Have we met somewhere before?

Night fell.

Wu Ming led the members of the Second Legion and successfully entered District 5 of Luzhou. This was the area closest to the direction they had come from.

However, no sooner had they entered District 5 than they received some extremely grim news.

Districts 1, 2, and 3 had already been overrun by monsters. The top-tier factions that once ruled Luzhou had been scattered, their fates unknown. Right now, the people from District 4 were in full retreat. Meanwhile, District 5—where Wu Ming and his men currently stood, sharing a border with District 3—was also flooded with large crowds preparing to evacuate.

Wu Ming ordered his subordinates to intercept a fleeing group to gather intelligence on the situation ahead.

It was suspected that a massive number of Tier 9 monsters had appeared. The local factions in Luzhou were utterly powerless to resist; they could only run for their lives.

Hearing this news, Wu Ming's heart grew heavy. As for the rest of his subordinates, whose strength was far inferior to his, words could not even describe their state. It was not merely heaviness in their chests—it was absolute despair!

Their Second Legion only had one Tier 9 entity, their legion commander. Who on earth knew how many Tier 9 monsters were currently swarming across Luzhou?

At this moment, the members of the legion turned their gazes toward Wu Ming, waiting to see what orders he would give.

Wu Ming looked up at the night sky, his expression indifferent.

The trouble brought by the descent of the beams had manifested itself an hour after the event occurred. The Dawn Legion’s intelligence network was by no means incompetent. How could the sudden appearance of countless Tier 9 entities escape the notice of their intelligence operatives?

Therefore, Wu Ming had prepared himself mentally well in advance. Hearing this terrible news now, he was still able to bear the blow.

"Everyone, rest in place for half an hour, then we advance into District 8!"

This was the order Wu Ming issued. The legion members responded swiftly, showing no signs of resistance or dissent.

Entering District 8 was naturally intended for a rendezvous with Zhi Tianxia, Luzhou's premier intelligence faction. This faction was effectively the local overlord of Luzhou, possessing a far more comprehensive understanding of everything happening within the region, big or small. Furthermore, Wu Ming was acquainted with the leader of Zhi Tianxia. In the current crisis, intelligence was paramount, and seeking out Zhi Tianxia was undeniably the best choice.

Their operations had to be swift, which was why Wu Ming did not hesitate to push forward through the night.

Even so, Wu Ming remained burdened with heavy thoughts. Regarding the catastrophe facing the Blue Planet, at least for the moment, he could see no hope of survival.

Ten years of the apocalypse had passed, and humanity across the entire Blue Planet had developed for a decade, yet their strongest experts were merely at Tier 9. Meanwhile, the top races of the monster world reached as high as Tier 11. And there was also the Beast World, whose true strength remained completely unknown.

The entire Central Domain had been casually eradicated by a single giant beast that walked out of the Beast World. It was only because the spoils from destroying the Central Domain failed to satisfy that giant beast that it chose to leave rather than continue the destruction.

Yet even if the Beast World took no further action, there were still four other monster worlds relentlessly besieging their Blue Planet. A single monster world alone was already difficult enough for them to handle, let alone four.

Half an hour later, the entire legion set off once more, pushing forward toward District 8.

Along the way, their policy regarding the monster legions was simple: kill whatever could be killed, handle whatever could be handled. Their original purpose in coming to Luzhou was to protect humanity here; whenever they crossed paths with monsters, they had no choice but to strike.

...

In District 13, Lu Sheng prepared for one final session of cultivation. Once tomorrow arrived, the remaining monsters within District 13 would be completely purged by him.

At that point, it would be time to launch an offensive into District 8.

Utilizing his spatial positioning ability, he teleported directly to each of his dispatched monster squads, collecting the Law Stones they had gathered.

The entire process took just one minute to harvest all the Law Stones. Then, he began his cultivation.

The Law Pillars, which had already reached a height of three hundred meters, grew taller once again. Moreover, Lu Sheng discovered that the silver Law Pillars had now turned golden. However, only the three Law Pillars representing the first layer of laws had transformed into gold. The six Law Pillars representing the second and third layers remained unchanged, still glowing with silver light.

The change in color did not bring about any drastic alterations; his mastery over the laws and the enhancement of their power were entirely within reason.

Two hours later, Lu Sheng concluded his cultivation session.

The three Law Pillars he had been cultivating within his body had now reached a height of four hundred meters. But this... was still not the limit!

By now, Lu Sheng could faintly sense the approximate limit of the Law Pillars. Judging by the sense of saturation transmitted from the pillars, they could grow by another hundred meters or so, meaning a maximum height of five hundred meters.

