Is Lieutenant Stephen still alive? Zhang Yuanqing sat stunned in his office chair, his thoughts boiling over. The Haiyan had vanished in 1900... No sea monster had been sighted since in the southern waters off Ireland... Lieutenant Stephen was a target of the magical contamination and manipulation. During World War I, Stephen Simpson—expected to have died in 1900—appeared on the battlefield, looking exactly as he had fifteen years earlier. The eerie maritime narrative and its clues swiftly flashed through his mind, merging with the records and annexes from the Irish Naval Headquarters, gradually revealing a hazy truth. "So, the truth behind the Haiyan's disappearance is that the transformed Lieutenant Stephen slaughtered the crew and the spiritual travelers aboard, carrying the magical contamination with him," Zhang Yuanqing said, himself struck with awe. "Can the magical contamination transform a regular person into a being capable of defeating a Red Bishop at the peak of Level Six?" He exchanged a serious glance with Guan Ya. What exactly was the magical contamination? Yet there's an even more terrifying fact: Stephen is likely still alive in the real world, and so is the magical being. The "magical being" encountered in the "Startling Cruise" instance is probably a replica generated by the Spirit Realm—not the true original. The Spirit Realm has simply reenacted that historical period as a replica. "A bit eerie, isn't it?" Zhang Yuanqing remarked. If Stephen Simpson is still alive, what status would he now hold? He must have become a Spirit Realm Traveler—a being profoundly contaminated by the realm's essence—thus qualifying for a character card, possibly even a leading figure in the Evil faction. As a member of the "Fated Poisoner" profession, if Stephen were to assume that role, then among the semi-divine and peak master-level champions of the Biological Alchemy Guild, one of them might very well be him. "Guan Ya, go check again—does Stephen Simpson's son still have any descendants?" Zhang Yuanqing instructed. In Lingjing Xingzhe, descendants with blood relations serve as a relatively stable medium—through their lineage, one can even reverse-cast curses upon ancestors. Of course, such curses tend to be weaker; if the ancestor holds an exceptionally high status, the curse may be effectively ignored. For the Star Officials, however, descendants' blood can be used to trace back and reconstruct the ancestors' lineage. Zhang Yuanqing currently has no intention of tracing Stephen, as doing so would be tantamount to court death—he intends to meet him once his own status has risen. At that moment, the frosted glass door rings. A clear, melodic voice speaks from within: "I'm here!" The next instant, the office door swings open, and Sun Miao Miao's bright eyes sweep between the two of them, her nose wrinkling slightly. "Why close the door during the day? Quemang, Guanyi—aren't you two planning something that's not quite public?" Guanyi hears this and is immediately taken aback. She is the official girlfriend of Yuan Shi, and Sun Miao Miao's obvious attempt at catching them in the act clearly speaks volumes. Since the last time the Master of the Halt-Kill Palace closed her doors, Sun Miaomiao has seemed to have mastered the art of slaying dragons. Publicly, everyone still treats her as a close friend, but privately, she's often pinned down with the remark: "Guan Ya is Yuan-Shi Tianzun's girlfriend—what does that have to do with Jun Mang?" Zhang Yuanqing cleared his throat. "What's up?" He deliberately ignored the subtle rivalry between the two, as the Master of the Halt-Kill Palace had once said: women are naturally skilled at internal palace politics, and the best strategy is to simply pretend not to hear. "Vivian has scheduled a meeting with you in Conference Room Three," Sun Miaomiao said. Conference Room Three is a large meeting space. Are we about to take action? Zhang Yuanqing's expression grew serious. "We've got work to do—everyone, stand by!" He rose and left his office, heading toward the entrance of Conference Room Three. Through the frosted glass wall, he saw that the room was completely dark, with not a single ray of light seeping through. "Ding-ding—" He knocked on the frosted glass door. Darkness in the conference room quickly faded, and bright, intense lights came on, followed by Winny's voice: "Please come in." Zhang Yuanqing pushed open the conference room door and saw four men and one woman seated at the table. Ten attendees were seated in the audience section—men and women of various backgrounds, including white chocolate, black chocolate, and Chinese heritage. Among them, Zhang recognized an old acquaintance. Feng Shen Zhi Yi, a Sixth-Level Saint of the Anti-White-Black Alliance—the Wind God's Wing. Was this a mobilization effort? Wasn't it risky to make such a commotion, fearing that the Evil Coalition would detect the move in advance? Unless the Evil Coalition was exceptionally strong and thus had to deploy so many Saints... Zhang found this rather unusual. He gave Feng Shen Zhi Yi a slight nod and carefully observed the five seated at the table. Three of them were familiar to him. One was Nos, one of the two peak Saints of the New Covenant County's Heaven's Judgment Division; another was Lei Li Yu, a Saint from the Merchant Guild, representing the interests faction. The last one was also an old friend—X The sixth-rank knight remained as serious and expressionless as ever, seated like a statue. He