When he stepped out of the dimensional portal, Lin Huang was already at the entrance of the Abyss Brink.
After storing the portal, he plunged into the Abyss Brink. As he steadied himself on the first layer, his figure took a step forward and appeared directly at the entrance of the second layer.
"Space Rule at Control-level really is convenient," Lin Huang muttered in a low voice before stepping through the entrance to the second layer.
Once he had entered the second layer, he took another step, appearing at the entrance to the third layer.
As he entered the third layer of the Abyss Brink, Lin Huang made a sweep with Divine Telekinesis and located Mr. Fu and the others in no time at all.
The next instant, his figure appeared right away in the area where Mr. Fu and the others were.
Mr. Fu and a few Sword Servants reacted immediately when they sensed the presence of another person, looking in the direction where Lin Huang was.
"Apprentice?!" Only upon seeing Lin Huang did Mr. Fu realize that it was his apprentice. "You came out of closed-door cultivation?"
"Teacher." Lin Huang nodded and walked toward Mr. Fu. "I just came out of closed-door cultivation today.
"I saw the messages that you left me; what's the situation now?"
The reason Lin Huang asked was that the last update he had received was from yesterday, and Mr. Fu had not mentioned anything about today's situation.
"Not very optimistic." Mr. Fu heard this question and saw Lin Huang's happy expression suddenly diminish. "Currently there are more than 30 space rifts on the entire third layer of the Abyss Brink, which is more than there were two years ago."
"This is normal. In the past, some space rifts were hidden; they were concealed within rocky cliffs or deep underground. It would be difficult to detect them if they didn't emit spatial fluctuations. It's not a bad thing if they are revealed now," Lin Huang commented.
"The problem is that since yesterday, the great world has been trying to send explorers over. Moreover, the combat level of the explorers who are being sent is getting higher and higher, and it's getting harder to deal with," Mr. Fu expressed his concerns, "If these 30 plus rifts teleport explorers over at the same time, we currently don't have enough manpower to handle things."
Since most of the Virtual Gods from the major organizations were only at beginner-stage Virtual God combat level, they had to cooperate with one another and form battle formations when fighting.
At the moment, apart from Mr. Fu, everyone else was preparing to greet their enemies with a show of force. The seven Sword Servants despatched by Dynasty and the five Sword Servants despatched by Misery were all temporarily disguised as beginner-stage Virtual Gods. Each had formed a battle formation.
"Don't worry, reinforcements will be here in two days." Lin Huang said comfortingly.
He was not worried at all because there were more than two hundred Sword Servants on the way.
These Sword Servants were sixth-rank True Gods in terms of actual combat strength. As soon as the will of the gravel world was suppressed, their combat strength could also be unsealed.
Right now there was a lull where no explorers had been teleported over yet. Lin Huang's appearance here quickly attracted the attention of the major organizations.
After all, before he went to the great world, he was considered a celebrity in the cultivation world. He was number one on the top searches every day. Those present were all top cultivators; even if they had never met Lin Huang before, his face was not unfamiliar to them—not to mention, there were quite a few who had interacted with him before.
The seven Sword Servants with Dynasty also came to greet Lin Huang with the other members.
"Your Majesty!"
The seven of them did not address Lin Huang as Swordmaster because he had instructed them not to do so. After all, they were now pretending to be members of Dynasty, so it was more appropriate to address him as Emperor.
Lin Huang nodded slightly, his gaze alternating between the members of Dynasty. One glance in Misery's direction gave him a quick glimpse of their troops' lineup—there were five Sword Servants present. The row of people there also looked in Lin Huang's direction. At this time, everyone's attention was on Dynasty, which was not unexpected.
As Lin Huang's gaze left Misery, Dongfang Bai—the vice chief of the Union Government who was leading the team—walked over with Guan Zhong and other familiar faces.
"Emperor Lin, if it wasn't for seeing you in person today, I would have suspected that the news of your return to the gravel world half a year ago was fake," Dongfang Bai greeted Lin Huang courteously.
