Li Rui slipped the silver-shimmering Celestial Thunder Ring onto his left wrist, and a new prompt immediately appeared in the task bar.
[Long-term exploration task update: Dismantled Spell.]
[Task Objective: Collect five Thunder Skills of different attributes: Celestial Thunder 1/1, Earth Thunder 1/1, Dragon Thunder 1/1, Divine Thunder 1/1, Community Thunder 1/1.]
[Task complete, unlocking mythical skill.]
[Transformation: True Form of Thunder God.]
Li Rui stared at the skill effects word by word, his eyes widening with every glance.
"It's secure."
He withdrew his attention and walked towards the hidden building, glancing around and finding that the flames of war hadn't reached this place. So, he took out a specially made communicator, ready to contact Ling Zixiao to confirm the current situation.
As he checked the time, he realized three days had passed unexpectedly.
Either Fengdu's dark mist or the Upper Realm; the time in these two places differed.
Li Rui was a bit worried, uncertain about the mission's progress, and he dialed the route to the Western Kingdom command headquarters.
.....
The command against the Holy Judgment High Court was split into two fronts, located in the Western Kingdom and Dragon Country.
Currently, Ling Zixiao remained in the west, but the situation wasn't favorable.
The Prophet assassination plan had failed; only three out of the more than twenty dispatched returned alive, while the others were all missing, including Li Rui.
Until the worst happened, these elite Prophets realized they'd been deceived all along.
The Prophet wasn't unable to calculate those related to the Upper Realm; he merely pretended not to.
This is actually terrifying; it implies this unknown entity can not only predict anyone's movements but also recognize who possesses items from the Upper Realm.
He intentionally made mistakes on some matters, leading people in the real world to deduce erroneous conclusions.
The trap he set was so perfect that even analysts couldn't spot anything amiss in battle reports from various locations.
Initially, people thought the plan to assassinate the Prophet was thorough; even if sacrificing some was prepared for, at least they could successfully eliminate the symbiotic man merged with the flesh.
But reality was brutally harsh; only half of the forecasted 48 hours had passed, and failure was nearly certain.
Ling Zixiao sat in the corner of the conference room, repeatedly fiddling with gold sand, conducting some calculations.
Jilei Eng crossed his arms across his chest, looking down at him: "What exactly are you calculating?"
"Variables?"
"What?"
"Something's off. I feel the outcome isn't ultimately determined yet."
"Oh, really?"
Jilei Eng didn't feel at ease here, "Is there any chance of a comeback now? Now, even the highest advisors have lost three people, including your Mr. Song."
He glanced backward and lowered his voice: "The voices of the surrender faction are gaining the upper hand, so if you have any trump cards, act quickly!"
"Stop arguing."
Ling Zixiao said impatiently, "We don't have a trump card, we just have variables."
Jilei Eng couldn't understand what variables meant; to him, it meant Dragon Country still had secret weapons, only hidden and unused.
Currently, people in the command remain primarily pro-war; they can't allow Zuo Qiutian and the Polar Alliance's plans to succeed.
This view was considered self-evident in the past, but as the situation worsened, some pro-war members began wavering, while the surrender faction naturally gained the upper hand.
For the highest decision-making level, they can't consider their emotions; they can only coldly judge how to gain the most benefits based on the situation or minimize losses.
The harder things get, the quicker transitions occur between the two.
Jilei Eng and Ling Zixiao are just Prophets; they can only assist in decision-making, not decide, and as top-tier strength suffers heavy losses, they gradually become marginalized.
After all, making prophecies requires someone to execute them, now reinforcing the apparent defenses already exhausts all efforts, leaving no room for fancy tricks.
Beep beep beep beep!
The device suddenly emitted an urgent sound, signaling a top-level emergency contact.
Everyone in the conference room paused, because the machine receiving the contact belonged to the group involved in the Prophet assassination plan, but they should all already be controlled by the Holy Judgment High Court or be dead.
Nonetheless, the operator still connected the line.
"Hello, I am code YA18 Li Rui."
Ling Zixiao jumped up with a clatter, rushing to the equipment's access zone: "Variable, this is a variable, Li Rui, where are you!"
"My coordinates show X132.Y112, within the range of the Hualai city area. I suddenly entered the Secret Realm upon moving here."
The reactions from the people in the command room varied, though the general sentiment was positive, albeit limited in enthusiasm.
Given the situation, gaining an additional force is undoubtedly best, but if it's only one person, not much change can be brought.
Ling Zixiao said: "Now, the mission has failed; I'll send you the latest battlefield situation. Return immediately."
"Failed? What about the others?" Li Rui didn't respond directly, just asked.
Ling Zixiao explained the others' entry into the Holy Judgment High Court and the loss of contact.
Li Rui said: "No, I need to continue the mission."
"There's no mission anymore; the operation is canceled. Want to go alone?"
A Western Kingdom general said, "Please return immediately."
"They haven't all died, have they? I'm going to save people."
Li Rui said, "I've reached level 70 in the Secret Realm, collected all Thunder Skills, and unlocked mythical skill. I'm going to rescue those trapped in the Holy Judgment High Court."
Some discussion arose in the command room.
Everyone present were of the highest sequence of commanders, and the two countries had long exchanged intelligence; they knew what the Five Thunders Skill was and the corresponding mythical skill.
It's not that the world lacks Extraordinary individuals who obtained mythical equipment skills or talents, but usually, other mythical items relate to the Upper Realm, though the prerequisites are unrelated.
In other words, only the myth is an Upper Realm item, while the foundational legend is mortal.
However, Li Rui's Five Thunder Skills themselves are Upper Realm items, using them to unlock a myth has never been seen before.
Everyone understood the rarity of this, and immediately formed two opinions.
One opinion was that Li Rui could attempt to rescue controlled elite personnel with this unexpected, substantial increase, compensating for overall strength.
Another opinion was to preserve this hopeful seed, returning to safety first before planning further.
Li Rui could hear the debate transmitted from the communicator. He tutted: "No time to discuss now; being a minute late might mean more deaths. I need to depart now, please approve."
The generals, directors, those figures, remained silent, uncertain.
At this moment, Ling Zixiao stepped forward, aiming at the equipment's microphone and said: "Approved!"