wasn't supposed to be at the headquarters, was he? Yet here he was in Xinjie County. Indeed, Xinjie County's branch only had two peak saints—several fourth- and fifth-tier saints had been lost. It was certainly time to bring in some fresh blood. Zhang Yuan thought to himself. The synchronized sound of seats sliding gently echoed through the hall, and the ten sages in the audience rose up, nodding or smiling warmly in appreciation toward the outstanding performance of the Five-Element Alliance's beast king. "Sit down, everyone!" Zhang Yuanqing pressed a hand, exuding the air of a seasoned leader. At the head of the conference table sat Viny and Sean, the two rulers. Once Zhang Yuanqing took his seat, Sean unfolded a crimson cloth to reveal a dark, spherical object beneath. The very next moment, the entire conference room was enveloped in a grayish haze. After Sean Med's introduction, Zhang Yuanqing learned the identity of the strikingly beautiful woman—Ling Realm ID Emily, a senior steward of the Beauty Goddess Association and the only peak sage among its branch divisions. The man with a beard was known as "The Deep-Sea Terror," a senior sage of the Sea God Church. Five of the sages sat at the table, while the others in the adjacent listening seats were ordinary sages—making a total of fifteen sages. Indeed, quite an impressive lineup. Zhang Yuanqing mused, beginning to sense the purpose of this gathering. At that moment, Sean Med said calmly, "All personnel are in place. Let me outline our objectives. According to our intelligence, the Second District's Commander of the Army, the Void Sect (the Southern Branch), and the Night Rose have dispatched a small team of Saints to cross into the New Covenant Prefecture to support the Evil faction. The team includes three Peak Saints, with approximately ten to fifteen ordinary Saints. Your mission is to completely annihilate this team, with particular emphasis on eliminating the three Peak Saints." As he spoke, he picked up the remote control and projected the professional skills of the Star Official, the Illusionist, and the Enchanted Spirit onto the screen. The Saints turned to gaze at the screen, though they were already well-acquainted with this information. Sean Med continued, "Reliable intelligence indicates that the team will arrive at the New Covenant Port tomorrow evening. However, neither radar nor reconnaissance vessels have detected the movements of the stealth ships. Therefore, tomorrow, I will work with Minister Wei-Ni to activate the Sky's Eye to locate them." "You'll be on standby at the New Covenant Port tomorrow, waiting for the Ministry of Wei Ning to confirm the enemy's position. As for me, I'll patrol the skies, on the lookout for the dominion of the evil faction." Did Tianfa intend to deploy that rule-based artifact? The saints present were taken aback. In their understanding, that costly rule-based artifact—capable of directly pinpointing the travelers of the spiritual realm—was Tianfa's strategic reserve. Using it against the saints seemed rather overkill. At that moment, they heard a soft chuckle: "The saints have been playing small-scale games; is it finally time for the dominion to step into the arena and fight?" Turning to where the voice came from, they found it was Jun Mang. Wei Ning and Xiao Shen exchanged glances, both surprised—neither had expected that among so many saints, Jun Mang was the first to recognize the truth. "The dominion stepping in? What does that mean!" one of the saints, with dark skin and thick lips, looked at Jun Mang, then at the two chief figures. The holy ones some pondered, others remained puzzled, waiting for an answer. Zhang Yuanqing smiled lightly: "I have two master-level artifacts—one inherited from Yuan Shi Tian Zun, and one from Bacchus. If the enemy consists of only three peak holy ones and a dozen ordinary holy ones, my hunt mission with my team would be sufficient. Why would we need to summon you all? The more participants we have, the greater the risk of information leakage. "Additionally, the star officials can forecast the future. A sixth-tier peak star official, especially if specializing in stellar power, can even predict the movements of a seventh-tier master. Have you noticed that the two chief officials just mentioned a secret protection?" Pausing, Zhang Yuanqing continued: "Since we don't need it—indeed, the two chief officials intend to openly align with the evil faction. We possess the Sky's Eye, giving us the initiative. If the evil faction refuses to relinquish the holy ones currently being tracked by the Sky's Eye, they will have no choice but to engage." "If I were a high-ranking member of the Chaotic faction, I would risk everything to eliminate the high-tier Sovereigns of the Lawful faction—ideally, even one or two Dominants. If successful, the dynamics of the New Covenant Province would be completely transformed." The Sovereigns' expressions subtly shifted as they turned to the two senior leaders for confirmation. Winny slowly nodded: "The operations scheduled for tomorrow evening will indeed reshape the landscape of the New Covenant Province. To this point, the conflict between the factions has reached the stage where Dominants are no longer able to remain aloof—they must step into the fray." Though the combined number of Sovereigns across the major organizations could fill several rooms, when spread out, the total is actually modest. The numbers of Tier-6 and Peak Sovereigns are even