"I speak of internal energy, but while you may theorize, please try not to let the scent of greed emanate so obviously from your eyes," Mu Ne Zhen Ce regarded Qian Jin. "You wish to take a look inside the Royal Treasury?"

Qian Jin did not deny it, nodding repeatedly. No one could truly say how many treasures the Royal Treasury had accumulated over the years; only the Stars themselves knew how many items of truly high value lay within, stored as mere common objects by those who didn't recognize their worth.

"Right! Does the prize for the Rookie King Tournament have something to do with the Undead?" Mu Ne Zhen Ce curiously spoke again. "Almost at the same moment the Treasury was raided, the Rookie King Tournament prize warehouse was also attacked."

"Oh? Your Royal defenses are that lax?" Duan Feng Bu Er rested his chin in his hand, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "If I had known your defenses were so poor..."

"Poor?" Mu Ne Zhen Ce laughed. "Want to test them? If you had tried to raid the Rookie King prize warehouse last night, I guarantee you would have met the same fate as the thief—beaten to death on the spot by Qian Zhan Xuan."

"Qian Zhan Xuan?" Duan Feng Bu Er looked puzzled. "What was he doing there?"

"What was he doing? He was on duty last night," Mu Ne Zhen Ce said with a smile. "You can try tonight; tonight, Lord Snake Emperor will be on duty."

"Beaten to death?" Qian Jin asked. "Any leads?"

"Not yet. A group of inscription masters, apothecaries, and a mysterious apothecary are researching it there," Mu Shen Zhen Ce grabbed a piece of bread, speaking. "I found the whole thing quite strange, so I didn't go over to look; I came straight to find you two. I wouldn't understand it even if I went, so I came directly to people who know their stuff."

Mu Ne Zhen Ce kept taking sips of milk while constantly sweeping his gaze over Qian Jin.

Among the Human, Demon, and Barbarian races today, it was truly hard to find anyone who held more authority in these matters than Qian Jin.

"Qian Zhan Xuan said that this was the first time encountering such an opponent—one that fears neither pain nor death..." Mu Ne Zhen Ce swallowed his milk. "It sounds exactly like the Undead to me, so I came."

The Undead stealing the Rookie King prize vault? Qian Jin pulled a printed pamphlet about the Rookie King Tournament from his Dou Realm—a pamphlet every participant received, detailing not only the competition but also the prizes.

This year's Rookie King event was the most engaging yet, and the prizes were considerably richer than in previous years. Not only had the Royal Family provided many items, but various great clans had also contributed significantly to celebrate what might be the strongest group of warriors in history.

Qian Jin quickly flipped through the book, his gaze finally settling on a sword!

A Soul Weapon!

"Ah..." Qian Jin stared intently at the illustration for a long time, then let out a cold, self-mocking laugh. "I'm such an idiot! Why did I just casually glance at it last time and trust the person who printed this booklet?"

"What is it?"

"This is no Soul Weapon at all," Qian Jin pointed to the kingly-styled broadsword in the drawing. "This is a Sacred Artifact! And not just any Sacred Artifact! Its name should be: The Sword of the Fallen Star."

The Sword of the Fallen Star? Everyone looked at Qian Jin doubtfully. Being able to analyze the quality of the treasure hinted at forging skill, but knowing the sword's name seemed a bit excessive, didn't it?

Qian Jin couldn't explain the matters of the Endless World to them. He truly had seen an introduction to this sword in Uncle Black's books. It was not only a Sacred Artifact but an extremely powerful one; this single sword alone was enough to equal the power of half a set of Sacred Artifacts.

If one managed to collect the entire set of the Fallen set, its might would far surpass that of an ordinary Sacred Artifact set.

Uncle Black's notes had praised this set to the extreme, describing it as something approaching a Divine Artifact! A masterpiece of genius!

Such a special Sacred Artifact, yet its appearance was terribly archaic, resembling the ordinary swords often worn at an emperor's waist. It was precisely because its design was not distinctive enough that Qian Jin hadn't recognized it immediately.

If it hadn't been for the Undead carrying out the theft, Qian Jin likely still wouldn't have recognized it this time.

"Qie Shuai, Bu Er, you two keep an eye on Qian Wu Qing these next few days..." Qian Jin turned to Li Ba, who had arrived early. "Old Sir, I need to know which night you were on duty at the Rookie King Tournament prize location?"

"Me? Tomorrow night! Why?" Li Ba looked at Qian Jin, puzzled. "Is something wrong?"

"Tomorrow... the time is tight..." Qian Jin rubbed his chin. "I won't go to the venue today; I'll focus all my energy on forging an extremely convincing imitation. Tomorrow night, I'll switch it out for the real thing."

"Imitation? The real thing?" Li Ba’s eyes widened, and his voice sharply rose. "You brat aren't planning on setting your sights on the Rookie King prizes, are you? I tell you, kid, you have a great future ahead... why bother..."