If the Law Pillars of the eighth layer required a tenfold increase, would they need to grow to five thousand meters before he could enter the next stage?

Just thinking about it made Lu Sheng’s scalp tingle. Exactly how many resources would be required to grow them to five thousand meters? And that was for three pillars at once... Slaughtering every single monster that had descended upon Luzhou probably still wouldn't be enough.

Beyond Tier 8, low-grade Law Stones were no longer ideal for enhancing Tier 8 Law Pillars. The so-called low-grade Law Stones referred to those dropped by Tier 6 and Tier 7 monsters; only the Law Stones dropped by monsters at Tier 8 and above could be considered medium-grade.

If Luzhou wasn't enough, he would slaughter all the monsters in the entire Eastern Domain; if the Eastern Domain wasn't enough, he would exterminate every monster across the entire Blue Planet. Lu Sheng firmly believed that this way, resources would never run short.

Finishing his cultivation, Lu Sheng retired to sleep.

As for testing his strength, Lu Sheng couldn't be bothered. No sooner had he finished testing it than his power would undergo another qualitative breakthrough, rendering any tests completely useless. If he wanted to test his strength, he could just do it during actual combat.

Right now, his overriding sensation was that he was strong—terrifyingly strong. Any Tier 8 or Tier 9 entity could be blown to pieces by a single punch from him. As for Tier 10, they were naturally two tiers higher than him, so he would simply treat them as opponents he couldn't beat—for now.

Once he raised his Tier 6 and Tier 7 Law Pillars to perfection, things would be hard to say.

...

Lu Sheng fell asleep, but the vast land of Luzhou was far from peaceful. Not every place was District 13, and not every District 13 had a Lu Sheng.

One could say that currently, across the entire Blue Planet, only Luzhou's District 13 was truly safe enough for someone to sleep in peace. And all of this was entirely due to the existence of Lu Sheng.

After two hours of forced marches at top speed, the Second Legion finally arrived within the sphere of influence of Zhi Tianxia in District 8.

Li春秋 (Li Chunqiu) had received Wu Ming's message early on, informing him that the Second Legion was on its way, so he had been waiting outside the faction's gates for some time. Standing alongside him were several others, among whom was a pale-faced man who occupied a position equal to his own.

Li Chunqiu turned to the man beside him and said, "Leader Qiao Lei, the person arriving shortly is Wu Ming, commander of the Dawn Legion's Second Legion. He is a Tier 9 existence. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Qiao Lei's pale face remained expressionless. "Alright, I know. Even if it were just an ordinary member of the Dawn Legion, I wouldn't easily offend them."

Hearing this, Li Chunqiu felt reassured.

Qiao Lei, the leader of the Wind and Thunder Pavilion, was not someone easy to get along with. He possessed an arrogant disposition and had frequently offended people in the past by relying on his strength. However, he showed a degree of respect toward Li Chunqiu, which was why Li Chunqiu had not refused when Qiao Lei came to him seeking treatment for his severe injuries.

Before long, a massive procession marched in from the front.

The sheer size of the contingent radiated a dense, murderous intent. Feeling this oppressive aura, Qiao Lei felt a jolt of shock in his heart.

He had heard tales of the Dawn Legion's formidable reputation, but he had never actually witnessed them firsthand. The Dawn Legion never made a habit of operating openly across the Blue Planet, but every time they made a move, it was always earth-shattering. Whenever a dark faction was born and the local forces proved incapable of dealing with it—provided there was sufficient evidence proving their malevolence—one only needed to hand the evidence over to the Dawn Legion, and they would dispatch their subordinates to wipe out the scourge.

It was precisely through such a method that Li Chunqiu of Zhi Tianxia had first befriended Wu Ming.

The legion arrived before Li Chunqiu and the others, the intense wave of slaughter washing over everyone in Zhi Tianxia. Qiao Lei couldn't help clicking his tongue in secret. Could the men of the Dawn Legion possibly have killed their way all the way here?

Looking at their blood-stained clothes and their high-strung, hyper-alert demeanor, it was obvious they had just emerged from active combat.

Li Chunqiu stepped forward, cupped his fists, and said, "Greetings, Lord Wu Ming!"

Wu Ming stepped forward to support him, saying, "No need for such formalities. Let's interact as equals. First, arrange some resting quarters for my subordinates; they've been fighting all the way here and are exhausted."

Li Chunqiu immediately nodded in agreement, leading the troops toward the quarters he had prepared in advance.

After a round of arrangements, deep night had already fallen.

At this point, the leadership of both sides gathered around a dining table, having no intention of retiring to sleep just yet.

