After the artificial Saintess disappeared, the last few remaining brass knights on the battlefield were quickly wiped out, leaving only Yu Sheng and his group in the ravaged streets. The scene was clearly far from satisfying.

“She just ran away? After all that, and in the blink of an eye, she vanished?” Irene, jumping down from Yu Sheng’s shoulder, ran to the spot where the artificial Saintess had last stood. She searched around, looking flustered and angry, shouting, “After taking such a beating, she can still teleport?!”

Xuan Che, whose sword still emitted an icy chill behind him, had not let his guard down. Upon hearing Irene’s complaint, he frowned slightly. “That doesn’t seem like an ordinary teleportation. It’s more like the ‘return’ technique I’ve heard of.”

Yu Sheng froze for a moment. “‘Return’? What’s that?”

Xuan Che explained, speaking with some awe, “It’s a new feature in the latest model of artificial Saintesses. They have a technology that allows them to set up a ‘holy coffin’ for emergency repairs and self-preservation. If they sustain severe damage while on a mission, they can instantly teleport back to the ‘holy coffin’ for safety. It’s something I’ve heard of, but never encountered before.” He looked thoughtful. “So, this is how it works… We’ll need to think of a countermeasure.”

Irene’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What the hell?! She has such a sneaky trick up her sleeve?! This model’s way too shady!”

Xuan Che frowned again. “As far as I know, the ‘holy coffin’ has its limits. The teleportation range can’t be too far, and it can only be activated once within a short time. So, that automaton’s hiding spot should be nearby. Let’s keep searching…”

Before he could finish, Yu Sheng spoke up. “Indeed, it’s right around here.”

Foxy, who had been sniffing around, immediately stood up upon hearing Yu Sheng’s words. His eyes sparkled. “Benefactor, do you know where she went?”

A faint smile appeared on Yu Sheng’s face as he surveyed the slowly gathering mist around them, his mood lifting. Just a moment ago, he had felt a clearer, more distinct connection from the blood mark.

“She ran quite well,” Yu Sheng said, walking slowly toward a certain spot. “No wonder… If she hadn’t run, I might not have noticed.”

He stopped in an open area and reached out, as if trying to touch an invisible door. This was the same spot where Xuan Che’s punch had landed earlier, leaving a lingering wave of force.

Yu Sheng realized he hadn’t been mistaken before—there was indeed something hidden here. Well-concealed, but now, the blood resonance had pierced through the concealment, and in his “sight,” a faint dark red line flickered in the otherwise empty space.

He finally found the “edge” of that line and reached out to peel it away—like prying open a slightly ajar door, pushing it open bit by bit with force.

The surrounding mist immediately quickened its flow, and a turbulent, malicious atmosphere surged from the invisible crack, accompanied by a series of sharp, unsettling sounds. Irene stared in shock as she watched Yu Sheng forcibly “peel” open a dark red-glowing door in the air. The gap widened, and with it, massive, spiderweb-like cracks began to appear in the surrounding space.

The cracks spread across the air, extending hundreds of meters outward in an instant, sprawling across the streets, buildings, the sky, and the ground. A gigantic, oppressive, dark red “spiderweb” seemed to materialize out of nowhere, enveloping the entire district. On its surface, a gaping wound appeared, the source of which was the crack Yu Sheng was steadily tearing open with his hands!

“Whoa, this thing is tough!” Yu Sheng felt a massive resistance but didn’t stop. Instead, the more he felt it, the more driven he became. He even braced one foot against the crack and used his whole body to pry it open wider, his expression lighting up like a child at play. “Hey! Let’s see what you really are!”

Xuan Che, standing nearby, was stunned. A force he had never encountered before disturbed his divine sense. As Yu Sheng ripped the veil apart, it seemed to him as though he could hear the sound of a massive spatial structure letting out a deathly wail—yes, the veil itself was howling, lifeless yet rapidly dying. Finally, with the sound of glass shattering, it collapsed with a deafening crash!

The massive “cocoon” was torn apart, a tiny wound triggering a chain collapse throughout the entire structure. Spiderweb-like dark red veins splintered into pieces, exploding outward in all directions like a violent storm. The thick fog shook violently, and the scene of the street, once familiar, twisted and scattered like a collapsed stage backdrop. Finally, a hidden space was exposed to all.

Irene: “…What the hell!?”

