The job change is a bizarre and calamity; the nation begs me to tone it down.

"Oh."

Gu Xu chuckled softly.

He's good at cracking eggs.

He mentally confirmed it.

The crystal ball suddenly burst forth with a dazzling purplish-black light, and the entire temple trembled slightly under this power.

Then the light subsided, and the crystal ball returned to its calm state.

But within Gu Xu's body, the source of calamity was stirring at an unprecedented speed.

The feeling was like a wild beast that had been locked in a cage for too long, smelling the blood outside, and frantically pounding on the iron bars.

Deep within his consciousness, five familiar phantom figures opened their eyes almost simultaneously.

The wedding dress, as red as fire, swayed gently in the darkness.

The plague spread, and a nauseating stench wafted through the air.

The demonic eye peered in, and a purple nebula slowly spun in the void.

The death knell tolled low, and the bronze lamps emitted a faint glow in the deathly silence.

The crows raised their eyes, their black wings reflecting a darkness that would terrify even the gods.

They sensed their master's fighting spirit.

They also sensed the grand feast that was about to begin.

Gu Xu withdrew his hand, stretched his neck, and turned to walk towards the entrance of the main hall.

His steps were light, and his expression was calm.

It's like going out for a stroll.

……

The temple doors slowly opened from the inside.

Gu Xu then saw the two people waiting outside the door.

Su Qiong leaned against the hood of the SUV, arms crossed, one leg resting on the bumper, looking dashing and heroic.

Jiang Shu was squatting at the bottom of the steps, and out of nowhere, she produced a grilled sausage, which she was munching on with gusto. She probably already finished her grilled cold noodles.

As for the bag of potato chips in her hand, it had become a deflated empty bag, neatly folded and placed to the side.

"Are you out?"

Su Qiong immediately straightened up and quickly went to greet her.

She looked Gu Xu up and down, making sure he wasn't missing any limbs, before asking, "You took quite a while to get in this time, almost two minutes. Last time, it only took a little over a minute after three turns."

"It's nothing, the system just talks more nonsense."

Gu Xu shrugged and walked down the steps.

"What about the mission?"

Su Qiong got straight to the point. Having spent so much time with him, she no longer bothered to beat around the bush with him.

Jiang Shu also jumped up, a grilled sausage in her mouth, her hands already pulling out an electronic pen and tablet, ready to take notes at any moment.

Gu Xu didn't keep them in suspense and said four words directly.

"Izumo: The Realm of Mystery".

The air was silent for about a second.

Su Qiong's expression changed.

It wasn't shock, but rather a subtle sense of solemnity.

"Izumo: The Mysterious Realm?"

Su Qiong repeated herself, lowering her voice slightly: "You mean, the location for the fourth job advancement quest the system gave you is our base in the Sakura Kingdom?"

"Yes, that's the place."

Gu Xu nodded.

"What are the specific tasks?"

Gu Xu then recited the three mission objectives on the panel verbatim.

This includes conquering secret realms, devouring the mother of the monstrous fetus, and etching ancient marks at the core.

Jiang Shu almost dropped the sausage she was eating.

"A... a monstrous womb? A demigod-level being?"

Her eyes widened, and she scribbled a couple of times on the tablet with her stylus, the words crooked: "What the hell is this? There's a demigod-level monster lurking in the Izumo Ghost Realm? Why didn't those people from Japan mention this before?"

"It's normal that you didn't say anything."

Su Qiong snorted coldly: "Those people are eager to dump all the mess on us. They're all smiles as they sign cession agreements on the international stage, but who knows what they're secretly celebrating with firecrackers behind our backs."

Su Qiong pondered for a few seconds, then looked up at Gu Xu.

"However, there is good news for this mission."

"What?"

"You don't need to look for a venue anymore."

Su Qiong shook her head slightly: "Although the Cloud Realm is troublesome, it is at least within our control. Xu Yunshan's troops are stationed on the outskirts, and the supply lines, retreat routes, and intelligence support are all readily available."

"The conditions are much better than when you were running around naked in complete darkness in the Silver Moon Realm last time."

Gu Xu nodded; he had thought of that too.

"and……"

Su Qiong added, a hint of amusement in her voice: "Just now in the auditorium, you patted your chest and said you would lead the Calamity Army to sweep through high-risk secret realms. This fourth-tier mission is precisely the first battle for you to establish your prestige in front of the whole country."

"Well done! The Calamity Army has made a name for itself."

"You didn't play well..."

"It doesn't exist."

Gu Xu interrupted her directly, his expression completely unconcerned: "The Izumo Ghost Realm is just a large-scale dungeon in my hands at most."

"You're really stubborn."

Su Qiong shook her head, her eyes filled with helplessness and a hint of inexplicable trust.

Jiang Shu had finished recording all the task details. She held up her tablet and looked at it over and over again, muttering to herself.

"A 72-hour time limit, 28 hours shorter than the previous three times... A demigod-level monstrous embryo mother, if this thing completes its hatching, it'll be difficult to deal with... The laws within the secret realm are disordered, and the effects of recovery items are reduced by 80%, this restriction is quite severe..."

She looked up and said to Gu Xu with a serious expression, "Sir, based on my preliminary analysis, the core difficulty of this mission is not whether we can win or not, but whether you can get to the core area before that thing fully hatches."

"Izumo: Ghost Realm is different from the Old Corridor you fought before, including the Red and White Collision and the Silver Moon Realm."

"This is an ancient secret realm that has existed for hundreds of years. Its internal structure is extremely complex. It is said that even the Japanese themselves do not have a complete map of it."

"If you're just blindly figuring things out, 72 hours is simply not enough."

Gu Xu glanced at Jiang Shu, and for a moment he even thought that when this girl put on a serious face, she really looked like a chief of staff.

Even though there was still chili sauce from the grilled sausage stuck to the corners of her mouth.

"Don't worry about the map."

Gu Xu snapped his fingers: "I have the Eye of the Ancients. That guy's detection range covers the entire Domain of Calamity. Once inside, as long as you expand the domain, it's no different from having the entire map."

"And don't forget, the first requirement of this mission is for me to use the Domain of Calamity to assimilate the core rules of the secret realm."

Gu Xu's lips curled up slightly.

"In other words, wherever my domain extends, that's my territory. Those messy, bizarre rules don't apply to me."

Jiang Shu opened her mouth, hesitated for a long time, and only managed to utter two words.

"Awesome."

Su Qiong reached out and patted her on the back of the head: "Watch your words, Chief of Staff."

"Yes, sir! You're awesome!"

Su Qiong was too lazy to bother with her anymore.

The three were getting into the car and leaving.

Just at this time.

"Buzzing—"

Gu Xu's phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and looked at it.

A name appeared prominently on the caller ID.

Zhang Daoxuan.

Gu Xu was stunned for a moment.

This old man called me personally?

He was the number two figure in the Supreme Command, a man with countless daily affairs.

Normally, he would have his secretary, Chen Yang, relay any messages; he rarely made phone calls himself.

The last time Zhang Daoxuan took the initiative to call him was when the outbreak occurred in the Beichuan Secret Realm.

After making that phone call, he was dragged to dismantle a ghost sedan chair.

So now Zhang Daoxuan has called in person again...

A subtle premonition inexplicably rose in Gu Xu's heart.