smaller. Recently, Juming has eliminated three Sovereigns, and with the intensifying factional conflicts and additional losses, both the Lawful and Chaotic factions have seen a significant decline in their Sovereign ranks. The involvement of Dominants is now inevitable. Therefore, tonight marks a turning point in the war—no matter which side prevails, the other's saints will suffer a devastating blow, naturally ushering the conflict into the phase where the dominant force determines the outcome. Winei's words suddenly weighed heavily on everyone's minds. Tomorrow's battle will see the evil faction launch a furious counterattack, striving to eliminate as many saints from the lawful faction as possible. Each of those present now faces the risk of returning to the spiritual realm. At this moment, Knight Xia Zhao looked at Zhang Yuanqing and asked, "Have we met before?" When everyone turned to him, Zhang Yuanqing chuckled lightly. "During your time in Huaguo, I was just entering the dungeon—otherwise, how would the Prime Immortal have had the chance to shine?" He didn't flinch at Xia Zhao's recognition, for illusionists excel at disguise, both in appearance and aura. Their personalities differ as well: Jiangmu appears gentle on the surface but is actually passionate and ambitious. The Prime Immortal, though outwardly polished and diplomatic, is in truth resolute and defiant. Their core personalities are distinct. Yet the knight's intuition is indeed unsettling. When he returns to visit Winny's grandfather, he must be careful not to be caught by Zhai Cai grabbing a wolf with his bare hands. The intuition of a master-level knight will only grow stronger. Shawn Med surveyed the group, drew out a long knight's sword, and said, "This mission is strictly confidential. Each of you must swear an oath, promising to reveal absolutely nothing about the meeting, to anyone, in any way." ... 10:30 p.m. 69 Hamburg Street, Queens District, a spa and wellness center. Zhang Yuanqing entered the wellness center, wearing a baseball cap, mask, and sunglasses, the space adorned with a pink sign. The Japanese bamboo lanterns created a soft, intimate atmosphere. He walked down the corridor and reached the door wrapped in bronze, gently knocking. Upon hearing Catherine's warm voice from within, he pushed the door open. Catherine sat on a single sofa, dressed in a black knee-length dress, neither revealing her shoulders nor emphasizing her graceful curves—her attire was formal. "Simply send me a message if you have a task!" Zhang Yuanqing sat comfortably at a glass round table, pouring himself a glass of water. He had come in response to Catherine’s text message, though he had already anticipated something significant. “I’ve summoned you here, naturally, not for a routine assignment,” Catherine said, her face serious. “The Free Alliance from the Second District has sent a team to assist us. They’re expected to arrive in Xin Yue Port tomorrow evening. According to reliable sources, the Sky’s Eye will be activated tomorrow morning—specifically to target that team.” Only in New Covenant County did he realize that the real war was a war of intelligence. The world's most renowned spies and agents, the Divine Judgment, faced off against the Free Concord—a coalition that had been quietly embedded for a century, with its operatives scattered across every major organization. The result? Each of us now knows the other's moves, yet we all remain silent, each playing for the best outcome, balancing confidence with hope. "The sky's eye tracking function can't be blocked, can it?" Zhang Yuanqing asked tentatively. Katherine shook her head. "How could one block a master-tier rule-based artifact? Unless a higher-tier power—say, a semi-divine presence—offers concealed protection." Zhang Yuanqing spoke with serious conviction. "So you intend to use this moment to launch a counter-ambush and eliminate the lawful champions of the lawful faction?" Katherine smiled. "It's not just the champions. There are six-star officials in the support units. The Divine Judgment knows this, yet still chooses to strike. Do you see why?" "The Divine Judgment is fully prepared," Zhang Yuanqing replied. Katherine nodded. "We have no choice. The war at the Saint's stage was our defeat. If we now abandon our second-tier regional support forces, the Sovereign himself will have to step in personally. Given that, why not use this opportunity to face off against the Divine Judgment? Let's have the final battle tomorrow evening." "So there will be a Sovereign battle tomorrow!" Zhang Yuanqing nodded, showing he understood. Katherine explained, "Your task tomorrow is to participate in the Saint's battle, and to hunt down as many Lawful Saint Sovereigns as possible. Thíphoros, the Cocktail, and Hydra will all be in the fight." With so many top-tier Saint Sovereigns from both factions—over ten in total—things were heating up... Zhang Yuanqing smiled. "Interesting!" He then grew serious. "New Covenant Port is the headquarters of the Sea God Church. Are you certain you want the battle to take place there? The Sea God Church has half-divine beings among its ranks." While half-divine beings might not pay much attention to Saint-versus-Saint battles, the decisive battle between Sovereigns—especially among the highest-ranking Sovereigns or even half-divine beings Katharine's lips curled into a peculiar smile: "You've always doubted the existence of God. Tonight, you'll have the opportunity to see God!"