After three rounds of drinks and five courses of food, the group began to chat casually.

"Lord Wu Ming, this is Qiao Lei, master of our Luzhou Wind and Thunder Pavilion, and also a Tier 8 powerhouse." Seizing the opportunity, Li Chunqiu introduced Qiao Lei.

"Good. The situation is becoming increasingly perilous; the greater our strength, the better." After offering a brief, perfunctory response, Wu Ming cut straight to the point. "Leader Li Chunqiu, I am well aware that your Zhi Tianxia is the primary intelligence agency managing all of Luzhou."

"Since I came to find you first, you surely know why I'm here. I won't beat around the bush."

"I need the most comprehensive intelligence on the entirety of Luzhou. Ideally, I want the monsters in every single location clearly marked—where the greatest threats lie, where the densest concentrations of monsters are, and which human communities are facing the most severe crises..."

"I hope Leader Li can provide me with complete intelligence."

Li Chunqiu smiled helplessly. "Lord Wu Ming, I would love to get my hands on intelligence of that level, but I'm afraid Zhi Tianxia's current strength falls short of that capability."

"Had you asked for this four days ago, Lord Wu Ming, it would have been a simple matter. But right now, conducting reconnaissance is fraught with countless difficulties."

"At best, we can manage to piece together a rough map."

Wu Ming knew his demands were overly ambitious, and Li Chunqiu's reaction was well within his expectations.

"That's fine. Any valuable intelligence will do."

"My purpose in coming to Luzhou is to protect humanity, to ensure the people within Luzhou's borders don't perish in too great a number."

"However, looking at the current situation, the strength of the descended monsters has somewhat exceeded my expectations, and exceeded the expectations of the Dawn Legion as well."

"Given the present circumstances, perhaps the best approach is to hunt down and eliminate the high-tier monsters as much as possible. That way, the low-tier monsters will pose far less of a threat to humanity."

Li Chunqiu caught the underlying meaning in Wu Ming's words and immediately chimed in, "Lord Wu Ming is entirely right. Once the high-tier monsters are eliminated, the remaining low-tier monsters won't pose an overwhelming threat to humanity."

Wu Ming nodded in satisfaction. "Mhm. To execute precise assassinations of high-tier monsters, we need precise intelligence provided by Zhi Tianxia. In this regard, you and your organization will have to bear a heavy burden."

"Furthermore, dealing with the monsters across the entirety of Luzhou relying solely on the manpower I brought will be somewhat insufficient. Therefore, we need to unite the stronger factions within Luzhou to target and eliminate high-tier monsters systematically."

"I hope we can use precise intelligence to break the monsters down one by one."

Li Chunqiu fell into deep thought for a moment before replying, "That won't be a problem. I will take responsibility for uniting the top factions in Luzhou. However, there is a newly emerged top-tier faction that Lord Wu Ming might need to invite in person."

Hearing this, Wu Ming grew intrigued. "Oh? Which faction is it, and what are the specific details?"

He knew that the faction Li Chunqiu mentioned must possess some special qualities; otherwise, there would be no need for him to make the trip personally. It certainly had to be more unusual than merely possessing a Tier 8 powerhouse—otherwise, the combined reputation of the Dawn Legion and Zhi Tianxia would have been enough to make any Tier 8 expert obediently show up.

Li Chunqiu retrieved a stack of prepared documents from his storage card.

"Lord Wu Ming, take a look. These are the reports my men sent back over the past two days."

Sitting beside Li Chunqiu, Qiao Lei already knew what documents had been produced, yet he still felt a sense of shock and disbelief regarding the rise of the World-Exterminating Alliance and its current strength, feeling somewhat as though it were all a delusion.

The dining table lapsed into silence for a time, everyone waiting for Wu Ming to speak.

Five minutes later, having finished reading the documents in his hands, Wu Ming could no longer suppress the smile breaking across his corners.

"Leader Li, are the reports you gave me genuine?"

Li Chunqiu nodded. "Naturally they are true. How could I possibly fabricate such matters?"

Hearing Li Chunqiu's affirmative reply, Wu Ming burst into hearty laughter. "Splendid! Splendid! What a magnificent World-Exterminating Alliance!"

"I will go and invite the World-Exterminating Alliance in person. Let's eat first; the food has gotten cold."

Originally, as the sole Tier 9, he had felt his position was extremely precarious. After all, the descended Tier 9 monsters were not limited to just one; based on current reports, there were already four or five of them, all concentrated in the first three districts.

