“Thank you, Su Zhou.”

New Calendar Year 147, December 4th. It has been two days since the Third New Nantianjing was attacked by an unknown transcendent creature.

Su Zhou, who was in the Taibai Mountain tourist area, soaking in a hot spring while commenting that the local sour plum drink didn't taste authentic and lacked that certain something, received Zhou Buyi's gratitude.

Two days ago, Su Zhou, who directly impacted the sacred tree ruins, flew almost ostentatiously across half of the Tianzheng Alliance's core area. Millions of people must have seen him along the way, and the enormous spiritual power fluctuations made all the martial artists, patrol officers, and Demon Subduing Bureau special envoys along the way stand ready, their hearts filled with trepidation.

In the end, his battle with Zhou Buyi, and the release of energy in the final ten seconds, which was enough to destroy a city, made everyone in the Third New Nantianjing panic.

However, after the Director of the Demon Subduing Bureau, Zhou Buyi, stated that he had defeated the suddenly attacking demonic creature, the public expressed that their emotions were stable.

But, at the end of appeasing the public, Zhou Buyi also said that the strange demonic dragon was not alone, and that their purpose, their ecology, their origin, everything was unknown. Now, the Demon Subduing Bureau is doing its best to analyze the origin of the other party, and strive to find the main body of this threat.

"I knew it, I beat him up, and he still had to thank me!"

At this time, Su Zhou's attitude was quite annoying: "Qiming, send him the bill later!"

"Okay."

Shao Qiming, who was tasting what the local white wine tasted like, nodded—because his body was not good when he was a child, he was more willing to try this kind of stimulating drink that he couldn't drink before: "So, when someone else pays the bill, the wine actually tastes so much better?"

"Of course! You should try it more often next time."

After saying that, the two immediately laughed, and the hot spring was filled with a happy atmosphere.

Of course, what Zhou Buyi wanted to say to Su Zhou was far more than just a thank you.

"Civilization, in the final analysis, is a group of people forming a collective, and what can guide the collective is nothing more than two things, one is the goal in front of you, and the other is the threat behind you."

"The Tianzheng Alliance has become so strong that there are no enemies in this world. Its driving force has actually disappeared, especially after I stepped down from the position of Federal Chairman. The policies of the successive Federal Chairmen have not been able to last for a long time. It is common for people to leave and the tea to cool, and for people to leave and the government to rest... Since almost everyone lives and works in peace and contentment, the only problem is the degree of wealth, then when everyone can eat their fill, how should the people at the top maintain their vitality?"

"Actually, if you hadn't come, I was planning to use the power of the Ji Wang Zhi Mu (Continuing the Past Tree) to create a huge wooden demonic dragon myself, land it around Yingzhou, and then slowly crush the whole world westward... Of course, the demonic dragon's speed is very slow, so you can definitely run away, and in this process, I will mobilize all the means of the Tianzheng Alliance to attack it—of course, the result can only be useless. With this, I can take advantage of this time to launch a new round of technology development, and use this as an opportunity to gradually popularize the research of the Shenmu (Sacred Tree) power through the debris dropped by the attacked demonic dragon."

"After all, on this planet that has been changed by the Shenmu, not studying the Shenmu is really destined to stagnate... I hope you can understand."

"This guy, does he think I'm an old man who's lived over a hundred years? I'm only seventeen years and thirty-odd months old, how could I not be flexible?" While communicating with Zhou Buyi from a distance, Su Zhou couldn't help but think of the catfish effect. In a group of inactive sardines, putting in a lively catfish, while disrupting the living environment of the small fish, also activates the small fish's ability to survive. The essence of the catfish effect is to activate some inactive individuals or collectives to actively move again through some stimulating means.

The Tianzheng Alliance has been peaceful for more than a hundred years, even an ancient dynasty should have turned from prosperity to decline, but the founder of this political entity is still alive, so Zhou Buyi is still thinking of using some means to maintain the vitality of this entity.

"What else do you need me to do?"

