328: Chapter 328 The Holy World

One month later.

"Lord Zhang Huaiyuan, we can only escort you this far. The world ahead is a restricted zone designated by the Association."

Two commander-level guards from the "Scavengers" emerged from the shadows and bowed apologetically:

"We will wait here for your return. Wishing you all the best."

"It is fine. Thank you all for the escort along the way. I will complete the upcoming mission on my own."

Zhang Huaiyuan waved his hand and opened the spaceship door.

As the thirty guards departed, the entire cabin fell silent.

"It seems it's just the two of us fighting side by side again."

Zhang Huaiyuan pressed the thruster and stroked the integrated device on his right hand, smiling faintly.

"That is exactly what I have been looking forward to, my lord."

A string of complex symbols floated in the void, manifesting the figure of a beautiful woman who stood quietly behind Zhang Huaiyuan, her eyes smiling.

"This mission will not be easy."

Zhang Huaiyuan recalled what Third Senior Brother had said earlier and shook his head.

According to him:

There are only two paths to infiltrate from the edge of the Ascension Battlefield to the Sea of Time.

One is to destroy the entire 129,600 protective world layers of the battlefield.

The second is to leave through the seventeen transit worlds that connect these 129,600 layers.

The former is obviously impossible.

Therefore, his mission this time is to check the sealing status of these seventeen worlds according to the star map, while avoiding detection as much as possible.

"This star map has an extremely high security clearance. Except for the various Tower Masters, every special envoy uses a specially made chart. After the mission ends, the relevant memories will be erased due to the effects of causality, so even I have never seen it."

Zhang Huaiyuan thought of the instructions Third Senior Brother gave him when handing over the star map, and his heart felt somewhat heavy.

He had a vague premonition that this might be one of the greatest secrets of the All Heavens and Myriad Realms.

A secret that even a seventh-realm deputy tower master-level Scholar is not qualified to touch.

"My lord, you do not need to worry."

At this moment, the Statue of Liberty, whose gaze had been fixed on Zhang Huaiyuan, seemed to detect his anxiety. She moved two steps closer and turned her face, smiling brightly:

"I will definitely protect you."

"Hmm... I'm just afraid that my abilities are insufficient and I won't be able to handle this matter well."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head slightly.

"If even you feel that your abilities are insufficient, then it would only be worse for anyone else."

"Uh..."

Zhang Huaiyuan looked at the earnest-looking Statue of Liberty before him and couldn't help but laugh.

She is, after all, a partner he cultivated with his own hands; she has more confidence in him than he has in himself.

"Very well. Since the Association arranged for me to come, they must have considered everything. Let's set off."

Zhang Huaiyuan felt a little more at ease. He compared the first transit point marked on the star map in his mind and pressed the spaceship's propulsion device.

"By the way, the signal interference gets stronger the closer we get to the Ascension Battlefield. Can you handle it?"

Zhang Huaiyuan suddenly remembered something and turned his head to ask.

Although he had instructed the Statue of Liberty to be responsible for protection before setting off, funds were limited, and he was not sure if she had replaced her servers with ones capable of handling distorted dimensional interference.

"Of course, my lord."

The Statue of Liberty's lips curved into a confident arc:

"You may proceed according to your own plans; leave the rest to me."

"Good."

Zhang Huaiyuan was slightly stunned, then nodded with a faint smile.

"It seems that intelligent lifeforms, just like humans, will fall into a state of blind arrogance if they evolve too quickly in a short period."

"However, it's still better than being withdrawn like before. There's no need to dampen her confidence. After all, if there is any real danger, even the three major forces working together can only seal this enemy. No matter how much we prepare, it would be futile."

Thinking of this, Zhang Huaiyuan's expression relaxed.

His gaze gradually became lost in thought, following the trajectory of the spaceship...

Ten days later.

"Welcome to the Most Holy World."

"Respected Scholar, in view of your special status, this world has provided you with some assistance."

"You have obtained a reasonable identity in this world."

As a faint voice rang in his ears, Zhang Huaiyuan skillfully put away the spaceship.

With a wave of his hand, he scattered hundreds of modified nano-spiders to restore the sunken land and damaged greenery to their original state.

Finally, he took out a spray to remove the lingering mechanical smell in the air.

"My lord, your skills are so proficient that you don't look like a Scholar at all, but rather an excellent adventurer."

The Statue of Liberty, who had returned to the integrated device on his right wrist, joked.

"I've become much rustier. Back in the day, I survived for several years without a scratch among a group of mercenaries where there were no rules and danger surrounded us."

Zhang Huaiyuan smiled and looked around.

There was no trace of future technology; it looked more like a magical world similar to the Middle Ages.

According to the information provided by the Association, among the 129,600 world layers of the Ascension Battlefield, except for a small number of worlds used for trials, most have special designs and rules.

For example, this "Most Holy World" is a world where the average quality and character of the people are ridiculously high.

And the way to leave this world, besides violent destruction, requires going to the center of the world and obtaining the recognition of the Seven Holy Pillars of the Paladins.

Courage, Justice, Sacrifice, Compassion...

—Of course, even among the Association's Scholars, I'm afraid not one could satisfy these conditions.

But fortunately, as a special envoy, he has special permissions. He only needs to get close to the Seven Holy Pillars to adjust the permissions from the backend and enter the next world.

"The Association's intention is for me to check if the seal has any problems. It just so happens that I can make a pilgrimage to the Seven Holy Pillars area from here and observe the situation along the way."

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Huaiyuan quickly made a decision.

He pressed a button on his chest, and the next moment, he changed into a light magic apprentice robe, holding an ordinary wooden staff in his hand, looking exactly like a traveling mage.

"Goddess, mark the intelligent lifeforms in the nearby area for me."

"There is a creature with an energy level of about level 2, 1372 meters due east of you."

"Level 3? About the same strength as Brother Saide from the Dark Annihilation mercenary group back then. It seems the strength ceiling here is at the level of a Level 2 civilization at most."

Zhang Huaiyuan thought to himself while walking in the marked direction.

Soon, he saw from a distance a burly man leaning against a large tree, with two thin, dying gray wolves beside him.

To his shock, the burly man did not hesitate to pick up his battle knife, cut a large piece of meat from his own thigh, and feed it to the two gray wolves.

Aside from the instinctive frowning reaction caused by the pain, his eyes revealed a kind of sacred and compassionate light.

"Can even an ordinary person in this world achieve such a level?"

Zhang Huaiyuan narrowed his eyes slightly and reached out to stroke his right wrist gently.

"Statue of Liberty, activate micro-expression and body language dynamic analysis."