As the barrier rose, Sang Guo's body was suddenly flung out as if he had been hit by an electromagnetic projectile.

BOOM—

With a loud explosion, Yu Ruoyun's fist smashed down on Sang Guo's head. Without the protective barrier, Sang Guo's head burst like a watermelon, brains splattering everywhere, mingling with the blood and the deep crater in the ground.

The once esteemed Titled Strongman who, after his betrayal, had made the entire Eastern Host Nation tremble in fear, met his obscure end in this remote corner.

After smashing Sang Guo's head with a punch, Yu Ruoyun withdrew her fist and slightly raised her head, looking at Wang Lan, who was desperately pounding on the Array barrier, with a mixture of heartache and regret in her eyes.

"This is an Array specially set up by the Demon Clan; not even the Five Emperors can disturb it. Wang Lan, stop wasting your strength. The war has begun."

As if to echo Yu Ruoyun's words, a brilliant beam of light suddenly shot up into the sky from the Time-Space Gemstone.

Elsewhere, Wu Shaohua and Princess Aier, despite their injuries, had fought through the Paradise Bird's desperate resistance and finally cleared the way to the Space Stone activation device. Just as Wu Shaohua was about to launch his Star Martial Skill to destroy the device, its preheating completed.

In an instant, terrifying energy was unleashed, blanketing the world in a dazzling, aurora-like curtain of light.

At that moment, Wu Shaohua's expression was one of utter despair. Just a little bit more, just that tiny bit more... We've tried so hard... Why... In the end, we were defeated by time, lost everything.

The immense amount of energy released by such a large vein of Space Stone would be beyond comprehension. Astronomical amounts of energy would instantaneously shred everything around them, perhaps even space itself.

His death is insignificant; he's just a minor Star Sea realm warrior. But Wang Lan and Yu Ruoyun can't die. One is a once-in-a-millennium talent, the other a peerless prodigy unseen since ancient times. Their deaths would rob Jade Country of an opportunity for a great leap forward and might even plunge the nation back into civil strife.

Massive amounts of Space Stone energy were unleashed but didn't result in a space-time maelstrom. Endless energy gathered, condensing the intangible energy into a liquid state and casting an energy tide towards the Time-Space Gemstone.

Such energy was not only sufficient to open the Portal of the Demon World but also to build a safe passageway between the human and demon realms.

"Host has detected loadable Pure Energy; please do not miss it." In Wang Lan's mind, the usually reticent system suddenly spoke up, stubbornly yet mischievously telling Wang Lan that it was, in fact, an intelligent system, not a low-grade mindless one.

"The war has started, huh? Then let me end it!" As he spoke, Wang Lan made a sudden leap towards the pillar of light with the determination of a moth flying into a flame.

"Wang Lan!" Yu Ruoyun had never expected Wang Lan to make such a move, but it was too late to stop him. She watched helplessly as Wang Lan crashed headlong into the column of energy.

The energy from the Time-Space Gemstone is powerful enough to open the Portal of the Demon World; one can only imagine the space energy it contains. It doesn't matter if he charged into it head-first; even if the Five Emperors linked hands and did the same, it would mean certain death!

"Idiot!" Yu Ruoyun cursed uncontrollably after Wang Lan had vanished.

"Loadable energy detected. Do you wish to load it?"

"Yes!" At that moment, Wang Lan felt a numbness throughout his body, followed by the Saint Cloth of the Phoenix Constellation on him disintegrating into a shower of Starlight. Such intense energy! Even a Bronze Saint Cloth couldn't withstand it, let alone a Gold one.

"Please select the Star Martial Skill to load."

"Heavenly Fire Extinguishing World!"

"The level of the Star Martial Skill is too low to load."

"Damn it! You're telling me a Platinum-level Star Martial Skill is too low? Load Phoenix Form!"

"Energy loading in progress."

Suddenly, the endless void in the sky twisted. A forming space-time gate ceased spreading due to the loss of energy input, then disappeared as quickly as a snuffed-out flame.

This scene made the previously despairing Yu Ruoyun abruptly stop crying, two tears still hanging in the corners of her eyes. She looked up at the changes above with a blank, dazed expression.

Despite the unrestrained release of energy from the Time-Space Gemstone, which even stirred the space-time energy released by the Space Stone towards the sky, it seemed as though a valve in the barely visible void above was locking away the incessant flow of space-time energy.

Some time passed, perhaps a very long time.

The dispersal of energy weakened, and the energy transfer channels gradually became more unstable.

"Ruoyun, where is Wang Lan?" an anxious voice sounded. Wu Shaohua, who was outside, had also realized that events were not progressing as he had anticipated. Massive amounts of Space Stone had been activated, but the terrifying space-time turbulence had not occurred. He hurried back with Princess Aier to regroup with Wang Lan.

"The Time-Space Gemstone was activated, and Wang Lan jumped into it to block the entrance. I just don't know... how Wang Lan did it," Yu Ruoyun said, pointing at a tiny, node-like dot in the sky.

"Block it with his body?" Wu Shaohua felt like his scalp was about to explode. Looking up at where Wang Lan was supposed to be, a ridiculous thought suddenly rose in his mind. Are you the son of Heaven's Path or something?

How much energy did the Time-Space Gemstone contain? Even if I couldn't imagine it, I knew it wasn't something a mortal could endure. It was like a person trying to stop an industrial cutting machine with their bare body and somehow succeeding—utterly absurd!