The emergence of another Tier 9 ally was the best possible news Wu Ming could have received. And according to the intelligence Li Chunqiu had provided, this leader of the World-Exterminating Alliance was essentially a legion unto himself—a legion equal to, or perhaps even stronger than, their own Dawn Legion.

After the meal, the people at the table dispersed, and Wu Ming departed with his subordinates.

On the way back, Wei Liang finally couldn't help speaking up, "Master, I want to head back right now."

Wu Ming paused. Seeing the resolute look in Wei Liang's eyes, he pondered for a moment and said, "Very well. Guan Shan, you go along with Wei Liang, bring the people over, and contact me immediately if any issues arise."

Wei Liang's loyalty and deep sense of friendship were qualities Wu Ming highly valued. He felt no surprise whatsoever at Wei Liang's decision, nor did he harbor any thoughts of stopping him.

Guan Shan, standing nearby, nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll accompany this kid so he stops chattering in my ear all day long."

Wei Liang was overjoyed. "Many thanks, Master!"

Wu Ming waved his hand. "Go quickly and return soon; the outside world isn't particularly safe right now."

Right now, Wu Ming's thoughts were entirely consumed by the prospect of recruiting the leader of the World-Exterminating Alliance; he had no spare time to meddle in Wei Liang's personal affairs. Moreover, as a legion commander, if he had to manage every trivial matter like this, wouldn't he be worked to death?

Guan Shan and Wei Liang split from the main group, gradually vanishing into the darkness.

Presently, the situation across Luzhou could be described as walking through fire and water.

The first three districts, guarded by top-tier factions, had already fallen, and the factions stationed within them had their headquarters destroyed, now reduced to small roving bands fleeing the area. Meanwhile, the leaders of all major factions had received Li Chunqiu's sound-transmission message that very night.

After conversing with Li Chunqiu and understanding the gravity of the situation, they all altered their course, converging on District 8.

...

The Next Day

Early in the morning, Lu Sheng awoke. After washing up, he ate breakfast while using his spatial positioning ability to teleport to his subordinates.

He harvested the fruits of his subordinates' hard work over the entire night, then ordered them to commit suicide to restore their optimal condition.

It took five minutes to collect all his subordinates' gains. Immediately afterward, Lu Sheng re-summoned all his subordinates. Compared to yesterday, the number of monsters under his command had increased significantly once more.

There were increases across Tier 6, Tier 7, and Tier 8—the only exception being Tier 9.

He had swept through the entirety of District 13 without encountering a single Tier 9 entity. It seemed none had spawned here, or perhaps the ones that did had all congregated at the assembly point.

Lu Sheng didn't mind. As long as he resolved all the monsters across the Blue Planet, he would eventually find out the answer.

He ordered his subordinates to slaughter their way toward District 8, maintaining the exact same offensive strategy. The plan was simple: kill every monster in sight.

His clones supervised the combat while his true body engaged in his daily cultivation.

The overnight hunt had yielded a massive harvest of Law Stones and Source Points, enough to fuel another round of cultivation. Lu Sheng estimated that by this morning, he would be able to bring his Tier 6 Law Pillars to completion and begin cultivating the Tier 7 ones.

In fact, things progressed much as he had anticipated. Two hours later, all the Law Stones collected overnight had been completely consumed. The Source Points were also whittled down to a bare minimum.

As for his Law Pillars, the three Tier 6 pillars had all reached five hundred meters, perfectly matching his calculations. Five hundred meters was the limit; he had already begun cultivating the three Tier 7 Law Pillars, successfully pushing them to a height of one hundred meters.

As for his current strength, even he had no idea how powerful he had become. He simply felt his body brimming with explosive power—so much so that it gave him the illusion that a single full-power strike from him could shatter the entire Blue Planet.

He walked with extreme caution, terrified that he might accidentally apply too much force and crack the ground beneath him.

However, these were merely the aftereffects of strength growing too rapidly. In reality, as long as he didn't deliberately exert his power, walking normally wouldn't cause any damage to the terrain.

It took him nearly half an hour to shake off this illusion.

Just as Lu Sheng was feeling somewhat bored, Xiong Dabiao called him via sound-transmission bug, reporting that someone was looking for him—a bigwig with terrifyingly high strength.

Lu Sheng was momentarily bewildered. Did he know any bigwigs with terrifying strength? How come he had no recollection of it?

Leaving a spatial mark in place, he teleported back to the floating continent.

...

After waking up in the morning, Wu Ming mounted a giant eagle and followed the route map provided by Li Chunqiu, flying toward the territory of the World-Exterminating Alliance.

Even moving at full speed, it still took him nearly three hours to arrive at the location of the World-Exterminating Alliance.

