Translator: CKtalon
Ji Moqing looked at Honn Shinsakura and Zhou Wen in shock, almost unable to believe her eyes.
Wu Zonglie and company were dumbfounded, completely petrified.
After Honn Shinsakura bowed, he stood up with his sword in hand and said, “My master has repeatedly exhorted me to bow as a disciple if I see you again.”
“I’m surprised that you still remember me.” Zhou Wen nodded slightly.
When Ji Moqing heard their conversation, she felt as though she had been struck by lightning. She immediately understood everything and could not help but retreat.
She had already realized that Zhou Wen hadn’t been sent by her brother-in-law. It was even very likely that he was a famous overseas devil. Otherwise, why would a person like Honn Shinsakura bow so respectfully to him and even say that the Sword Sage had instructed him to bow as a disciple?
Even the Sword Sage, Sei Gasakai, held him in such high esteem. He was definitely not as simple as he looked on the surface. Under his young appearance, he was very likely an old devil that had eternal youth.
After figuring everything out, Ji Moqing retreated, wanting to escape immediately.
Zhou Wen didn’t chase after her, nor did he speak. Honn Shinsakura didn’t get anyone to chase after her either. Ji Moqing summoned the Sea Turtle Companion Beast and quickly left the island.
“Sir, should we bring her back?” Honn Shinsakura asked Zhou Wen.
“Why do you want her captured?” Zhou Wen asked.
Honn Shinsakura recounted the entire story. It involved a lot of information that Zhou Wen was eager to know. Furthermore, many things were different from what Zhou Wen had imagined.
Now, only about five years had passed since his battle with Di Tian. It was far from the hundred-plus years that Zhou Wen had counted.
However, Zhou Wen was certain that he had been trapped for more than a hundred years. After all, enduring such a long period of imprisonment wasn’t an easy task.
Zhou Wen had a firm will. An ordinary person would probably have suffered mental problems even if they hadn’t starved to death.
Although there was nothing wrong with Zhou Wen’s mind, he had spent a large amount of time practicing all sorts of Essence Energy Arts over the past hundred years. They were benefits that were as real as they could be. Furthermore, they had been built up over time. They couldn’t be faked.
Since it was true that Zhou Wen had been imprisoned for a hundred years and that only five years had passed in reality, there was only one possibility. Wang Mingyuan had used some kind of power to change time to achieve such an effect.
Furthermore, Zhou Wen hadn’t starved to death in the past five years. That was strange.
Although using five years to exchange for a hundred years seemed like a huge gain, the feeling of being imprisoned for a hundred years was almost maddening.
Even if Zhou Wen could focus on studying the Essence Energy Arts and try his best not to think too much, there were still a few times when he nearly had a mental breakdown.
Zhou Wen really didn’t know if he should thank Wang Mingyuan or beat him up to vent his anger.
Over the past five years, Earth had undergone tremendous changes. It was different from what Zhou Wen had imagined. The Guardians had failed to occupy Earth, much less become its owners.
Of course, the current owner of Earth wasn’t humanity either. In fact, the situation of humans was even worse than five years ago.
Earth was still undergoing constant changes. As more and more dimensional zones suffered breakouts, the space that humans could survive in became smaller and smaller.
Now, the living environment of humans was the opposite of before. In the past, humans wouldn’t be in danger as long as they didn’t enter dimensional zones. There were only a few dimensional creatures that could break out.
However, it was completely different now. If humans didn’t enter dimensional zones, the chances of survival were much lower.
Earth was filled with dimensional creatures that could break through the restrictions. There was no lack of Mythical and even Terror-grade existences. Even Calamity-grade dimensional creatures occasionally appeared.
Humans could only enter dimensional zones and use the dimensional zones’ rejection of alien, break-out dimensional creatures. Only then could they live an abject existence.
The dimensional zones that humans had previously viewed as a forbidden zone of death had now become humanity’s final refuge.
Of course, the dangers in dimensional zones still existed, but as long as one was familiar with the dangers, they could effectively avoid them. Many humans had already established human factions in various dimensional zones.
In such a harsh environment, the Federation surprisingly didn’t completely perish. However, the Federation was different from before. It was no longer an era where the six families controlled everything.
Up to now, no pure-blooded human had relied on their own strength to break through to the Mythical stage.
And now, the common way to advance to the Mythical stage was still to contract with Guardians. Absorbing and fusing Guardians was still a very rare way to advance. This was because this advancement method had very high requirements for humans. Not everyone had the ability to fuse with Guardians.
However, another relatively more mature advancement method had appeared two years ago. It was to extract energy from the bodies of dimensional creatures to strengthen human bodies to achieve the goal of advancing to the Mythical stage.
However, this method also had many problems. For example, a Mythical creature could only be used to create a single Mythical Serum. A single Mythical Serum could only be provided for one person. As for whether this person could advance to the Mythical stage with the help of the Mythical Serum, it depended on many factors. The overall success rate was only a few percent. Furthermore, if they failed, there would be many side effects. They might even instantly die.
Even if the person succeeded, their Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny would be affected by the Mythical creatures.
In other words, the strength of the Mythical creatures used to create the Mythical Serum determined the strength of this person after advancing to the Mythical stage. It also determined the possibility of them advancing further in the future.
Furthermore, just like fusing with a Guardian, the genes of humans would mutate. Their appearance would be somewhat different from ordinary humans, and some would even completely beastify.
As for whether there would be other latent dangers in the future, it was still unknown.
However, up to now, most of the Mythical powerhouses among humans had used this method to advance. Now, a large portion of the Federation’s system relied on the Mythical Serum. As for the faction that controlled the Mythical Serum, it was now the actual ruler of the Senate.
When Zhou Wen heard the name of the creator of the Mythical Serum, his expression couldn’t help but turn odd.
Hui Haifeng... Federation President... Zhou Wen repeated the name silently. To him, this was a memory from a hundred years ago, so he found it somewhat unfamiliar. Furthermore, the two terms together sounded even more unfamiliar.
Heavens... What happened in the past five years... Zhou Wen snapped to his senses and groaned inwardly.
What surprised Zhou Wen wasn’t just that the changes in the past five years had been too drastic, but he wished he could immediately return to land and see how his family and friends were doing.
However, from what he gathered from Honn Shinsakura , the An family still resided in Luoyang. Not only had it not declined, but it had also become stronger.
The An family ran quite a number of dimensional zones in Luoyang and had taken in many refugees who had fled to Luoyang. They were now considered one of the few major factions in the East District. Even the people from the Senate were somewhat afraid of the An family.