"Just one piece—I want this sword." Qian Jin offered Li Ba a glass of milk with both hands. "Old Clan Head, don't worry! Anything I forge, as long as I say it's the original, will anyone in the entire Zhen Ce Dynasty dare say it isn't?"

Li Ba looked at Qian Jin with a wry smile. This young man was now the Grand President of the Forging Guild, the pride of every common person. Whatever he said would definitely have countless people backing him. The entire Forging Guild was in his hands; even if he declared a lump of dog feces a divine artifact, the blacksmiths of the Forging Guild would exalt that lump of feces to a height comparable to the Stars.

No recourse! Truly none whatsoever! This was Qian Meng!

"Although I don't know why you want that sword so badly..." Li Ba slapped his forehead. "Who told me that my Old Master tied himself and the entire family to your ship? Do whatever you want."

"Because... the Undead!"

Seeing Pan Hong Ji and Lei Long Li enter the room, Qian Jin decided he could no longer hide this matter. Though some things were hard to explain, the matter of the Undead definitely needed clarification. Now that the Undead were aiming for this sword, only the Stars knew the current state of Alex, if he was even still alive!

What if, one day, the Undead army suddenly swept across the Human, Demon, and Barbarian races? Telling people then would be too late.

"The Undead?" Pan Hong Ji pulled out a chair and sat down, casually grabbing a piece of bread, tearing off a small piece, dipping it in milk, and putting it in his mouth. "I heard the Princes talking about it. I was startled too when I first learned."

Qian Jin looked at Pan Hong Ji helplessly. This Snake Emperor truly gathered all sorts of intelligence, even knowing about the existence of the Undead.

"You know about the Undead too?" Li Ba was also surprised. In fact, the existence of the Undead wasn't entirely unknown. On the contrary! In recent years, the upper echelon of the Zhen Ce Dynasty had discovered the existence of the Undead, previously only appearing in rumors. And now they had truly appeared!

However, to prevent public panic, the matter of the Undead had not truly spread, though the upper echelons of all great clans were aware of it.

"So, you all knew..." Qian Jin shook his head weakly. He had thought very few people knew; it seemed there were quite a lot after all. "The Undead... might truly be coming in large numbers..."

"Large numbers? What do you mean?" Pan Hong Ji drank his milk leisurely. "The intelligence we received suggests the Undead are only a very small fraction. Even the group you encountered in the desert last time, by estimation, should have been their entire presence. A force like that could be easily wiped out by sending two legions against them."

"What if... their leader possesses an almost immortal body... and in a one-on-one situation, has a hundred percent certainty of defeating a fully awakened Bloodline Power?"

"How is that possible?" A few drops of milk spilled from Pan Hong Ji's hand. "The Undead are an extremely aggressive race. If they possessed such strength, they would have already emerged to cause chaos."

"The problem is... their leader truly does have it... or at least theoretically possesses it," Qian Jin looked at Pan Hong Ji with a grim expression. "It's just that he is probably still injured right now, which is why he hasn't appeared."

Pan Hong Ji stared silently at Qian Jin. If these words were true, how did this young man acquire this secret? No one in the entire Zhen Ce Dynasty knew! The spies he had placed among the Demon Race had nearly acquired all the Demon Race's data regarding reconnaissance on the Undead, and that data was almost identical to what the Zhen Ce Dynasty possessed.

Two legions were enough to utterly destroy the entire Undead force!

"I cannot explain to you all where I got this piece of information, but..." Qian Jin grimaced. "According to what I learned, the group we saw that time didn't even qualify as their vanguard."

Not even qualifying as the vanguard? Pan Hong Ji's expression changed again. If that were truly the case, wouldn't it mean a nation-versus-nation level war against the Zhen Ce Dynasty or the Demon Race?

"Since their leader hasn't recovered, why don't we just rush into their headquarters now and kill their leader directly?" Isaiel looked eager, very interested in fighting a new and novel opponent to test the results of his own strength.

"Headquarters? Do you know where it is?" Qian Jin looked at Isaiel. "If I say it's deep within the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea, what are your chances of finding their headquarters within ten years?"

Isaiel's excited expression immediately wilted. If anyone else had said that, he would have refuted it immediately, but it was Qian Jin saying it.

"The matter of switching the sword must be handled secretly," Qian Jin said after serious consideration. "The Undead possess special magic that allows them to monitor things with great difficulty of detection. If they discover the Undead Star Sword has been taken out, things will become very troublesome. If we steal it, they won't know what we've discovered."

"Fine!" Li Ba looked Qian Jin up and down. "I'm still curious how you know all these secrets."

"It's the same as this mysterious medicine." Qian Jin took out the mysterious medicine he had prepared overnight from his Dou Realm and pushed it toward Li Ba.

"Haha..."

Li Ba laughed, grabbing the mysterious medicine. He couldn't be bothered to press Qian Jin further about his secrets. This young man was too full of secrets; he’d rather let him keep them and focus on getting something tangible, like these mysterious medicines right now.

"Guild Master..." A warrior stood straight outside the door. "There is a group of Dwarves outside asking for an audience with you."