Chapter 855 - The Lost Continent
Back at Imperial College, Han Wu heard that the annual valedictorian competition was approaching and rushed to sign up.
That was when he was informed that the third-year competition had been canceled. Han Wu was confused. The first-, second-, and fourth-year competitions were all going ahead as normal. Why was only the third-year competition canceled?
The lecturer in charge patiently explained that the third-year competition had been canceled because the third-year students had petitioned for it. Over ninety percent of them had signed the request.
Han Wu was disappointed. This was his one annual chance to thrash—no, engage in friendly competition with them, but they had willingly given it up. At least Elina had stepped up to the challenge last year. It seemed this year was doomed to be bereft of excitement.
Heaving a sigh, Han Wu asked the lecturer, “Could I join the fourth-year seniors’ competition instead?”
“Han Wu, would you like the fourth-year competition to be canceled as well?” the lecturer politely asked in return.
Han Wu had no comeback. The moment he signed up for the competition, the seniors would almost certainly file their own petition to cancel it. There wasn’t a single person left in all of Imperial College willing to fight him. Han Wu almost missed the audacity of his past challengers.
With nothing better to do, Han Wu flipped through the course schedule for his year. It listed the civilizations for the upcoming major classes, but they were all ordinary civilizations, and Han Wu wasn’t impressed.
This problem was inevitable. Han Wu’s standards had grown with his strength, and common civilizations could no longer satisfy his needs. Fortunately, Han Wu had other channels. He opened the task interfaces for the Death Faction, Wisdom Faction, War Faction, and Wealth Faction.
He held high clearance in all four factions, which allowed him to see more dangerous missions that were invisible to regular members. As he skimmed through the missions, one appeared marked with a high-risk symbol. Curiously, it appeared across all four factions’ task boards simultaneously.
Han Wu was intrigued. What kind of mission would make four factions list it on their task boards at the same time?
[Mission: Explore the lost continent.]
[Strength requirement: Major God and above, with Microcosm-rank combat strength or higher.]
[Description: A continent shrouded in mysterious energy has drifted to the edge of the Divine Civilization. It cannot be scanned by any known method. Only a physical expedition might reveal something.]
“Now that’s interesting,” Han Wu muttered.
There were only two possible reasons that a continent could not be scanned by any known method: the continent had some kind of shielding in place, or whatever was on it exceeded their detection range. Either way, it meant the continent held something valuable.
Han Wu had been looking for a way to grow stronger, and this fit his requirements perfectly. Of course, he also made sure to accept the mission from all four factions so that he would receive four sets of rewards when he returned. With that done, he then informed Wisdom God King Xu Hai, Qin Shuang, Jing Jing, and Sun Qingnian of his plan.
As the leader of the Wisdom Faction, Xu Hai was naturally aware of the high-risk mission. Han Wu’s performance in the Grand War Games gave him full confidence in Han Wu’s abilities, so he simply reminded Han Wu to be careful and to come back safely, even if it meant returning empty-handed.
Qin Shuang was worried and tried to talk Han Wu out of it, not understanding why someone of Han Wu’s caliber needed to take such risks. He would still see substantial growth even if he simply stayed at the college and developed his Divine Jurisdiction abilities.
Despite her best efforts, Han Wu would not be swayed. The divine war had shown him that he still lacked strength. If he didn’t push himself, hidden enemies could surpass him in the future. When they came seeking revenge, he would have no means to fight or flee. The only way to face such dangers was to grow as quickly as possible.
Unable to convince Han Wu, Qin Shuang tried a different approach. She would go with him. Unfortunately, she didn’t meet the mission’s requirements. Her strength had not reached World rank, and she had yet to fully master the method of temporarily boosting herself to that level. Thus, she had no choice but to stay behind and train until she could.
Jing Jing, on the other hand, had no such problem. She was a Major God, and her combat strength had also improved significantly after integrating her units. This meant she could temporarily break through into a World life form.
Even if she didn’t qualify, she would’ve undoubtedly found a way to follow Han Wu regardless. Han Wu didn’t bother trying to dissuade her from joining him. If they ran into danger, they could watch each other’s backs.
As for Sun Qingnian, he had fully committed to a support role after comprehending the initial form of a Divine Jurisdiction. He was trying to build an information network that covered the entire Divine Civilization.
When he heard about Han Wu’s expedition, he was thoroughly impressed and urged him to be careful. He also casually borrowed one million Divine Essence to fund his information network. One million Divine Essence was a significant sum even to a God King, but for Han Wu, it was nothing.
After lending the Divine Essence and chatting for a while, the two parted ways. With his affairs in order, Han Wu and Jing Jing set out for the lost continent.
It took them five days to reach the edge of the Divine Civilization, even after multiple jumps and travel by ship. From the ship, they could see the lost continent floating in the void like a duckweed. It appeared pitch black to the naked eye. Even with detection-type Divine Equipment, he couldn’t gather any information.
As the mission description said, no known method could scan the lost continent. It had to be explored in person. That reminded Han Wu of V.
V was also an existence that the Divine Civilization’s known methods could not detect. Perhaps he could pick up something from the lost continent?
Han Wu summoned V and ordered him to scan the distant continent. Shifting forms, V reshaped his arms into a telescope and examined the pitch-black land before them. After a long time of waiting, Han Wu became convinced that V would come up empty as well.
Just as Han Wu had this thought, V suddenly reported, “I can see mysterious races on the continent, and a strange ruin.”
