Chen Shouyi raced down the road on his bicycle.

On the highway, steam trucks flowed endlessly, one after another, raising clouds of dust on the coal-ash-covered roads whenever they passed by.

The industrial zone on both sides of the road had been continuously expanding. Compared to six months ago when he first arrived, the entire industrial area had doubled in size, with even more factories hastily under construction.

Chen Shouyi looked up, noticing two warplanes flying in from a distance. Judging by their direction, they were probably returning from reconnaissance near Ningzhou.

These days, the number of fighter planes had gradually increased. The most Chen Shouyi had seen at one time was a formation of ten aircraft streaking across the sky.

With twenty years in a state of combat readiness, the amount of weapons held by the Great Xia Country was astonishing, with an extremely rapid turnover of various weapon systems.

Before the abnormalities, the number of active fighter jets alone had long been maintained at around 30,000.

If including those fighter jets that had retired and been placed in storage over the years, the total would even exceed 100,000.

Even though the active jets were difficult to retrofit due to their electronically controlled systems, a significant number of retired jets with mechanical controls still existed, amounting to at least several thousand.

At least for the short term, the only thing limiting the number of fighter jets was the production speed of new engines.

...

Half an hour later, Chen Shouyi arrived in the lower district.

The urban area was still desolate and rundown.

Chen Shouyi deliberately passed by his residential area. The security booth at the entrance had hardly any security personnel, and the door was locked. The park inside was overgrown with weeds, and the hedges had grown wildly, with no one to trim them.

It was only seven o'clock, right during the peak of human traffic, but the neighborhood was sparse with people. Only a few scattered pedestrians were seen riding bicycles, leaving the area, seemingly heading to work.

Chen Shouyi glanced at his window and sighed softly.

He turned around and biked swiftly towards the nearby spatial passage.

...

"Military area, no entry for unauthorized personnel."

Chen Shouyi immediately took out a prepared exploration pass. A soldier received it, saluted, and quickly allowed him through.

He exhaled with relief, his biggest fear was that the spatial passage had been completely sealed off, making entry impossible.

In fact, sealing it wouldn't ensure much safety. For beings like the Barbarian God who possessed terrifying power, sealing it would only make the passage easier to discover and breaking through it would only take one or a few strikes.

He pushed his bike into a parking shelter, where the defenses had become more rigorous. Two more round pillboxes equipped with machine guns towered around. Chen Shouyi had just bought a lighter filled with a highly flammable gas for the otherworld, and a small can of petrol at a supply market.

A lieutenant specializing in welcoming Explorers approached.

After exchanging brief pleasantries, the lieutenant said, "You've come a bit early; it's not time to enter yet. There are still six hours before daylight in the otherworld. Perhaps you'd like to rest in the lounge for a while, or come back later tonight."

"No problem, you arrange it," Chen Shouyi replied.

The otherworld is a hundred times more dangerous at night than in the day, not only due to the presence of fierce beasts but also various eerie Natural Spirits. However, ever since he discovered that Sword Qi could effectively kill spirits, his fearful perception had changed significantly.

As long as they weren't excessively powerful Natural Spirits, the ordinary ones could be killed easily.

"But this is against regulations; the spatial passage isn't open to Explorers before dawn," the officer said with a smile.

Chen Shouyi furrowed his eyebrows: "Really can't enter?"

For some reason, seeing Chen Shouyi frown caused the lieutenant to feel anxious, as if a weight pressed on his heart, sensing an overwhelming pressure from him. Hastily, he said with a forced smile, "These rules aren't to make it difficult for you Explorers, but to ensure your safety; the otherworld night is indeed too dangerous."

Chen Shouyi relaxed his brow, took off his backpack, and pulled out a Martial Arts Instructor Certificate: "I believe I can protect my own safety."

The lieutenant received it and trembled all over upon a glance: "I can't make this decision; I will report to the camp commander!"

"Hurry up then!"

The lieutenant jogged off.

Chen Shouyi waited for a few minutes, and soon, two figures approached, one after another.

"My apologies for the neglect, my apologies. I am Yue Long, the camp commander here!"

He was short in stature, but his voice was loud and carried a cheerful smile from the start.

"Chen Shouyi!"

They shook hands.

"Mr. Chen, do you happen to know Colonel Xiao from the special brigade?" Yue Long asked with a smile.

"Xiao Changming?" Chen Shouyi said quietly: "We've worked on several missions together."

A slight annoyance flared up in him.

This was a doubt about his identity.

"So, you know each other. Colonel Xiao used to be an instructor for us," Yue Long chuckled, covering it up, and quickly moved onto the main point: "You wish to access the passage, of course, that's no issue. I'll make arrangements right away."

With the camp commander's order, everything proceeded smoothly.

Thick iron gates opened one by one, chains pulling them apart. As the final iron gate opened, a dense surge of Original Force from the otherworld suddenly poured into his body, streams of air flowing chaotically around him, revealing faint vortices.

At the same time, a subtle aura of a Divine Creature emanated from within.

Soldiers nearby accompanying him suddenly felt a weight pushing down on their hearts, the air thickening, making it difficult to breathe, feeling an intimidating majesty radiating from the Explorer beside them.

A few soldiers dared not look again after a glance, exchanging glances with each other, seeing astonishment reflected in each other's eyes.

Oblivious to the soldiers' reactions, Chen Shouyi descended the steps one step at a time.

After a wave of spatial shift, when his vision cleared again, night had already replaced day. He glanced at the forest, a faint glow emitting from his eyes. In the past, aside from the spirit of the priest, he could see no other spirits. But now, nothing could hide from him.

A multitude of Natural Spirits roamed the ground or engaged in battles, devouring one another.

Most of these Natural Spirits were exceedingly weak, some were merely fragmented animal souls, lacking any intelligence, moving purely by instinct.

He glanced down, noticing a weak Natural Spirit underfoot, screeching in terror as if encountering something horrifying. It fled, its body evaporating like ice under a scorching sun, disappearing before it had dashed even a meter.

He felt a slight strangeness on his body, and as he looked closely, he realized he was emitting an imperceptible and strange luminescence.

"Is it because I've become a Divine Creature?" he muttered to himself.

Sensing the chaotic winds around, a thought crossed his mind,

"Boom!"

A terrifying cyclone, over ten meters tall, appeared instantly, sweeping up countless leaves and weeds. Its immense presence silenced the nearby beastly growls and chattering insect sounds.

"Indeed, the otherworld is a realm of transcendence!" A sense of heroic delight welled up in his heart, and he immediately jumped down from the ten-meter-high steps.

As soon as he leaped, a fierce wind abruptly appeared beneath his feet. Under normal circumstances, the threefold gravity would have dragged him down, but the wind slowed his descent slightly. This wind, equivalent to a level eight gale, could easily blow a person away on Earth, but in the threefold gravity of the otherworld, it wasn't considered impressive.

It merely slowed his descent somewhat.

In the next moment, his feet hit the ground heavily, producing a dull thud.

Fortunately, his body had become extremely strong, and aside from his legs feeling slightly numb, he was unharmed.

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