The medium Zhou Buyi used to communicate with Su Zhou was a mirror. The mirror projection technique of this world has been very developed and common, and is often used for communication. Su Zhou was too lazy to be polite, and directly said to the other side of the mirror: "If you have something to say, say it quickly. I'm almost done with the wishing force thing, and I'll go to communicate with the Panrong Undying Tree later, and then I should be leaving."

"Nothing... Your battle with me was very real, no one can see any flaws. Now the high-level officials of Tianzheng have entered a state of emergency, and then I will continue to use the Ji Wang Zhi Mu (Continuing the Past Tree) to disguise myself and self-direct a few more attacks on the New World and the west side of the World Island."

Zhou Buyi's face looked a little tired, and some of the injuries from being beaten by Su Zhou had not fully recovered, but his eyes were bright, only slightly puzzled: "As for the Panrong Undying Tree... frankly, Su Zhou, aren't you another Shenmu's (Sacred Tree) inheritor? The conflict between the Shenmu... why would you still go to communicate with it?"

"Oops, I forgot this setting."

Secretly saying "Oops" in his heart, Su Zhou suddenly remembered what he said when he fooled the Hundred Schools back then—but on second thought, it doesn't matter if he explains it now, after all, he has proved with his actions that he is not a spy of the Demon Dynasty.

"Actually, I lied to you about this... well, it's not a lie, just some kind of misleading."

Su Zhou has always been willing to admit his mistakes, and doesn't mind telling the truth: "Although I can be said to be from the Kunlun Secret Realm, in essence, I actually come from another world that you cannot go to... In short, the Panrong Undying Tree is not as evil as you think, and the relationship between me and Him is also more difficult to explain and complex. Don't pursue it too much, anyway, it's nothing bad for humans."

Zhou Buyi is not someone who has to get to the bottom of everything. The subtext in Su Zhou's explanation also made him understand a lot of things, but even so, he was still a little puzzled: "Actually, I also know very well that the Shenmu itself is not the cause of the Demon Dynasty, the evil originates from the Demon Emperor, not the Shenmu... but, since there is no conflict between the Shenmu, and you are from 'another world', then why did you help us fight against the Demon Emperor in the first place?"

No matter how he thought about it, Su Zhou, who only had the Houtian (Acquired) Realm strength at the beginning, had no need or reason to fight against the Demon Emperor, and needed to risk his life to help them eliminate the Demon Dynasty!

"Isn't that simple? Because I'm a good person, I'm kind-hearted, easily persuaded, and full of compassion."

With Shao Qiming nodding incessantly next to him, Su Zhou said very seriously: "Therefore, I can't stand evil people acting wantonly, and good people suffering—as long as someone wants to build a society where 'good people can hold their heads high and evil people have nowhere to hide', I will help him."

"As for villains like the Demon Emperor, do you still need a reason to kill him? People don't even think about why they swat a mosquito, right?"

Zhou Buyi was silent for a moment, then slowly said: "...Is it that simple?"

Just because of this reason, he risked his life to kill the Demon Emperor?

"Otherwise what?"

The communication with Zhou Buyi came to a temporary end. He has been very busy these days. Even thanking Su Zhou is taking time out of his busy schedule.

In fact, apart from Su Zhou, who is really idle, even Shao Qiming has been very busy during this time—he obtained a communication port from Zhou Buyi, which allows him to communicate with relevant personnel in the Tianzheng Alliance's database. During this time, he has collected and organized a large part of the true qi (spiritual energy) machine technology unique to the Shenmu world. In exchange, some basic knowledge about generators and electronic equipment has also been transferred to the technical personnel of the Tianzheng Alliance by him.

"It's just that, when the time comes, how should these technologies be handed over to the Zheng (Central) Country's officials?"

Now, the biggest problem is the excuse for obtaining these technologies. Just when Shao Qiming was worried about this, Su Zhou gave a very feasible idea: "Just say you got it from the immortal god ruins, wouldn't that work? Anyway, they can't find out whether it's true or false, they can only give you a lot of rewards and points."

