The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

Yunshang Province, the Jiuli stronghold in the deepest dark domain.

Zhu Yuanzhi and Zhao Xuan watched as the two streaks of emerald green and silvery white light drew ever closer.

After a moment, they came to their senses and turned to look at each other.

Besides excitement, there was also a lingering doubt in his eyes.

Zhao Xuan spoke first: "The one in emerald green should be Elder Wei, but who is the one in silver-white?"

"Which garrison commander came from the edge of the restricted area?"

"You happened to run into Old Wei on the way, and then you came back together?"

Zhu Yuanzhi didn't reply immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the two streaks of light, his brows furrowing into shallow lines: "I have a general impression of most of the garrisons on the other side of the border."

"But I've never heard of any garrison commander whose True Yang Ring is silver-white?"

The doubt in Zhao Xuan's eyes deepened: "Then who could it be?"

After a few moments of silence, Zhu Yuanzhi shook his head. His previously tense shoulders relaxed, and the corners of his mouth even twitched. However, it wasn't a smile; rather, it was as if he had finally let out the breath he had been holding in.

He patted Zhao Xuan on the shoulder, his previously solemn expression relaxing as if he had found his pillar of support: "That's not important anymore."

"With Elder Wei and that unknown garrison commander in charge, and with the city's protective rituals in place, the safety of the stronghold is practically guaranteed."

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhi's words, Zhao Xuan nodded, realizing the current situation, and his expression relaxed considerably: "That's true."

Then, Zhu Yuanzhi took a step forward, descending into the air and flying towards the teleportation portal: "They're almost here, let's go greet them at the entrance."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Xuan had already caught up.

The two passed through the constantly rotating portal on the city wall, one after the other, and arrived at the foot of the city wall outside the stronghold.

At this moment, two streaks of light drew clear trails in the dark mist, one emerald green and the other silver-white, converging towards the stronghold at an extremely fast speed.

The two stood below the city wall outside the teleportation portal, their eyes fixed on the two beams of light until they began to slow down and descend in the air.

Then two streaks of light landed beside Zhu Yuanzhi and his companion.

The two immediately saluted and said, "Greetings, Your Excellencies!" *2

The next moment, the light gradually dissipated, revealing two figures.

As the light faded, the two finally saw the figure inside clearly.

Emerging from the emerald light was Elder Wei, his breathing steady, a few wisps of dark mist clinging to the hem of his robes, but his overall condition showed no signs of significant exertion.

On the other side, after the silvery light dissipated, a young face they had never seen before was revealed: white hair, silver eyes, clean and sharp features, and the True Yang Ring behind his head was still slowly rotating.

Both of them couldn't help but wonder: who exactly is this unfamiliar tenth-tier torchbearer?

Just as they were about to take a closer look, a slightly burning pain suddenly shot through their eyes—not intense, but clear enough.

It was as if their own eyes were reminding them to stop looking.

The two turned their heads almost simultaneously, unaware of what had just happened.

"hiss--"

A very soft hiss escaped from one of them's throats. They didn't say anything more, but the same question arose in both their minds:

Had his gaze offended some unfamiliar garrison commander? But that shouldn't be the case. They were simply curious, with no other intentions. Or was this unknown garrison commander just petty and narrow-minded?

Upon seeing this, Old Wei turned his head to look at Wu You beside him, wondering what exactly had happened.

"What's wrong, Xiaoyou?"

It took Wu You a moment to realize that it was the "pseudo-unbearable" characteristic on his body caused by the "manifestation of divinity".

At the same time, he also realized that his "pseudo-unbearable to look at" characteristic seemed to only work on people with lower strength than himself? For example, Elder Wei, who was also in the True Yang Realm, did not feel any stinging sensation, while the two ninth-level torchbearers in front of him wearing three sword-shaped golden bars, as well as Wang Qi and the others, would all react.

Hearing Elder Wei's words, Wu You turned his head and helplessly explained in a low voice, "I can't control the changes that happen to my body during the process of improving my strength."

Upon hearing this, Old Wei pondered for a moment, as if assessing the weight of the question: "Xiao You, you also have no way to control the changes..."

"Do you need me to ask around for you?"

Although Old Wei didn't say who to ask, Wu You understood what he meant.

After all, there are very few people stronger than Wei Lao in this stronghold, so there is only one possibility that would make Wei Lao ask for help.

Wu You shook his head: "It's not a big problem. I'll ask about it myself next time I have the chance."

The two didn't exchange many words, but Zhu Yuanzhi and Zhao Xuan, who were standing a few steps away, had already gleaned key information from those brief titles: Old Wei called that garrison commander "Xiao You".

It's rare for experts of the same level to use this kind of senior-junior address, right?

In other words, the white-haired young man was Wei Laoshi's true junior?

But the next moment, a jolt of electricity shot through their minds.

Old Wei went out to save this year's top student, but where is this year's top student now?

And Elder Wei calls him "Xiao You"? And this year's top student is named Wu You?

Is it really such a coincidence?

The two, who had turned to the side, couldn't help but glance at each other, then swallowed hard.

They had considered the possibility, but was it really possible for someone in their twenties at the True Yang Realm?

Moreover, they had already learned from the torchbearer named Wang Qi that Wu You had just advanced from the eighth rank to the ninth rank.

But at this moment, all the information points to that absurd, almost impossible possibility that they had subconsciously ignored from the beginning:

The tenth-level expert in front of me, with a silver-white True Yang Ring spinning behind his head, is none other than the top student named Wu You!

A young man in his early twenties!

Before the two of them could react, Old Wei nodded to Wu You, then looked at the two beside him and said:

"Zhu Yuanzhi, Zhao Xuan."

"You two go back first, Xiaoyou and I will take care of things here."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhi and the other man looked up abruptly.

Their mouths were slightly agape, in disbelief.

Does Elder Wei mean that these two True Yang Realm experts are not returning to the stronghold, but will stay outside to face the approaching army of corpses?

. . . . . .