"Chief Dongfang, it's been a long time," Lin Huang naturally greeted him with a smile, "I have been in closed-door cultivation since I came back. I'd mentioned before that if I had time, I would visit the Union Government and have tea with you, but I haven't been able to spare a moment at all.
"I just came out of closed-door cultivation today. I initially planned to take a break, but I had an unexpected message from Teacher, so I hurried over."
"You're a busy man." Dongfang Bai reached out and shook hands with Lin Huang.
"It's still manageable; it's not as busy as the work that all of you are doing."
"We are usually fine, but these past few days have been incredibly busy." The two exchanged a few pleasantries and Dongfang Bai finally started coming to the point. "Although we have started preparing much earlier, all our preparations are inadequate when facing this group of intruders.
"Emperor Lin, do you have any good suggestions regarding this invasion?"
"My suggestion is very simple. Let's join forces, stop infighting, and do our best in confronting external enemies. If there is conflict, let it go for the time being. At this moment we can't afford to waste time dealing with internal issues. Our enemy is far more powerful than before. The gravel world may become a satellite territory of someone else if we're not careful."
Since the conversation between the two was not conducted via voice transmission, Lin Huang's words were clearly heard by everyone present.
Most people agreed, but a few looked disdainful.
"I think so too; everyone should temporarily put aside their grievances and cooperate wholeheartedly to weather these difficulties. We can resolve any conflicts we might have after we defeat the invaders." Dongfang Bai also smiled and passed onto another topic.
"Let's not talk about these unpleasant things for now. Emperor Lin, I haven't seen you for more than a year; aren't you going to invite me for some tea together?"
As soon as Dongfang Bai said this, Lin Huang immediately understood that the man wanted to have a private talk.
Mr. Fu glanced over and Lin Huang quickly glimpsed a tent not far away. He smiled and nodded at Dongfang Bai. "If you'll come this way please."
Lin Huang led Dongfang Bai and his party into the tent. Several Sword Servants were about to follow but a glance from Mr. Fu stopped them; he himself followed into the tent.
This tent only looked like one from the outside. It was actually Mr. Fu's god palace relic, and it was almost the same level as the Emperor Palace.
The interior decorations clearly reflected that it was indeed Mr. Fu's temporary imperial residence; Lin Huang had been here several times in the past.
"Mr. Fu, this palace must have cost a considerable amount!" Dongfang Bai had seen many high-quality items, but even he could not help exclaiming in surprise.
"When I bought it, I did spend a lot of my savings indeed." Mr. Fu smiled.
Lin Huang's expression was indifferent; he did not say anything. He had on hand even god sequence relics used by Heavenly Gods; furthermore, he had accumulated dozens of god rule relics. He also had the seven God Weapons with development potential. When brought out, any random one of these items was more valuable than this palace, so he naturally had no interest in participating in the discussion.
The line of people entered the hall; after they were seated, Mr. Fu took out his treasured tea to entertain them.
Dongfang Bai finally sat upright and directed an inquiry at Lin Huang.
"Lin Huang, you've been in the great world for a year, so you certainly know more about it than we do. Tell us honestly—what is the ability level of these invaders this time? Is it possible for their skills to surpass low-rank True Gods? "
Lin Huang glanced at Mr. Fu, thinking that he had mentioned something to the Union Government. However, he saw Mr. Fu shake his head slightly, indicating that he had not said anything.
Dongfang Bai and the others also noticed these non-verbal signals. "From the looks of it, you did conceal something previously."
Lin Huang could do nothing except nod. "Since the invasion has begun, there is no need for secrecy anymore.
"The invasion of lesser worlds by the great world is usually initiated by high-rank True Gods. In many cases, the initiators are ninth-rank True Gods who have their own independent organizations; it might even be several ninth-rank True Gods joining forces..."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the Union Government's several representatives suddenly turned extremely sour.