Chapter 427: Returning to Rift Canyon (I)

“These arrangements are for everyone’s safety!” Hao Lianchuan boomed. “If we open the entrance again halfway through, it will bring greater danger to everyone if powerhouses force their way in or sneak into the expedition. To prevent that from occurring, we will be sealing the premises after everyone enters. The Silver Moon Guards, Night Watchers, and Silver Moon army will be camped here. City annihilation missiles will lock onto the area. The blockade will be lifted only after everyone exits!

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“You can forgo this chance to explore the ruins if you find it too dangerous. We will not endanger the larger group for the sake of one!” Hao Lianchuan emphasized. “In addition, Silver Moon is not responsible for any risks or danger encountered within the ruins. There are certain risks inside, so caution must be exercised during the excavation!”

That was fine. No one expected that Silver Moon would look out for their safety after entering. That was impossible and did not make sense!

All was quiet below, the three great organizations were also silent. Indeed, this had been the agreement. No one else knew what price they needed to pay.

......

Above the canyon, in an army camp.

The area was sealed off and under the purview of the army. It was responsible for the external safety of this expedition. City annihilation missiles were supposedly ready at headquarters, ready to be lobbed at Rift Canyon anytime.

In the center of camp.

Rather than the sparse crudeness seen last time, various houses had been erected. Earth supernaturals had reinforced the structures and wood supernaturals planted flora to break up the monotony of the landscape. Greenery poked through the barren landscape.

Several important figures were gathered at the biggest house in the center. Hou Xiaochen, Huang Yu, Hu Dingfang, Ren Tianchuan, Director General Zhao, Deputy Zhou, Kong Jie, Hu Qingfeng... All of the powerful, strong, or influential heavyweights of Silver Moon were present.

Ren Tianchuan, commander of the White Dragons, was addressing the group. A darkened map was present in front of him as he explained, “This is a map of the inner city, but it’s not detailed. It’s just a rough sketch according to those who entered last time.

“The military has divided Battle Heaven into five sections! The city gates that we enter through is the eastern portion. Upon entering from the outer city, we come across the residential area first. There is some commercial activity here, but it is not the main focus of this area.

“Next comes the northern portion. Based on reports from last time, it might have been the military area back in the day. Some people apparently saw airplanes parked here, but that is yet to be confirmed.

“The southern portion is the true commercial district. Someone saw a lot of storefronts there.

“The western portion is the industrial area!” he explained. “Residential, military, commercial, and industrial. With the pagoda in the center as the landmark, that should be the true core of the city. The city lord’s manor and all sorts of institution headquarters are found there, as well as an archives area with a large sum of ancient tomes.

“Thus far, only one Gold Armor has been spotted in the entire city...”

Hu Qingfeng listened quietly in the crowd, making mental notes and observations. As a Night Watcher, he was collecting a great sum of secret intelligence in this meeting of senior executives. No one in the central region knew anything about the inner city, but here Silver Moon was, in possession of some information. That he now knew about the five divisions of the inner city was already cause for celebration.

The commercial district would have the most in terms of wealth, but the military district might have large stores of mysterious power stones. It was difficult to say what might be found in the industrial district. Who knew what kind of industry the ancient civilization specialized in? If it was related to the military... that would be incredible!

“How strong is this golden guy? Has Silver Moon analyzed him?” a young man suddenly asked in the crowd. Everyone looked at him, Hu Qingfeng included.

Know-it-all, why can’t you keep your mouth shut!

He knew the young man. Looking to be in his early twenties the most, he was handsome and with a sunny disposition. Instead of being from the Night Watchers, he was from the Ministry of Administration. This ministry was the direct superior to provincial governments and the nominal head of the nine ministries. The young man was from the Ministry of Administration in Skystar City.

Skystar City was of a mind to participate in the expedition on a significant scale. All of their representatives joined in a clandestine manner, but this fellow had openly reported to the Silver Moon provincial government to join the excavation in the name of the central government.

Hu Qingfeng was aware of him as the young man was well known—Qi Gang of the Ministry of Administration. The latter was a Heaven Favored, the same as the perverse geniuses from the Inspectorate. He was very strong at mid Nova, making him slightly stronger than Hu Qingfeng and on par with those geniuses.

These youngsters were all names on the Divine Masters Ranking. The ninety-nine powerhouses of the ranking included members of the nine ministries, royal family, three great organizations, seven divine mountains, and the rich and powerful families around the land.

