the Great Yu Empire,” Lu Yin replied.

Li Zimo fell silent.

Lu Yin tried to entice the new Explorer. “Without me, you will never be able to leave Shenwu Continent in your entire life. Here, your accomplishments will always be limited, and you won’t be able to kill your way out regardless of how powerful you become. I can take you to see the vastness of the universe and to taste the uniqueness of each sword sect. In the future, I might even be able to help you enter the Innerverse and join the Myriad Swords Peak, or possibly even the Sword Sect.”

Li Zimo was resolute. “I don’t need to join the Sword Sect, but I want to fight with their heirs and experience their Thirteen Swords.”

Lu Yin smiled. “No problem. The Sword Sect’s premier disciple, Liu Shaoqiu, has fought with me on several occasions. The Thirteen Swords are unequaled for a good reason, as that technique is indeed powerful. Your wish can be achieved in the future.”

Li Zimo nodded and put his sword away. “I’ll follow you.”

Lu Yin’s lips curled upwards, as this had turned out to be an accidental harvest. Li Zimo’s natural talent for the sword was the greatest out of everyone Lu Yin had ever seen. If not for the Thirteen Swords, then even Liu Shaoqiu might not be Li Zimo’s opponent. This person had developed Silence on his own, which had astonished even Lu Yin, and this feat was a perfect demonstration of Li Zimo’s talent.

Lu Yin had not been joking, as he really did want to arrange for Li Zimo to join the Sword Sect. Of course, that depended on when the Innerverse and Outerverse reconnected. Given Li Zimo’s talent for the sword, having him join the Sword Sect would be very easy.

Once Li Zimo got in, Lu Yin would have someone he could communicate with inside of the Sword Sect.

Another dozen days passed, during which Lu Yin brought Li Zimo along as he roamed through the continent and searched for traces of the Neohuman Alliance. During this time, Li Zimo exchanged blows with Lu Yin several times, but he suffered nothing but crushing defeats. Lu Yin did not hold back, as he was sure that Li Zimo would not be emotionally damaged by such blows.

Since he had developed Silence, Li Zimo’s willpower had to be very strong, and he would not be afraid of setbacks. Rather, he was only worried that others would not be able to give him the strikes that he needed.

Finally, Lu Yin roamed through the entire Shenwu Continent, and he did not find any further traces of the Neohuman Alliance. This time, the Neohuman Alliance had truly disappeared from the continent since he had searched even more carefully than before. With Lu Yin’s top speed, he could traverse the entire Shenwu Continent in just a moment, but he had made sure to spend an entire month canvassing the continent for the Neohuman Alliance.