As the curtain faded, she saw an expansive space covered by dark material. The dull, rock-like ground was scattered with eerie pale purple crystal clusters, embedded in the city’s buildings like grotesque, unnatural scars. Large and small crystals turned into monstrous, grotesque “jungles,” and at the heart of this forest, a towering high tower stood.

It was a giant tower exuding an aura of mystery and darkness. The towering structure seemed built from countless black stones, but it faintly shimmered with a metallic texture. At high altitudes, there were smaller towers or “branch structures,” floating nearby, all connected by delicate bridges and even runic chains surrounding the main tower.

When Irene forced herself to look up at the high tower, she noticed that the upper half of the tower seemed to carry a distorted, blurry “texture,” as if several illusions of the tower were overlapping. After just a few seconds of staring, she felt dizzy and disoriented.

She averted her gaze, and the small doll, chattering excitedly, asked the soul-shaking three questions: “What is that? What do we do now? Where did that come from?”

Even Yu Sheng, who had personally torn apart the curtain, froze when he looked up. Although he had sensed the hidden location of the artificial Saintess, he hadn’t expected such an astonishing sight after breaking the barrier. Hearing Irene’s shouting, he could only shrug: “I don’t know!”

Irene’s other self quickly ran over, climbing onto Yu Sheng’s shoulder while speaking rapidly, “It’s been hidden here all this time? How did no one notice… Oh my God! This feels like cleaning the house and suddenly finding a nest of cockroaches in the cupboard!”

Yu Sheng shuddered instantly: “Don’t say things like that!”

At that moment, Foxy also arrived next to Yu Sheng, looking up at the high tower and speaking: “Benefactor, what should we do next? Should we go and check it out?”

Before Yu Sheng could respond, the small doll on his shoulder immediately shrank its neck: “Do we really have to go? This place doesn’t look right… It feels like monsters are going to spawn everywhere.”

Foxy thought for a moment: “But the C-shaped clasp might be hidden inside.”

Irene: “Well, that brings us back to…?”

From the moment the giant tower appeared, Xuan Che had furrowed his brow. His gaze remained fixed ahead, and after a long silence, he suddenly spoke, breaking the quiet: “This is it!”

Irene and Foxy immediately fell silent, turning to look at him. Yu Sheng was the first to speak: “Huh?”

“Do you remember how I mentioned that in the last year or two, the frontier sector under the Grand Void Spiritual Axis discovered traces of the Holy Revere Hermitage?” Xuan Che quickly said, “During one of the raids, the Mountain Guardian cultivators destroyed a hideout of dark cults and saw a giant tower—but at that time, the tower was incomplete, and it wasn’t hidden. It was built in a large underground cavern. I’ve seen the footage from that time, and if the tower had been finished, it would look exactly like this!”

Irene blinked, then quickly turned to Yu Sheng: “Does that mean we have to go inside and check it out?”

But Yu Sheng raised his hand and knocked the small doll on the head: “Are you stupid? First, we report this to the relevant authorities! Just a single clue can be worth tens of thousands!”

As he spoke, he casually pulled out his phone—clearly, his worldview was perfectly intact here.

Irene widened her eyes: “But there’s no signal here!”

As soon as she finished speaking, she watched in disbelief as Yu Sheng casually opened a small door in the air beside him. Beyond the door was the living room of Wutong Road 66.

Then, Yu Sheng quickly typed out a message on the frontier communication reporting platform and sent it, holding the phone through the door.

Irene: “…”

Yu Sheng turned to look, meeting the stunned gazes of Irene and Foxy. Xuan Che, however, showed no reaction, as he was still unfamiliar with the wonders of Wutong Road 66.

“What are you staring at me for?” Yu Sheng frowned.

Foxy smiled broadly: “Benefactor, as expected, you’re sharp-minded.”

Irene’s response was more direct: “…You’re really something.”

“Eh, that’s basic stuff,” Yu Sheng said, unconcerned as he waved the phone and casually put it away. “Alright, the report is sent. Now we find a safe spot and wait for a response from the Special Affairs Bureau.”

Irene was surprised: “Huh? We’re not going in? I thought once you reported it, we’d go in and check it out—that’s not really your usual style.”

Yu Sheng: “What’s my usual style?”

Irene thought for a moment: “The kind that doesn’t care about dying…”

Yu Sheng: “…That’s not how that phrase is used!”