82: The Star Ring initiates the cycle of time, while hidden demonic insects devour the human heart.
Xiao Ling transformed into a wisp of blue light and merged into the ring.
This ring was named the star ring.
In this way, Zhang Sheng could communicate with Xiao Ling in real-time.
This star ring was Zhang Sheng's proof of identity as the Master of Earth, and it also possessed an important authority of the myriad worlds pearl projection.
— It could advance the arrival time of the Secret Realm!
If there was no human interference, the Secret Realm would descend upon Earth according to the established program set by the myriad worlds pearl until the assessment ended.
However, the strength of different nascent civilizations varied vastly.
Weak civilizations often went extinct before high-difficulty Secret Realms appeared, while powerful nascent civilizations could engage in space flight as soon as they were born, making the Secret Realm trials of the first few stages not worth mentioning.
Therefore, Zhang Sheng ascending to the myriad worlds pearl projection during the third stage of the Secret Realm's arrival was not only as the first person to do so, qualifying him to register as the Master of Earth.
Moreover, the civilization potential Rank of Earth's civilization was determined as C Rank because of this.
The earlier one logged into the myriad worlds pearl projection, the higher this Rank would be.
The final judgment result would be comprehensively determined based on the time and performance of passing the Civilization Assessment.
Powerful civilizations could use the star ring to make the Secret Realm arrive early, and by completing the subjugation ahead of time, they could obtain a higher Rank.
"I must return as soon as possible!"
From the information Xiao Ling transmitted, Zhang Sheng learned that the Yao Beasts within the Secret Realm were actually civilizations that had once perished.
They originally possessed a civilization similar to Earth's.
Once powerful Yao Beasts descended into the current world, the aftermath would be endless!
Because without the restrictions of the Secret Realm's rules, they would regain their consciousness.
Zhang Sheng left the myriad worlds pearl projection and transformed into a rainbow light, flying toward Earth.
"Xiao Ling, can you tell me what the Tianxing Continent is like?"
Zhang Sheng transmitted via Divine Sense, asking Xiao Ling inside the star ring curiously.
After a nascent civilization passed the Civilization Assessment, it would be transported to the Tianxing Continent through the myriad worlds pearl projection.
The entire planet would be transported together.
The higher the civilization potential Rank, the better the living environment.
"Zhang Sheng, with your current cognition, I cannot explain it to you."
"That is an existence that surpasses your imagination!"
"Only in the future, when you truly arrive there, will you be able to break through the cognitive barrier and see a new world!"
Although Xiao Ling's voice was pleasant and melodious, it lacked the slightest emotion.
"Break through the cognitive barrier and see a new world." Zhang Sheng was lost in thought.
"Alright, I understand!"
The urgent matter now was to overcome the immediate difficulties and complete the Civilization Assessment as soon as possible.
"I don't know how Earth is doing now; I hope no accidents have occurred."
...
Although this trip to the myriad worlds pearl projection did not solve the problem of Cultivation, he had learned the truth about the drastic changes on Earth.
Having clarified the path ahead, the harvest was quite abundant.
After several hours of flight, Zhang Sheng was getting closer and closer to Earth.
In the blink of an eye, only a few hundred kilometers of distance remained.
However, the scene before him made Zhang Sheng feel that something was amiss.
Shattered metal fragments, metal pipes left with obvious burn and cut marks!
Debris!
It was the debris of a space station!
Zhang Sheng opened his Smart Terminal to contact the ground.
But there was no signal at all.
At this moment, being only a few hundred kilometers from the ground and not far from communication and positioning satellites, communication should have been restored.
"What exactly happened? Could it be that the major powers have broken out into war?"
Zhang Sheng thought while flying rapidly toward the direction of Huaxia.
"No, at a time of global crisis, they are already overwhelmed by the Secret Realm Yao Beasts; the probability of a major war is extremely low!"
"Divine Breath Realm Beast!"
Zhang Sheng thought of another possibility.
Along the way, Zhang Sheng discovered satellite debris multiple times, some shattered, others bearing traces of having been burned.
He activated his Perfected State Spiritual Eye Technique to its full extent, and wisps of faint, filthy Qi were dissipating from the debris.
"Divine Breath Realm Beast!"
