As Ye Chen immersed himself in the Virtual Battle Tower, forging martial arts profoundness, the world outside slowly began to shift.

With the passage of time, the ancient calendar inherited from the Mayan civilization was overturned. Under the blazing sun of September, snow began to dust the globe, and a pale blue Earth started to cool. Within the boundless oceans, colossal monsters, thousands of feet long, now roamed free.

At the original site of Nepal, where blue seawater now lay, the peak of a reef-like mountain was faintly visible. This was once Mount Everest; in Tibetan, "Jumolangma" means 'Goddess Mother of the World.' Now, the Earth's highest peak, once over eight thousand meters high, was submerged, leaving only a small crown exposed above the waves.

As snowflakes drifted down, a portion of the northern sea area froze solid. This forced large schools of aquatic monsters to migrate south. Providence seemed briefly fair: just as disaster drove humanity from their homes, it now herded these monstrous creatures toward annihilation.

Four months had passed since the Great Flood erupted; it was now the seventh month of the Dark Era, Year One.

Ye Chen had trained in the virtual world for over a month, leaving the exterior management entirely to Xu Tianguo. During this time, seeing many common civilians starving and on the brink of collapse, he opened the Ruin Space twice more. Leading the masters of Purple Cloud Island and others, they intercepted the creatures there, managing to hunt a few Whale Dragon Beasts—enough sustenance for the base city for a few days.

However, each time the Ruin Space was accessed, a surge of boiling water flooded in. With the ancient martial arts ruin spaces, if the seawater exceeded the city's capacity, it would drop into a lower dimension before circulating back up, resulting in perpetual rain.

The seawater’s salinity was intensely high, possessing strong corrosive properties. After prolonged soaking, even the metal edges and corners of the city began to lose their waterproofing integrity. Once the base city’s metal rusted, the entire metropolis would cease to function normally, causing immense inconvenience—even doors couldn't be opened, as this was an entirely automated metal city.

Inside the Virtual World, within the Battle Tower.

Ye Chen stood in a simulated environment: a metallic planet enveloped in an extremely powerful magnetic field. The strangest feature was the wildly fluctuating gravity—one moment ten times Earth's pull, the next negative ten times, cycling violently up and down.

Roar!

Before him, a Red Spiked Lizard Beast crouched, its entire body sheathed in scales, its eyes—like two clusters of flame—glowing with icy light. Its tail whipped once, and suddenly it lunged toward Ye Chen, snapping at his head.

"Red Spiked Lizard!" Ye Chen’s gaze was cold. This creature was inherently powerful in combat, existing since the time of the Atlantean civilization, known for ambushing enemies from the shadows.

Facing this seemingly ordinary, yet meticulously planned attack that sealed off all retreat routes, Ye Chen showed no panic. Instead, he raised his palm, fingers curled into a claw, aiming for the lizard’s lower jaw, simultaneously leaning his body backward into a stance ready for a one-handed support kick.

Unexpectedly, the lizard proved cunning. It suddenly halted its charge, dropping low before whipping its tail around to ensnare Ye Chen’s foot as it lunged again.

Ye Chen remained calm, leaping backward. Suddenly, the surrounding gravity intensified sharply. Ye Chen’s upward momentum was brutally crushed, slamming him heavily onto the ground. Before he could push up to evade, the gravity instantly released, flinging him into the air with nothing to brace against.

Swish!

The Red Spiked Lizard seized the moment to strike.

Ye Chen’s eyes were sharp. Mid-air, he thrust both arms out, then suddenly rotated his wrists, twisting his waist, and swept both legs out like a massive cyclone, kicking the lizard in its flank.

The gravity instantly increased again, slamming both Ye Chen and the lizard heavily downward. Ye Chen’s foot went numb from the shock, but the lizard fared worse. That kick, combined with the rapid descent, shattered several of its bones upon impact.

Ye Chen landed and narrowed his eyes slightly, a flash of sharpness crossing his gaze. He had set the lizard’s constitution to three times his own, factoring in its physical structure, giving it a defense effectively five times stronger than his own.

"Explode!"

Ye Chen lifted his foot, leaning his body forward, tensing every muscle as if kicking a massive ball, and drove the strike out with full force.

Boom!

The lizard’s body abruptly ruptured inward, imploding slightly before being blasted away, its fate unknown.

Ye Chen let out a quiet breath, feeling that his kicking foot had lost all sensation, completely paralyzed. He frowned slightly. "The Stellar Detonation Profundity is not yet grasped; I can only barely manifest five times combat power, and it drains me too quickly."

He was displeased.

Because his rebirth accelerated many events, the door to the Ancient World would open soon after the Ice Age concluded. In that realm, certain specific areas disallowed the use of Superman Mode; his current terrestrial advantages would vanish upon entry.

Moreover, the Ancient World housed a confluence of numerous civilizations, including the headquarters of Atlantis. Consequently, gene-splitting technology would be widespread. Given that world’s foundation, there would certainly be Superhuman powerhouses, possibly even experts at the third or fourth tier of the Superhuman realm!

