The reconnaissance team of Paradise Bird was still nestled in a corner, admiring the scenery, completely unaware that these were nothing but illusions.

Suddenly, a strong premonition of danger struck. The team had no time to react; within an instant, they were pulled into the earth and vanished without a trace.

The soil churned slightly as Wang Lan slowly emerged from the ground. From beginning to end, the five-member squad did not emit a sound. Soon after, Yu Ruoyun and the other two joined Wang Lan.

"All settled," Wang Lan confirmed.

"Is Princess Aier still a perception-type Star Martial Warrior?" one of them asked.

"I possess a Wind Speaker's Star Martial Skill that allows me to perceive everything within a kilometer through the wind," Princess Aier said proudly. "By the way, since there's a Paradise Bird reconnaissance squad here, we shouldn't come back empty-handed, right?"

"We can't let our guard down," Wang Lan cautioned. "What if those Paradise Bird members intentionally exposed themselves? If this is a trap, it could leave us with no place to die."

The four-member squad proceeded stealthily, and after about ten kilometers, they finally found a canyon. Within the canyon was a bustling construction site.

Out in the open of the canyon, there were giant mechanical arm-like devices erected, each approximately ten stories tall by estimation.

"What are they doing?" Princess Aier asked curiously.

"I don't know, but anything that must be constructed in a Different Dimensional Space is never simple," Yu Ruoyun said gravely. "The physical laws in Different Dimensional Space differ vastly from the outside world. Although with development, we've mastered the use of Soul Beads as an energy source for conversion machines, most machinery still cannot function in Different Dimensional Space."

"It feels... like they're building something similar to the time-space doors in science fiction movies," Wang Lan mused.

"That's possible," Yu Ruoyun agreed.

Suddenly, several trucks slowly moved out from the base. Wang Lan quickly activated his dynamic vision and, through the gaps in the truck's tarpaulin, detected that they were carrying glittering items.

"Space Stones!" Wang Lan said in a low voice.

"Have we found the whereabouts of the Space Stones? Is that it? Should we launch an attack?" one of them asked.

"Paradise Bird has not yet been alerted. If we attack from within, we can achieve greater results. Let's infiltrate their base," Yu Ruoyun whispered.

"No, it's too dangerous. Who knows what kind of dragon's den or tiger's cave awaits inside the Paradise Bird base?" Wu Shaohua quickly shook his head in disagreement.

"If the inside of the Paradise Bird base is indeed a dragon's den or tiger's cave, then trying to break in from the outside is nothing but a fantasy. Even if we lack the strength, shouldn't we at least gather some useful intelligence?" Wang Lan quickly added.

The young people these days...

Wu Shaohua shook his head helplessly. Although he was the captain, the squad was not his to command alone. Especially for decisions of this nature, deliberation was a must.

After Princess Aier voiced her support for infiltration, Wu Shaohua could only reluctantly agree.

Wu Shaohua's objection to the infiltration operation wasn't because the tactic was flawed. If it had been anyone other than Wang Lan and Yu Ruoyun, Wu Shaohua wouldn't hesitate to choose infiltration.

It's just that these two were so important that it made Wu Shaohua apprehensive. Fortunately, although they were precious, their strength was by no means weak.

Under the guidance of Princess Aier's perception and Wang Lan's far-sight, they successfully avoided patrols and infiltrated deep into the base. Inside, the appearance of the base took Wang Lan and the others by surprise.

What kind of base was this? It hardly looked like a place suitable for people—it resembled a cave formed by snakes with its pitch-blackness and utter silence, broken only by the occasional drip of water.

"There are a lot of knocking sounds deep in the cave... this place might be a Space Stone mine," Princess Aier reported, using her perception.

"Let's go down and take a look!"

As they ventured deeper into the cave and successfully avoided several patrols, Wang Lan and the others entered the Space Stone area. The sight of the Space Stone mine left Wang Lan stunned.

A huge, sparkling wall of Space Stones had been hollowed out to form a seemingly bottomless hole, glaringly conspicuous like a worm-eaten hole on a massive fruit.

"Is a Space Stone mine supposed to look like this?" Wang Lan asked in surprise.

"Not at all, this Space Stone mine is unlike any I've ever seen," Wu Shaohua said, equally stunned by the sight.

"The Space Stone mines I've seen are like iron mines or crystal mines, fused with rocks, requiring us to dig through the rocks to extract grains of Space Stones.

But this mine—this isn't a mine, it's a mountain of Space Stones. With such purity and such a quantity, no wonder Paradise Bird is doing everything possible to stop us. How much money could this be worth?"

The four made their way into the cave, which snaked downwards, but soon there were many branching tunnels, each one stretching deep into the interior like an abyss.

The further in they went, the more winding passages they encountered.

"Strange!" Wang Lan suddenly whispered.

"What's wrong?"

"Doesn't it seem like they're not mining but rather searching for something?" Wang Lan elaborated. "If they were simply extracting Space Stones, why bore deep holes in the middle of them? Why not mine from the outside bit by bit? Moreover, why go hundreds of meters deep?"

"Now that you mention it, it does seem that way," Wu Shaohua mused. "The cocoon-like holes in the Space Stone mine were excavated, not like they plan to build a nest inside, so why dig like that? Digging deep holes multiplies the difficulty of mining by hundreds if not more."

As Princess Aier and Wang Lan were discussing, Yu Ruoyun, who was in front, suddenly halted.

"Something's not right, trouble might be brewing."

"Ruoyun, what's wrong?"

"I once saw a top-secret report," Yu Ruoyun began. "It was sent at the risk of death by a high-ranking spy who had infiltrated deep into the Demon Clan a hundred years ago. Before the demons retreated, they left behind twelve Time-Space Gemstones. These are temporal artifacts of the Demon Clan.

