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

"By the way, I don't recommend staring at that thing in the sky all the time." Hu Lie pointed to the dark sun overhead, his tone casual, but his words made many students' hearts tighten. "According to the research institute's statistics, those who are not at the True Yang level are more likely to develop Dark Domain Anxiety if they keep looking at that thing."

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly averted their gaze.

Some of them were so engrossed in watching that they even unconsciously shook their heads, as if trying to shake something unpleasant out of their minds.

Xia Wan lowered her head further, staring at her toes, muttering something under her breath.

Hu Lie nodded and continued, "You should have seen this sign too. There are many of these in the stronghold, in various sizes. Keep an eye out for them when you pass by; there might be some useful information on them."

He pointed to the large screen floating in mid-air: "Look, what's displayed now is the high tide time of the Dark Mist. During the time shown on it, the Dark Mist, that is, the black fog—will become thicker and fill almost the entire Deep Dark Domain. At that time, not only will the visibility be extremely poor, but the corpses in the Deep Dark Domain will also be enhanced to a certain extent."

He paused, his tone becoming more serious.

"At the same time, during the high tide of the Dark Fog, almost all signals except for the life indicator lights will malfunction."

"In other words, once lost in the dark mist tides within the deep dark domain, one will be cut off from the stronghold! This is extremely dangerous for us!"

His gaze swept over the crowd, and he spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Therefore, remembering the time of the Dark Fog tide on that day is the first thing every Torchbearer in the Deep Dark Realm must do upon waking up."

Upon hearing this, Wu You silently glanced at the tide times for today's Dark Fog Tide: 13:21-18:24.

Seeing the solemn expressions on everyone's faces, Hu Lie's tone softened: "Of course, the situation isn't that serious. As the sign shows, generally speaking, as long as you don't enter areas with a danger level of B or higher, there shouldn't be any major problems."

"The so-called B-level danger level..." He pondered for a moment, seemingly trying to figure out how to explain it, then waved his hand, "Let's take you to upgrade your equipment first."

After saying that, he took a step and walked in one direction.

Wu You and his group immediately followed, and more than a thousand torchbearers behind them moved along with them one after another.

The crowd flowed like a black river between the dark blue stone buildings.

After walking for about ten minutes, Hu Lie stopped in front of a house that was larger than an ordinary bluestone building.

A dark blue-green stone tablet of the same material stands at the entrance, with three characters engraved on it: "Military Supplies Department". The characters are vigorous and powerful, with a sharp and imposing style.

Hu Lie stood at the entrance of the quartermaster's office, looking at the sign. He hesitated for a moment, then turned around and said to the people behind him, "Please wait outside for a moment."

He looked at Wu You: "Xiao You, come inside with me."

Wu You nodded upon hearing this and followed Hu Lie inside.

Wu You looked up and saw that the interior of the quartermaster department was much larger than it appeared from the outside.

The section near the entrance features a large U-shaped counter. The counter's surface is made of some kind of dark stone, polished very smoothly, and gleams with a dull luster under the light.

Behind the counter stood an elderly man who looked a bit older, with graying hair and wearing black-rimmed glasses, his eyes slightly squinting behind the lenses.

He was wearing a black trench coat, and the way he stood there exuded an indescribable sense of composure.

There was a screen in front of the old man, and he was operating something on it with his fingers, his movements very practiced.

Further inside the quartermaster quarters, there are several stone doors with inscriptions such as "Daily", "Medicinal Herbs", "Minerals", and "Special".

The stone door was closed, but light was faintly shining through the cracks, so it was impossible to tell what was inside.

Hu Lie saw the figure behind the counter, paused for a moment, and then walked forward.

"Mr. Wei, it's been a long time." His voice carried a rare, almost prim and proper tone, like a junior meeting an elder.

Hearing the sound, the old man behind the counter looked up, squinted, and glanced at Hu Lie's face.

Although those eyes were somewhat cloudy, when their gaze swept over, Wu You felt as if something had gently brushed against him.

"Hu Lie?" The old man's voice was a little hoarse, but full of energy.

"It's me, it's me." Hu Lie nodded with a smile. "You still remember me, sir?"

"Nonsense," the old man replied bluntly. His gaze shifted from Hu Lie's face to his epaulets, he looked at them for a few seconds, and then frowned.

"I think it's been seven or eight years, hasn't it?" The old man's tone held a hint of disdain. "You still haven't broken through to the Void Realm?"

Hu Lie's face flushed red instantly.

This rugged man, as imposing as a small mountain, stood before the counter, seemingly at a loss. He scratched the back of his head and stammered, "Almost there...it's already taking shape..."

The old man shook his head dismissively and uttered four words: "You need to practice cooking more."

Hu Lie's face turned even redder. He opened his mouth as if to refute something, but after glancing at the epaulets on the old man's shoulders, he swallowed his words.

Wu You followed his gaze and saw four golden bars, neatly arranged there.

Tenth-Order True Yang!

Wu You's expression turned slightly serious.

The old man in front of me, wearing ordinary black-rimmed glasses and looking no different from the old men playing chess in the park, was actually a True Yang Realm expert.

Moreover, the tenth level of True Yang is not an empty number for Wu You.

During his battle with the divine manifestation of the Thousand-Faced God, he had personally experienced that power that could almost destroy the world.

Although that power only lasted for a few seconds, it was enough for him to understand what the tenth rank meant.

The old man, referred to as Elder Wei, turned his head and looked at Wu You, who was standing next to Hu Lie. His gaze lingered on Wu You's face for a few seconds before he nodded slightly.

He glanced at the two golden bars with small wings on Wu You's shoulders.

"This young man is quite handsome." His tone remained indifferent. "His skills are also quite good. After all these years, we've finally found someone worth looking at."

Hearing Elder Wei's words, Hu Lie didn't have time to feel embarrassed. He immediately pulled Wu You forward two steps and said, "Elder Wei, let me introduce you—Wu You, the chief trainee this year, with seventh-level strength."

The old man turned his head and glared at Hu Lie: "I'm not blind yet."

"Ahem." Hu Lie coughed slightly to cover his embarrassment after choking again. "I haven't finished yet, Elder Wei. Xiao You is eighteen years old this year, and her abilities have only been awakened for less than half a year!"

The old man's already somewhat cloudy eyes suddenly sharpened.

Wu You didn't even see how he moved. He only felt a blur before his eyes, and the old man who had been standing behind the counter was now standing next to him, so close that he could almost feel the calm and heavy aura emanating from him.

His voice rang in my ears, hoarse and tinged with surprise.

"In less than half a year, seventh rank... I remember it was only fifth rank..." the old man muttered to himself, then seemed to think of something, paused, and didn't finish his sentence.

The next second, he was back inside the counter.

His gaze returned to Wu You, this time scrutinizing him more closely. A new seriousness appeared in his cloudy eyes.

"Not bad, not bad, a good prospect." He nodded, then frowned slightly. "But it looks like you've suffered a serious injury? How come you're so young, yet you exude such a lifeless aura? Just like this old man."