Suddenly, the column of released energy shrank and vanished like a drawn shower curtain, revealing Wang Lan's body high in the sky, completely bare. His bare white backside was stark and glaringly conspicuous.

The two young women didn't avert their gaze as Wang Lan fell from the sky. At a time like this, who cares if he's clothed or not? We're all close comrades, after all.

Upon landing, Wang Lan didn't pause. His body leaped high once more, and he threw a punch toward the location of the Time-Space Gemstone. This time, with no barrier to obstruct him, Wang Lan's fist shattered the rock wall, and he retrieved the Time-Space Gemstone from its slot.

"Wang Lan, how are you?" Yu Ruoyun asked, rushing to his side.

"Could the two princesses please turn around?" Wang Lan's face was as red as a cooked crab, his cheeks burning.

"Mr. Wu, could you spare some clothes?"

Those who went into battle usually prepared a few spare sets of clothes, not because they feared their clothes getting ragged, but for situations exactly like Wang Lan's. Wang Lan had also prepared several sets, but the spatial energy moments ago had been so strong and terrifying that everything on his person had vanished into thin air. Even of his Phoenix Constellation Saint Cloth, only the Heart Mirror remained.

Forget the clothes in his folding backpack; even the Star Martial Toxin Synthesizer on his Folding Space wristband had been disintegrated into particles.

Although Wu Shaohua's mind was still befuddled, his actions were swift. He quickly pulled a set of clothes from his Space Backpack and tossed them to Wang Lan. Wang Lan placed the Space Gem on the ground and hurriedly dressed.

"I managed to complete the mission. I might be a bit special; I have an Inborn Talent of the Bloodline that absorbs Pure Energy. This talent is actually quite weak, not comparable to the Black Emperor's form, which absorbs all kinds of energy. Pure Energy is very rare in this world, but fortunately, the Time-Space Gemstone emits pure space-time power. I took a risky gamble just now, and it seems I bet correctly."

No sooner had his words fallen than a rumbling noise suddenly erupted from the spot where the Time-Space Gemstone had been removed. Amidst the roar, countless stones and thick smoke rained down, and in the blink of an eye, the mountain wall before them collapsed.

If one could look down from the sky upon the entire area, they would see that the Paradise Bird's base had now become a huge basin. Originally, this immense cavern had contained a complete Space Stone deposit as large as a mountain.

However, with the Space Stone ignited and consumed, a vast hollow had formed. This hollow was extremely fragile; the slightest touch would cause it to collapse like a house of cards.

Wang Lan's removal of the Space Gem was the last straw that caused the entire cavern to collapse. The collapse was so vast and sudden that Wang Lan and his companions had no chance to escape and were buried under the rubble.

After a long while, amidst rubble several meters thick, mounds began to rise. Wang Lan and the others emerged from the debris as if climbing out of a grave, each vehemently spitting out a mouthful of dust.

This level of burial would have killed a hundred thousand ordinary people, but for Star Martial Warriors, it wasn't a major issue, especially for four individuals who were either at the Star Sea realm or possessed Star Sea realm combat power.

"Is everyone okay?"

"All good!" Yu Ruoyun said with disgust, dusting off dirt from her clothes that was as thick as ash from a cement factory.

"The human race's extinction crisis... we just resolved it like that?" Wu Shaohua looked bewildered as he stared at Wang Lan and Yu Ruoyun. He asked incredulously, even though he had already heard their detailed accounts.

"Let's go, we're heading back! You two, write a report immediately. I'm going to request commendations for you. Damn it, Jade Country must make a grand showing on the international stage this time! Hell, I never thought I, Wu Shaohua, would encounter something so incredible in my lifetime!"

He continued, "Even when I'm old, I'll be able to tell my grandson, 'Your grandpa once led two students to save the entire world!' That's so damn prestigious!"

"Old Wu," Wang Lan said with a sympathetic smile, "do you even have a girlfriend? Aren't you thirty already? If you don't have a girlfriend, where's this grandson coming from?"

Wu Shaohua's expression froze instantly.

"Wang Lan, don't say that," Yu Ruoyun interjected seriously, defending Wu Shaohua. "Although Mr. Wu might not be conventionally handsome, he's very strong. If he wants to marry, many women would be willing to marry Mr. Wu for his excellent genes. Perhaps he'll be married with children by next year."

You really didn't need to help with that defense... Wu Shaohua thought, tears streaming down his face.

Yu Ruoyun looked at Princess Aier, who seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Then, as if remembering something, Yu Ruoyun quickly said, "We barely survived coming all this way into the interior of Space Number Five. Since we're here and managed to live, why don't we find the space-time node and close this space off?"

"Good idea!" Wu Shaohua nodded.

"The space-time node... I think I saw it just now," Princess Aier said eagerly.

"Where?"

"It seemed to be behind the collapsed rock wall. I only caught a fleeting glimpse before the large-scale collapse, so I didn't see it clearly."

"Then let's dig!" Wu Shaohua exclaimed hastily. "I remember the rock wall was in that direction."

"No need for all that trouble," Wang Lan said with a faint smile. "Light and Heavy Replacement Skill."

Accompanied by the surge of Wang Lan's Star Power, the loose rubble at their feet suddenly broke free from gravity and rose into the sky. Soon, amidst the ascending rocks, a blue, vine-like space-time node appeared, beckoning to the four of them like a seductive woman.

"Princess Aier, go ahead!"

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