Before him lay a massive floating continent, upon which the headquarters of the World-Exterminating Alliance was established.

He directed the giant eagle to fly directly above the floating continent and descend. His sudden appearance immediately drew the attention of most of the guards, who quickly surrounded him.

Seeing their vigilance, Wu Ming felt quite satisfied. Yet, upon assessing their strength, a trace of disappointment crept into his heart.

The strongest among them was merely at Tier 6. Although Wu Ming had anticipated this based on prior intelligence, the disappointment was still unavoidable.

Yesterday's intelligence provided by Li Chunqiu clearly recorded that within the entire World-Exterminating Alliance, only its leader, Lu Sheng, possessed terrifying strength, while all those monsters were simply Lu Sheng's subordinates.

However, Wu Ming had suspected the intelligence might not be entirely accurate, figuring the World-Exterminating Alliance couldn't possibly be propped up by Lu Sheng alone.

He had come to check it out himself in hopes of a surprise, but the reality left him deeply disappointed. Li Chunqiu's information hadn't contained a single error. The World-Exterminating Alliance was precisely as described: the highest cultivation level present was Tier 6.

Xiong Dabiao stepped forward and asked, "Brother, what brings you here?"

Xiong Dabiao wasn't overly concerned about Wu Ming's intentions. The core of the World-Exterminating Alliance was Lu Sheng; anyone wishing to act against the alliance would first have to possess the capability to face Lu Sheng's wrath. Until someone found a way to withstand that wrath, no one dared to act rashly, no matter how much they disliked the alliance. Moreover, throughout District 13, the World-Exterminating Alliance had built an impeccable reputation—who would come here to cause trouble?

Wu Ming had little interest in exchanging pleasantries with these weaklings and directly unleashed his Tier 9 aura.

"I am here to see your leader. Trouble this brother to go notify him."

Under the crushing weight of Wu Ming's aura, everyone's expressions turned sluggish. They didn't know the exact extent of Wu Ming's power, but judging by the horrifying sense of oppression, they knew crushing them would require nothing more than a flick of his finger.

Xiong Dabiao barely maintained his composure, gritting his teeth as he said, "Whatever business you have with our leader, you can tell me first. I am the deputy leader of the World-Exterminating Alliance."

Hearing Xiong Dabiao's words, Wu Ming felt even more disappointed. With someone of this strength serving as deputy leader, it was evident there was likely no one else of note in the alliance besides the leader, Lu Sheng.

Wu Ming reined in his aura, and the crowd trapped within the pressure felt their bodies instantly lighten, exhaling collective breaths of relief.

"I am here to discuss an alliance with your leader. Are you in a position to make that decision?"

Hearing this, Xiong Dabiao relaxed his guard slightly. "Matters like this can only be decided once our leader returns. I will notify him right now."

"Someone, escort this lord to the meeting room to rest."

...

Lu Sheng returned to the floating continent and sought out Xiong Dabiao to ask about the situation. The answer he received did not satisfy him.

Because Xiong Dabiao could only sense that the visitor was terrifyingly strong, he had no idea what their actual tier was.

Despite knowing nothing about the stranger's background, Lu Sheng was bold and confident in his own strength. In this world, everything ultimately revolved around fists; as long as your fist was big enough, there was nothing to fear.

Arriving at the World-Exterminating Alliance's meeting room, Wu Ming had been waiting there for some time.

The moment they met, Wu Ming released his aura, pressing down on Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng handled it with effortless ease, instantly gauging Wu Ming's strength: Tier 9.

"Isn't it a bit impolite to release your aura to suppress people upon a first meeting?" Lu Sheng sat calmly at the head of the table, his expression serene.

"Hahaha!" Wu Ming laughed heartily. "Leader Lu's strength is truly impressive. Please forgive me; I simply wanted to test whether Leader Lu's strength is truly as formidable as Zhi Tianxia claimed."

"Allow me to introduce myself: Wu Ming, commander of the Dawn Legion's Second Legion."

"Though... haven't we met somewhere before?"

Wu Ming stared curiously at Lu Sheng's face, feeling a faint sense of familiarity, yet unable to place it.

In truth, the moment Wu Ming appeared, Lu Sheng had recognized who the fellow was. However, he had no intention of exposing his identity right now; it was entirely irrelevant anyway.

"That doesn't matter. My subordinates told me you came here to discuss an alliance?"

"So, what is Commander Wu Ming's objective?"

For Lu Sheng, the significance of an alliance was negligible, but he didn't mind figuring out what Wu Ming was up to, while simultaneously probing for news regarding Wei Liang.