Upon hearing the guard's report, for a moment, Baiyu couldn't recall if he had any friends left in Mountain City.
But that didn't stop him from meeting the visitor.
In the Earl's Mansion's living room, after instructing the servants to set up fruit platters, tea, and other refreshments, Baiyu quietly waited for the guest's arrival.
It didn't take long.
A girl shorter than Baiyu by a head, led by the guard, walked in. Despite being clad in black armor, Baiyu recognized her immediately; it was Roxia, who had been recuperating in the mental hospital.
The two had shared a deep bond from battles fought together in recent times.
Although the outcome wasn't perfect, Roxia was taken to the Dream Realm by worshippers of the Endless Loop God and fell into the hands of the Divine Spirit, the "Velvet King." Of course, Baiyu believed the deity in the forest was merely an incarnation.
In other words.
A puppet controlled by a divine spirit; the true Velvet King would certainly not meet with a god directly, and a Mortal Bone couldn't withstand the harm caused by gazing upon such powerful spirituality.
Nevertheless.
The journey was full of peril, nearly resulting in the loss of Baiyu and several older comrades.
Even after rescuing Roxia, she remained incoherent and required a long period of recuperation. For her to appear today, Villiduo must have cleared her mental evaluation, allowing her to restore her position.
"So, what made you decide to come here today?"
Baiyu chuckled. Although curious, he didn't show any surprise and, sitting on the sofa, casually picked up a cup of tea and asked.
Roxia rolled her eyes, "What do you mean by today? I came directly to find you as soon as I recovered."
"Alright, alright, my mistake."
Baiyu raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and said, "Did you come here for something specific this time?
From what I know.
Since you just recovered, Zhang Ruoxu wouldn't allow you to wander off. Mountain City is still in a state of war, and he would be even less inclined to let you roam freely."
Roxia sat to one side, "I'm no longer working at Villiduo."
Baiyu's brows furrowed, "What happened?"
"Oh, nothing significant. After the disaster last time, although my colleagues never said anything outright, they secretly grew wary and distant from me.
Besides, a place like Villiduo doesn't suit me.
So I discussed it with the director and arranged to be transferred to the Anomaly Bureau in Mountain City as a team leader. After all, they need people here."
Baiyu then realized the situation.
"Recently, Mountain City is in conflict with the Demon Race and Shell People Race. Your timing isn't ideal."
He pondered for a moment and then truthfully informed her.
However, Roxia smiled instead, "How do you know my timing is bad? Having things to do every day is interesting. Staying idle at Villiduo was driving me insane. From now on, I'll be living in the city. If you need any help, feel free to come to me anytime."
"Sure, absolutely."
Though Baiyu didn't know what to say about Roxia's optimism.
Even though Mountain City was immensely powerful, this time, it's facing a full-force attack from two major alien races, and it shouldn't be underestimated.
The primary enemies of the Empire.
Are those several alien races: the Sea Demon Race, Shell People Race, Demon Race, Ghost-faced Race, etc. They haven't been completely dealt with over the years, and now suddenly two whole forces emerge, hinting at the vast crisis Mountain City faces.
But who can blame them?
This imperial metropolis is incredibly strong and has stood firm for many years, so people's confidence in it is perfectly normal.
Despite the war raging outside.
Within the city, life goes on as usual with peace and celebration; meals are had, and people sleep as usual, only with the Security Bureau and Peace and Anomaly Bureau exercising stricter control. Nothing much else has changed.
After chatting with Roxia for a while, once she departed.
Baiyu began his intense cultivation again. The blood pool of the Giant King's Court had expanded his spirituality more than threefold.
Yet, this sudden power gain still needed to be digested.
Just like a child suddenly getting a gun, having the potential to kill an adult, but first needing to learn how to use the firearm.
Baiyu submerged his consciousness into the Sea of the Soul.
As his spirituality expanded, so did the land he occupied atop the Sea of the Soul.
It grew almost proportionally.
The area he encompassed in the Sea of the Soul was over three times larger than before.
However, since it's the shared deep-seated, subconscious Realm of the Heart for all humanity, the part he occupied was still insignificant.
Not even a drop in the ocean.
Within this limitless ocean of spiritual power, countless treasures lurked.
Yet, for ordinary people, it's incredibly challenging even to reach this place, let alone leave their spiritual land.
Given Baiyu's current spiritual strength, he surpassed most in Sewuence Six, but still couldn't freely explore other areas of the Sea of the Soul.
Else, if an accident occurred, he risked losing himself.
...
Sitting cross-legged on his mental land, Baiyu began to absorb and comprehend knowledge related to the "Master."
This was what Lucas had taught him.
Training extraordinary power within the Sea of the Soul was much safer; this place was humanity's shared spiritual sanctuary, capable of blocking most peeping by the Evil God.
Of course.
Cultivating here also attracted more attention, which wasn't from the Evil God.
The divine spirit's factions were quite chaotic, but if divided most simply, the Evil Gods were those evil, bizarre beings likely to cause human disasters and harbor malice toward humanity.
Apart from this group, the rest, whether neutral or friendly to humans, belonged to the good kind.
Because these divine spirits were recognized or accepted by humans collectively, they could enter the Sea of the Soul.
Besides divine spirits.
There were also some secret existences, special beings, ancient powerful individuals, etc.
They were the extraordinarily strong ones beneath the divine realm, and some were perhaps just a step or two away from becoming divine spirits themselves.
These individuals were also quite terrifying, capable of freely exploring and observing others within the Sea of the Soul.
But Baiyu didn't have any secrets worth hiding. Let them watch if they wanted to; it would cause no harm. Only a fraction of consciousness and spirit entered the Sea of the Soul, and even if they perished, the main body wouldn't suffer significant loss.
The only crucial caution within the Sea of the Soul was to avoid "getting lost."
This predicament might cause the entire consciousness and spirit to be trapped, unable to be extricated.
Baiyu sat resolutely on his small piece of spiritual land, rapidly digesting the advanced knowledge about the Master, along with some spirit techniques previously stored and unstudied.
It was indeed beneficial to study these here.
No muttering, no pollution.
It truly was a cultivation paradise.
However.
Just as Baiyu was deeply engaged, a distant sound of a ship's horn suddenly echoed, akin to a great whale's mournful cry, profoundly stirring.
