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

Shoulder epaulets have been distributed.

Wu You handed out the last epaulette, watching the young torchbearer take it, pin it to his shoulder, and turn to walk off the stage.

The queue in the hall was empty; everyone had received their own gold epaulettes.

Long Tian nodded, turning his gaze to the setting sun outside. Orange-red light slanted in through the window, bathing the entire hall in a warm hue.

He cleared his throat, his voice deep and resonant, and everyone could hear him clearly.

"Today's report is down to the last step." He paused. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Long Tian, ​​and I am a traveler from the Jiuli tribe."

"Traveler, the second to last rank in Jiuli." Long Tian pointed to the two-stripe epaulettes on his shoulder, speaking casually.

"Torchbearer, Practitioner, Impermanence." He held up three fingers, "corresponding to the first to third bars, which are the three levels: intermediate, advanced, and illusory realm."

The audience below the stage perked up their ears: the seventh and eighth ranks were called the high ranks, and the ninth rank above the eighth rank was actually a realm called the Void Realm.

Long Tian continued, "And above the Impermanent are the Guardians, the Ten Seats, the Heavenly Bureau, and the Imperial Guard—"

"And the nine supreme rulers of our Jiuli." As he said this, his tone became more respectful.

"Of course, these things are still too far removed from our reality. However, I believe that it's something you can still look forward to."

He smiled, his gaze sweeping over the young faces below the stage: "But you must be quite curious, right? Leaving aside powerhouses like Tian Si and Li Yu, you've probably never even seen ninth-tier Impermanence or tenth-tier Guardians, have you?"

As Wu You listened to Long Tian's words, he recalled what Hu Lie had said before: There was only one person in the entire Xilin Province who could deal with a tenth-order divine descent body.

A province with tens of millions of people has only one tenth rank.

Are high-level human combatants really that scarce?

His brow furrowed slightly.

Long Tian wasn't finished speaking.

"Do you know where they all went?"

Hearing this, Wu You breathed a sigh of relief: It seems that it is not that scarce, but that they have all gone somewhere.

Long Tian's next sentence answered his question: "The Deep Dark Domain."

His expression turned serious, the smile on his face disappeared, and he was replaced by a serious and composed look.

"You all know about the existence of the Dark Realm, but you probably don't know that the Dark Realm actually has more than one layer!"

"You've probably noticed as well. Every time you enter the Dark Realm, aren't the buildings and terrain around you similar to the corresponding area in the real world?"

"But there's a thick layer of black mist surrounding it?"

Wu You nodded unconsciously.

He first awoke from the Dark Realm in an extremely narrow alley, and after leaving the Dark Realm, he also appeared in an alley in the real world.

"Doesn't the Dark Realm feel like a reflection of the real world?"

"Is the Dark Realm the inner world, while the real world is the outer world?"

Many of the torchbearers in the audience nodded slightly; they indeed thought so.

Long Tian's tone softened slightly: "Actually, you're not wrong to think that way. The shallow dark realm is indeed a reflection of our real world."

"But," he changed the subject, "everyone should have seen that post that newcomers must read from their first day in the Bureau of Investigation."

All the students, including Wu You, recalled a saying: The Dark Domain is the boundary between the Corpse World and the Human World, symbolizing the Corpse World's encroachment on the Human World.

"The Dark Domain is the boundary between the Corpse World and the Human World; it is the Corpse World's encroachment on the Human World." Long Tian repeated the sentence word by word. "So don't forget, besides our real world, there is also a Corpse World."

His gaze swept across the audience, his voice steady.

"The real world has reflections, forming a shallow dark realm. What about the world of the Corpse Species?"

Long Tian glanced at everyone, then said without further ado, "Of course there is. The place where the reflection of the real world intersects with the reflection of the Corpse World is what I just mentioned—the Deep Dark Domain!"

He made an overlapping gesture with his fingers in the air.