When in doubt, immortal god ruins. This is Su Zhou's commonly used old trick, and this time, through the exchange of the Yu Wuji Shenlei Zhenfa (Limitless Divine Lightning True Method) and the improved version of the Lan Jia (Azure Armor) technology, Su Zhou also obtained from Zhou Buyi the research data on the Shenmu and the cultivation method of the 'Ji Wang Zhi Mu (Continuing the Past Tree)' over the years.

It has to be said that Zhou Buyi is indeed a genius. In Su Zhou's view, his self-created Shenmu cultivation method, which summarizes all the cultivation essence of the entire Tianzheng Alliance, is already a Xian Shen (Immortal God)-level inheritance. When the time comes, there will be another kind of immortal god cultivation method in the Zheng Country's inheritance.

"This Ji Wang Zhi Mu (Continuing the Past Tree) does have a trace of the Panrong Undying Tree's shadow—those separated saplings are obviously derived from the Panrong Undying Tree's Undying Roots, which is a characteristic of the 'Shen Rong (Sacred Banyan)'. And the Ji Wang Zhi Mu (Continuing the Past Tree), which can gather all the trees, return to one to complete, and can also differentiate into thousands, with one person guarding the world, is Zhou Buyi's obsession with wanting to guard the entire world alone."

After reading Zhou Buyi's research data in this area, Su Zhou was quite sorry at that time: "I originally thought that Qiming, you might be able to learn this cultivation method, after all, even in Zheng Country, there is no cultivation method related to the Shenmu, but now it seems that this thing is really a very personal power. Other people don't have similar obsessions and ideas, so they can't learn it at all, and it's even very likely to cultivate spiritual schizophrenia and power differentiation."

"What does it matter? Although I'm not familiar with Zhou Buyi, I think he should have separated the pure Shenmu power from the power of the Panrong Undying Tree, and then combined it with his own power to try to transform his own Shenmu true body."

But Shao Qiming didn't mind at all. He took the data from Su Zhou and scanned the notes: "Since predecessors have researched it, then I can do the same... On the contrary, my conditions are much better than Zhou Buyi's. I have eaten two fruits of the Wisdom Tree, and I am someone who has a connection with the Shenmu itself. As long as I am willing to study it, I will definitely be able to walk my own path."

Su Zhou naturally believed in his friend's strength, so he gave the data to Shao Qiming—even if he didn't want to cultivate the Shenmu power, as a wood-based spiritual power cultivator, Zhou Buyi's cultivation notes are also quite valuable auxiliary materials, which can avoid all kinds of detours.

As for himself, the real focus is on improving his own abilities.

The battle with Zhou Buyi made Su Zhou realize his weakness, that is, if he is empty-handed, the lethality and firepower are not strong—whether in human form or true form, he actually couldn't turn Zhou Buyi, who had transformed into a Shenmu, into ashes in ten seconds, which was really a shameful failure.

And the solution to this weakness is also very simple, that is, pick up a weapon. Whether it is the Blade of Extinction or the World Tree Spear, Su Zhou is confident that he can quickly severely damage an enemy of Zhou Buyi's level when using these two pieces of equipment.

Naturally, because Zhou Buyi has many clones, Su Zhou subdivided Zhou Buyi into two units. One is the Small Zhou Buyi, which has the strength of entering the Ruler Realm for the first time, but if you count the spiritual power, it is not as much as a normal Ruler Realm, it should be about 50 million.

The other is the Standard Zhou Buyi. This level is recorded by Su Zhou as one hundred Small Zhou Buyi, which is 5 billion spiritual power. This is also the terrifying data that only the Shenmu system can achieve.

Su Zhou's current spiritual power, even after transforming into his true form, is only about 1 billion, which is 20 Small Zhou Buyi, one-fifth of Zhou Buyi. After all, he has only cultivated for a short time, and even if his talent is amazing, it is impossible for him to surpass the other party who has accumulated for a hundred years.

But how can a battle only look at spiritual power? In terms of combat power, Su Zhou is still better than the other party, especially when he picks up a weapon.

Of course, this does not prevent Su Zhou from setting a small goal, that is, to cultivate a Standard Zhou Buyi's spiritual power before going to the moon.