The Time-Space Gemstones possess terrifying Power of Space, capable of opening the Portal of the Demon World. No one knows where the Demon Clan has hidden the Time-Space Gemstones, but what is certain is that they are concealed within Different Dimensional Space.

Although the likelihood is small, if a Time-Space Gemstone fell into the hands of the Demon Clan, they could open the Portal of the Demon World at any time."

"What?" Wu Shaohua's scalp tingled intensely upon hearing this.

"I'm only saying it's possible, albeit a very small one," Yu Ruoyun hastily explained.

"Who goes there!" Suddenly, an angry shout sounded as a team carrying Space Stones appeared in the distance of the corridor. The shocking intelligence Yu Ruoyun voiced caused Wang Lan and Princess Aier's hearts to skip a beat, and they inadvertently neglected their surveillance, being caught red-handed by Paradise Bird.

"Enem—"

"Dance of the Dark Butterfly!" Wang Lan shouted.

In an instant, Wang Lan's body dispersed, and ten Nether Butterflies suddenly appeared amidst the crowd of the opposing team. A blade of light flashed, and the entire squad was killed by Wang Lan within a second.

But even with the timely killings, their alarm had already been raised.

"Enemy attack—"

The alarm sounded, declaring Wang Lan's squad's infiltration plan a failure.

"Let's just charge in," Yu Ruoyun snorted coldly, taking the lead and rushing towards the depths of the corridor. "Princess Aier, sense the place with the most tapping noises."

"Okay!" Princess Aier confirmed.

Inside the Space Stone, a group of mysterious people were frantically swinging their pickaxes, desperately mining the Space Stone. The Space Stone was one of the hardest materials in the world, as tough as raw iron.

And the Space Stone didn't possess any physical properties; any method you can think of to quarry stone had no effect on it.

Using explosives? Ha, are Star Martial Skills less effective than explosives? But it was useless. The Space Stone could absorb and release ninety-nine percent of energy. Moreover, in the Different Dimensional Space, explosives couldn't be used.

The only way to deal with Space Stone was to dig it out bit by bit.

But this particular Space Stone mountain had definitely been buried for more than a century, with surrounding Space Stones fused together like a massive mountain. A group of melee Star Martial Warriors wielding pickaxes had been digging for two or three years and still hadn't reached the center.

Fortunately, they were close. The super-dimensional energy fluctuations emitted by the Time-Space Gemstone had already been detected.

"Leader, this is not good, there's been an enemy attack!" members of Paradise Bird rushed in frantically to report.

"Have they found us after all? How many people are outside?" the leader asked.

"We don't know, but it shouldn't be many. So far we've only seen four."

"Only four? Maybe it's just a scouting team?" The four-star leader of Paradise Bird revealed a surprised smile on his face.

"Sang Guo, it seems they are from Jade Country, sent to scout the terrain and find the spatial nodes. They stumbled here, detected something amiss, and came to investigate..." a white man wearing a duckbill hat spoke indifferently.

"Possibly," Sang Guo replied. "Although I don't know how they made it through the dozen or so seas of Star Martial Toxins, since they could infiltrate this far, they must be experts too. Aide, Kraman, Doris, let's go welcome our friends from afar."

"Sang Guo, why do we all need to take action? I alone am enough," one of them said.

"The Time-Space Gemstone is too important; better to be cautious," Sang Guo stated.

On the other side, Wang Lan's squad rushed wildly towards the depths of the corridor, constantly confronted by Paradise Bird Star Martial Warriors. But this group, all at the Star Cloud Stage and at most the Galaxy Stage, couldn't even stall Wang Lan and his team.

"Infinite Steam—"

Suddenly, an angry shout came from behind the army of Paradise Bird, and a stream of bright red steam surged forth, instantly engulfing the vanguard of Paradise Bird soldiers. These soldiers didn't even have time to scream before they were melted by the steam.

In the blink of an eye, the attacker charged in front of Wang Lan's party.

"Ice Crystal Jade Screen!" Princess Aier cried out.

A wall of ice instantly erected in front of the corridor, quickly thickening until it became a three-meter-thick barrier.

Not only was the ice shield sturdy, but it was also crystal clear, providing a clear view of the outside situation while defending against attacks.

"Infinite Wind Blade." Suddenly, behind Wang Lan in the corridor, a terrifying Speedy Wind accompanied by countless wind blades assailed them. Without hesitation, Wang Lan fiercely slapped the ground.

"Gate of The Underworld!"

BOOM—

In an instant, Wang Lan's expression turned grim. It seemed that both the front and rear paths were blocked.

TAP, TAP, TAP—

Footsteps sounded as a strange man, drenched in blood and resembling a skeleton, walked step by step towards the Ice Crystal Jade Screen in front of Princess Aier. "I thought we'd be dealing with small fries, but it turns out we've got some big fish.

The Ice Snow War God of the Kingdom of Ice and Snow, Princess Aier; the heavenly princess of the Jade Country, Her Highness Yu Ruoyun. And you, Wang Lan, ranked second on Paradise Bird's kill list.

Targets that were impossible to approach even with all our efforts have all come today... Are you trying to gift me a fortune?"

"Don't misunderstand; we can't afford to gift you a fortune, but we can certainly send you on your way," Wu Shaohua said as he suddenly punched the Ice Crystal.

BOOM—

Terrifying lava erupted from Wu Shaohua's fist. His fist hadn't even struck yet, but the lava had already submerged the corridor. As his punch landed, the Ice Crystal shattered, and the surging lava instantly flowed down the corridor towards the depths.

"Charge!" Wu Shaohua roared.

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