"Theoretically, if we can break through the zombies' defenses and cross the deep dark domain, it's possible to reach their world." His tone was calm, as if he were talking about something very distant. "However, it's also a fact that we humans are at a disadvantage."

He paused, then raised his voice slightly: "But I believe that as we continue to progress, anything is possible. Some of you might even be able to go and have some fun in the Corpse World."

A few soft laughs rang out from the audience, and the atmosphere relaxed a little.

Long Tian smiled and continued, "Once these nodes are lost, it means that the Corpse Species can directly enter the shallow Dark Domain and then enter our world. Therefore, most of our human experts at the ninth rank and above stay in the deep Dark Domain year-round; that is our first line of defense against the Corpse Species world."

His tone became more serious: "Similarly, in the deep dark domain, mid-to-high-level corpse species are the main force, while low-level corpse species are relatively rare."

Wu You's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Are mid-to-high-tier zombies the main force? Doesn't that mean they'll gain more experience points faster?

It seems he has no choice but to go to this deep, dark realm.

Long Tian continued, "Speaking of the deep dark domain, there are some basic things that need to be mentioned."

He tapped his watch. A screen of light rose behind him, displaying a network diagram with curved lines and a spiderweb-like structure.

The lines crisscross and vary in thickness, forming nodes at certain intersections, making the whole picture look like a stretched and deformed net.

Long Tian pointed to a thin, curved line and said, "The corruption of the Corpse World into us is like this net. Each line is a crack. The Corpse People can use these cracks to sneak into the shallow Dark Domain and then further into the real world."

He paused.

"But there are limitations. Most cracks are very small, generally only allowing third or fourth-tier corpses to pass through, at most fifth or sixth-tier. Only a few large cracks can allow higher-tier corpses to pass through."

His finger moved to the point where the three curved lines on the screen intersected.

"Those are all fine. The key issues are these nodes!"

"When multiple cracks intersect, the reflection of the Corpse World at these nodes will merge with the reflection of the real world!"

"At that time, the boundary between the two will disappear, and they will intersect!"

"Where the two meet lies the deep, dark realm."

After Long Tian explained so much, Wu You finally understood.

The Deep Dark Domain is simply the intersection of two worlds.

At the same time, he also understood why there were so few strong people in the real world.

So they all went to guard the front lines.

Longtian continued.

"After saying so much, I believe you all understand now. If the provincial and municipal investigation bureaus are mainly responsible for cleaning up the corpses in the shallow dark domain and maintaining the stability of the real world, then Jiuli is the first line of defense against the deep dark domain."

He paused, a hint of teasing in his voice: "Of course, Jiuli also has the function of screening talent."

"Only those who reach the Void Realm need to reside permanently in the Deep Dark Domain. After joining Jiuli, Jiuli members who fail to break through to the Void Realm within five years can only study courses such as administration and people's livelihood, and then be assigned to various places as directors, commanders, or executives."

He blinked.

"So work hard, otherwise you'll have to take a lot of boring administrative strategy courses and then work as a bureau chief, general manager, or executive for many years."

Everyone's expressions were a bit strange: Is being a bureau chief, commander-in-chief, or executive officer such a terrible thing? Long Tian's words made it sound like becoming a bureau chief was a punishment.

Long Tian seemed to have guessed what everyone was thinking, and a mysterious smile appeared on his face: "You'll understand when you go to the Deep Dark Domain later."

This statement also revealed a piece of information to everyone: the preliminary training will most likely take place in the deep, dark domain.

Long Tian tapped the watch again, and the light screen disappeared.

"Alright, that's all for today's report. Formal preliminary training begins tomorrow. Your room details, permissions, and corresponding contribution points have been sent to your survey accounts." He stretched. "Now get some rest; things won't be so easy later."

After saying that, he took out his phone, sent a message to someone, and then rose into the air, his figure disappearing into the twilight outside the window.

Seeing this, Wu You also took out his phone to check the information about his room.