The three great organizations were indomitable factions when it came to the supernatural world. The seven divine mountains weren’t that strong, but there were powerhouses in residence at them. Sky Sword from Silver Moon, for example, was one of the masters. There was a representative from his mountain today. The other mountains were spearheaded by premier martial masters who’d converted to the supernatural, or had major monster spirits holding down the fort.

Indeed, there were monster spirits on the ranking. However, their ages were hard to determine.

Many monster spirits that’d risen to prominence in the last couple of years were listed, regardless of their age. Their age of awakening was the basis by which their age was judged. Those that’d awakened less than ten years ago were assessed in terms of their strength post-awakening. In actuality, they wouldn’t have been that strong prior either. Monster spirits didn’t typically live too long prior to the rise of the supernatural domain.

These powerhouses from strong factions dominated the ranking. There were some wandering cultivators that could be found among the ninety-nine. They were lone wolves and Heaven Favored, having opened their locks at birth and were incredibly strong.

Hu Qingfeng was nothing compared to them. His thoughts ran wildly, first touching on Blue Moon. The latter was also on the ranking, the only one of the Seven Moons to be listed. The rest were either too old or like Violet Moon, too weak.

One of the ten court masters of Yama was also on the list. An elder from Celestial’s elder council could also be found.

Some of those perverse geniuses from the Night Watchers were also emblazoned on the ranking. This Qi Gang in front of Hu Qingfeng was one of the three Inspectorate heavyweights listed. He was very young, apparently only twenty-six. He’d opened his locks nine years ago and had already made the frightening progress to mid Nova! His attribute was metal, making him a formidable force to be reckoned with.

The Divine Masters Ranking was not yet public knowledge, so while Hu Qingfeng knew about it, these Silver Moon bumpkins might not. If they did, they might not welcome Qi Gang’s addition.

As such thoughts raced through Hu Qingfeng’s mind, Hou Xiaochen smiled and said softly, “The Gold Armor’s strength is hard to determine, Emissary Qi. From what we know, the Gold Armor should be somewhere between peak Nova and the metamorphosis beyond.

“It killed one of Celestial’s Solars with one punch and broke a gold level origin weapon. Origin weapons are so durable that Novas in metamorphosis find it difficult to break them. It goes to show how fierce the Gold Armor is that it can break an origin weapon that is admittedly lower level than it...”

“Thank you for your clarification, director,” Qi Gang quickly said. “Is it possible that it’s beyond Nova?”

“Yes!” Hou Xiaochen affirmed solemnly. “That’s possible. You must know that the ancients are not us in present time. We need to carve out the path ahead of us bit by bit. Perhaps the road we are developing above Nova was just run-of-the-mill back in those times. If the Gold Armor was powerful in its era, then it's possible for it to still retain strength above Nova now.”

Qi Gang grew lost in his thoughts, then smiled when he saw that everyone was looking at him. “I have no further questions.”

“Director Hou.” Hu Qingfeng had questions if the genius youngster didn’t. “What level origin weapon is the black tortoise seal in its hands?”

“Sky level at the very least,” Hou Xiaochen chuckled. “It’s possible that it’s even stronger. As you are all well aware of, the division of origin weapons was set by us based on our knowledge and breadth of vision. It’s not necessarily accurate. According to some ancient records, the origin weapons we have now may have just been standard issue. Take this black tortoise seal, for example. It might be the core origin weapon of a city, making it stronger than what the rank and file carried. It possibly rivals the item in the central region.”

Several expressions shifted minutely with these words. The item in the central region? The one they’d taken from Yama, right?

The war in the central region had ignited because it could determine supernatural potential. Using it on a person would quickly reveal what supernatural attribute they were a match with and what potential they possessed. Its secondary usage was that powerhouses could use it to locate their supernatural locks!

Some experts might be able to only discover six locks. This treasure, however, could help them discover more. Some souls of origin weapons could even facilitate the manifestation of the locks! That made them ultimate treasures!

Such a treasure was now in Night Watcher hands. However, it was rumored that the nine ministries were levying pressure on the agency to share the wealth and not hoard it for themselves.

The central region was in absolute disarray because of that item, but now Hou Xiaochen said that this Black Tortoise Seal might be another one... Even Qi Gang’s eyebrows shot up when he heard the claim.

“Do you mean that, Director Hou?” the young man asked hastily.

“This seal compares to the Heavens Dictate?” Hu Qingfeng gasped.

The treasure in the central region was a ruler shaped item known as Heavens Dictate. One ruler to determine the heavens! It seemed to possess other unique abilities in addition to what they knew, but Hu Qingfeng wasn’t fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of it. The senior executives of the Night Watchers had said that as useful as it was, it came with some problems that they were working to resolve.