"Damn it! Everyone, please don't let anything happen!"
In Zhang Sheng's mind, the figures of his parents and everyone flashed by, and his flight speed increased by another thirty percent.
Just when Zhang Sheng was nearly 30 kilometers from the ground, more than a dozen figures were reflected within his Divine Sense range.
Some of them were exceptionally familiar!
However, what was the meaning of them all concealing their Qi and hiding?
A familiar Soul pressure assaulted him; unlike the dizziness from before, this time the Soul pressure was nothing more than a breeze brushing against Zhang Sheng's face.
More than a dozen figures appeared and surrounded Zhang Sheng, their expressions grave and tense!
A battle stance, ready to engage at any moment.
Zhang Sheng looked at the familiar people, his brows furrowed.
With a thought, a Spirit Shield suddenly rose, eighty-one layers thick!
"Lu Zhuo, Song Xian! What is the meaning of this?" Zhang Sheng asked angrily.
Lu Zhuo hurriedly activated his own Talent—Soul Shock, carefully sensing Zhang Sheng's Soul aura.
Then his brows relaxed, and he quickly said: "Zhang Sheng is fine; I haven't detected the aura of a Demon Insect!"
After Lu Zhuo finished speaking, everyone finally relaxed!
They let out a long sigh of relief.
"Lu Zhuo, speak quickly next time, you scared us to death!" Zhao Xue, with long fiery red hair, patted her proud chest.
The others also relaxed.
"Zhang Sheng, I hope you can understand; it's really great that you are alright!" Song Xian said with a weary expression.
"That Demon Insect capable of controlling Cultivators has still caused a great disaster!" Song Xian said helplessly.
If Zhang Sheng were controlled by the Demon Insect, it would be a huge problem.
Even if he called upon all members of Sequence Members Team One and Team Two, a total of fifteen top experts of Huaxia, he was not confident in defeating Zhang Sheng.
"We had no other choice; only Lu Zhuo's Talent—Soul Shock could detect the Demon Insect inside the body of a parasitized person."
In the past few days, Huaxia had been searching for the Demon Insect, but there had been no traces.
Huaxia investigated many Talents, and currently, only Lu Zhuo's Talent was found to be useful against the Demon Insect.
Lu Zhuo could determine whether a Cultivator was controlled by the Demon Insect by sensing their Soul.
As the number one powerhouse, Zhang Sheng's safety was naturally the top priority!
Only then did Zhang Sheng notice the absence of that quiet boy in the crowd, who was usually Song Xian's tag-along.
Such a powerful SSS-Rank healing Talent, what a pity!
This was enough to show that the Demon Insect possessed extremely high intelligence.
As long as Huang Yang was in the team, no matter how severe the injury, at least a life could be saved.
The ten members of Sequence Members Team One, including Zhang Sheng, now only had six left.
Song Xian, Lu Zhuo, Zhao Xue, Tie Fan, Wang Yu, and himself.
Sequence Members Team Two, which Zhang Sheng had rarely seen, had ten members in total, but now only seven remained.
To rule out the possibility of Zhang Sheng being parasitized by the Demon Insect, both Sequence Members teams needed to come out at the same time; they were extremely tense, and they had all left their final words, prepared to die in battle.
Even Huaxia's hypersonic weapons carrying nuclear warheads had already aimed at this location; if Zhang Sheng were parasitized by the Demon Insect and both Sequence Members teams could not defeat him, they would have no choice but to use this last resort.
Song Xian let out a long breath and then said: "Let's go. A lot has happened in the day and a half you were gone; let's go back and discuss it!"
Zhang Sheng being safe and sound was the best thing.
The group of sixteen went straight to the underground hall of the First Cultivation University.
Dean Hou Wu had been waiting for a long time.
"Zhang Sheng, welcome back!"
"The operation order for Song Xian and the others was issued by me; if you want to blame someone, just blame this old man."
In these special times, Zhang Sheng naturally understood everyone's actions.
...
"This is the situation we are currently facing!"
From the meeting, Zhang Sheng learned that it was a Divine Breath Realm Beast that had destroyed the satellites and space stations in the sky.
Although there were still ground optical fibers, the communication network had experienced large-scale outages, and places all over the world were in chaos.