Ultimately, the matter with White Bones Realm was just an accident.
If Daoist White Bones was uninjured, then those seven Star Rulers would never have the guts to invade White Bones Realm with such great fanfare.
To put it bluntly, they ran here hoping to strike it rich after learning about Daoist White Bones' possible injury.
As long as the seven of them advanced and retreated as a group, escaping wouldn't be much of a problem. Daoist White Bones didn't have the ability to trap them here.
But who knew a variable like Gu Nan would pop up? As a result, Rending Mountain Venerable was separated from the group.
He originally believed that he could deal with Gu Nan swiftly, but he didn't expect that not only could he not kill the other party, but eventually, he couldn't even make a quick getaway.
After Rending Mountain Venerable was rescued, Gu Nan's saint clone stayed in White Bones Realm to recuperate, while Wu Gui went to make preparations for the upcoming long journey.
Of course traveling to the World of Gods couldn't be done impulsively. Advanced preparations were very necessary.
Gu Nan naturally knew that place like the back of his hand. In contrast, Wu Gui needed to investigate properly. She couldn't just run in blind.
On the other hand, crossing the dimensional wall between the Myriad Heavens Universe and the World of Gods was also a difficult task.
The dimensional wall was one of the plane cluster's self-defense mechanisms. Breaking through the wall wasn't impossible, but they more or less had to prepare a little.
Gu Nan's true body was still inside the Divine Kingdom, directing the progress of the apostles' dungeon farming while also trying to get Lan Si and the others to team up to attempt Crescent Moon World's dungeon.
The result was unsurprising. It didn't matter whether they headed straight for the final boss or followed the regular route by clearing the earlier phases; clearing the dungeon seemed completely hopeless.
The dungeon's earlier missions didn't actually play a very important role. They simply gave players advanced notice of the final boss's ability and strength through a variety of hints so that players could prepare beforehand.
But the problem was that, due to their lack of strength, the apostles led by Lan Si couldn't bring out the full power of Tier 4 even if they possessed Tier 4 power inside the dungeon.
Not even Gu Nan and two Star Ruler existences could do much against the Silver-Robed Ancestor, much less Lan Si and the others.
Let alone trapping the Silver-Robed Ancestor, Lan Si refused to even touch the dungeon again after experiencing several effortless party wipes at the hands of the Silver-Robed Ancestor.
This was purely a matter of strength, so Gu Nan didn't insist on making things difficult for them. He just had the apostles continue farming Splendid World.
On the other hand, Gu Nan needed to consider the requirements for his advancement to Tier 7.
The requirements on the Divine Kingdom's side were nothing new. The basic requirement was to upgrade six structures to Level 1 in addition to building the first advanced "Barracks" and conquering a dungeon plane.
As for Evil Value, he needed to reach 5,000 to advance, which was double Gu Nan's current Evil Value of 2,500.
But this condition just looked scary, because after completing the First Round, both points and Evil Value experienced some explosive inflation.
A full 2,500 Evil Value gap may seem unreachable, but in reality, it was probably just a matter of one or two Godheads.
And a veteran player like Gu Nan knew exactly how much Evil Value each god's Godhead was worth, guaranteeing that nothing would be wasted.
The reason he set the Undead Kingdom as his target this time was precisely to achieve that goal in one battle and get enough Evil Value in one fell swoop.
After all, in his present environment, it was necessary to cross the dimensional wall in order to slay gods, which wasn't an easy task.
...
Three months later, in the frontline plane Heavenly Province World.
Heavenly Province World was one of several fairly well-known frontline planes. Unlike the sparse population of other frontline planes, Heavenly Province World was a fairly lively world, enjoying a level of prosperity that even surpassed some astral worlds not on the frontlines.
"Welcome to Heavenly Province World." A young girl stood in front of Gu Nan with a humble and respectful expression. "Please do not fly here, Your Excellency."
"Hm?" Gu Nan raised a brow.
Flying bans were usually only found in large planes on the level of Zi Luo Heaven. To think that a mere frontline plane like Heavenly Province World would actually enact such a law.
The young girl looked slightly apprehensive. This special rule of Heavenly Province World had already cost many staff members' lives.
And if the other party was a considerably powerful cultivator, then it was impossible for Heavenly Province World's backing to trouble that cultivator over this issue, so those staff members would've died in vain.
Gu Nan looked down from the air. It was an extremely prosperous modern city, a bit like the "steel jungle" of planes with advanced technology, but with more metaphysics mixed in.
In the end, Heavenly Province World was still a frontline plane, so it was very small. It was only the size of one city; all of its prosperity was concentrated in this area.
"Take me to this place." Gu Nan nodded and landed on the ground, handing an address to the young girl.
The young girl sighed in relief, as if rejoicing the fact that she'd stumbled upon a reasonable cultivator, and hurriedly answered, "Yes, My Lord. Please follow me… By the way, you can call me Little Yu."
Gu Nan didn't have much of a reaction to this; not even his expression changed. The young girl who called herself Little Yu also didn't mind. She would often encounter this kind of powerful figure.
The address he gave Little Yu was sent over by Wu Gui after some investigation—it was a company that specialized in human smuggling.
The Myriad Heavens Universe had a very strict procedure in place for those who wanted to cross the dimensional wall. People weren't allowed to enter the World of Gods privately and had to go through a vetting process.
This was a decree jointly issued by the Thirteen Heavens. No one dared to violate it.
The reason was very simple—it was purely to prevent traitors. The World of Gods, with faith at its core, was simply too comfortable for Star Rulers. A considerable number of cultivators were happy to head over there to develop.
Although power was important, the worship of tens of thousands of people prostrating themselves was also tempting, since it was most able to display a Star Ruler's status. Not everyone could resist the temptation of having fanatical followers.
However, as long as there was a decree, people who violated the decree in order to seek benefits would undoubtedly exist as well. This was the case with the human smuggling company Gu Nan was currently heading to.
They were able to help cultivators enter the World of Gods, but the fees they charged were also quite exorbitant.
"My Lord, we've reached your destination," the voice of the young girl, Little Yu, rang out. She quickly retreated after bringing Gu Nan to a skyscraper over a hundred stories tall.
After Gu Nan walked in, the receptionists were three young and beautiful women wearing neat uniforms.
"Hello, may I ask…"
"Twenty-second floor, I have an appointment," Gu Nan didn't wait for the receptionist to finish before directly interrupting her.
But the woman at the front desk looked down and then showed a regretful look. "I'm very sorry, Your Excellency. His Excellency Yan Weng on the twenty-second floor instructed us that your appointment has been rescheduled to tomorrow, so we'll have to trouble you to please return tomorrow."
Gu Nan frowned slightly but didn't say anything. He just turned around and walked towards the elevator next to them.
"Your Excellency, please stop. You're not allowed to head up without an appointment… Security, security!" The girl at the front desk shouted loudly, but Gu Nan didn't deign to even turn his head back.
Meanwhile, in a quiet room on the twenty-second floor, the old man called Yan Weng stood up with a smile and shook hands with a young girl in a blood-colored robe.