To enter the Ancient World, Ye Chen needed to prepare early, which explained his urgency in comprehending the Stellar Profundity.

"Ding ding!" Suddenly, a system notification chimed.

Ye Chen looked down and murmured a command. A virtual window opened before him, displaying a video feed of a frantic Xu Tianguo: "…It’s bad, Ye Chen! Someone is challenging the base city’s authority in the virtual world, setting up a fighting stage and boasting they will defeat every powerhouse here. Tianci was already defeated—that opponent is too strong."

Ye Chen frowned, his tone level. "Coordinates?"

Xu Tianguo quickly inputted a string of numbers.

Ye Chen glanced at them, closed the information window, exited the Battle Tower, and initiated automatic pathfinding toward the coordinates. He felt enveloped by a mysterious energy guiding him toward the location.

If it were any other challenger, Ye Chen would ignore them, but someone capable of defeating Huang Tianci in the virtual world demanded attention. Huang Tianci managed the base city's military sector, possessing strength enough to shoulder significant burdens. He had mastered the pinnacle techniques from both the Ancient Martial Arts civilization and the Dou Tian civilization. To be defeated under such circumstances meant the opponent was overwhelmingly powerful, beyond the capacity of Xu Tianguo and the others.

Furthermore, the only faction currently possessing such capability was likely the newly risen "Emperor Legion."

As Ye Chen arrived on the western edge of the city, he saw a vast plaza crowded with a massive, dark mass of countless people. In the center of this human sea stood an exceptionally large combat stage, a hundred feet in diameter, upon which several figures could be vaguely discerned.

Ye Chen moved instantly, surging forward.

"Tsk tsk, I didn't realize this Emperor Legion was so terrifying; they even beat Huang Tianci of the Brightness Base City."

"Hmph, our Boss Huang was just having an off day; otherwise, he would have crushed that little brat." "Speaking of which, why haven't the grand elder figures from your guild shown up, or the God of Slaughter? If your guild leader stepped up, they could probably defeat that person." "Of course! Don't you know who our leader is? He's the God of Slaughter—slaying gods and buddhas alike, who could withstand him?" "Haha…" Several groups chatted together. The dialogue revealed they were from both the Huaxia Base City and the Brightness Base City; their virtual servers were linked, allowing inter-city communication in the virtual world.

Ye Chen pushed forward, quickly encountering a problem…

The crowd was impossibly dense, a solid wall of bodies. In the real world, his powerful physique would allow him to simply push through, but here, physical attributes were normalized. To forcefully shove through might result in his body being flattened.

Reveal his identity? That was questionable whether others would believe it…

The surrounding people chatted amongst themselves, occasionally mentioning Ye Chen's name, entirely unaware that the man they spoke of stood right behind them.

Just as Ye Chen was racking his brain for a solution, a soft voice sounded beside him: "You’ve arrived?"

The voice was exceptionally pleasant, delicate and soft, causing every pore on the body to prickle open. Everyone nearby, including Ye Chen, instinctively turned their heads.

A gentle breeze swept past, carrying a hint of softness.

From the rear of the crowd, surrounded by several handsome men and beautiful women, walked a girl clad in white. Her eyebrows were shaped like sharp blades; her teeth were bright, her eyes clear, and a faint smile graced her lips—a smile that rarely appeared on her face since her father died.

The surrounding people stared, mesmerized. Some, with hidden agendas, quickly suppressed the admiration in their eyes, lowering their gazes, not daring to look too long, for they had recognized the woman in white: Murong Xue, the authority figure of the Huaxia Base City!

Because Murong Xue was frequently active in the virtual world, her avatar’s appearance was already widely known, making recognition swift.

"Commander Mu, Commander Mu!"

The nearby chatter quieted down. Seeing this grand figure, usually regarded like a deity, speaking to them at such close range made their hearts pound.

Those farther away, unaware of the commotion behind them, grew curious when the noise suddenly ceased and looked back. They quickly spotted the anomaly. Instantly, the entire noisy plaza fell silent.

Murong Xue, like a snow mountain goddess, seemingly untouched by mortal affairs, walked with Hua Bu Luo, Qin Lan, and the others, arriving before Ye Chen. She smiled faintly, making the entire world seem brighter. "It seems I arrived just in time."

Her gentle words landed like small stones deep within Ye Chen's heart.

Ye Chen instinctively touched his nose. "It seems so." The surrounding crowd was utterly silent.

Following Murong Xue’s address, the masses slowly shifted their gaze to the black-clad man before her, growing astonished. This man looked entirely unremarkable, yet the Commander-in-Chief of the Huaxia Base City addressed him with casual familiarity?

On the originally active martial stage, the fight seemed to pause, and then a figure rapidly darted over—it was Xu Tianguo!

Just as everyone expected Xu Tianguo to immediately greet Murong Xue, they were startled to see him walk past her as if she weren't there. He dipped his head slightly to the black-clad man, whispered a few words into his ear, then turned toward Murong Xue, extending his hand for a handshake and greeting her with a smile.