From the start, Gu Nan never paid much attention to Zhuangxuan's explanation.
After all, in addition to his initial analysis, he also brought up a cumbersome list of subsequent causes, and players just happened to have very little patience.
Being able to understand the NPC's general attitude was good enough for players; the rest of the story dialogue was skippable.
Gu Nan didn't have any objection to Zhuangxuan's suggestion to suspend Divine Kingdom Wars. In any case, he was unlikely to accomplish anything when Fang Chaoyun was so set on thwarting him, and it would be a waste of divine servants for nothing.
To resume Divine Kingdom Wars again, he'd at least have to wait until he advanced to Tier 8 and beat up Fang Chaoyun and the others.
But before that, Duan Wenqi was also someone who had to be dealt with. If he wasn't taught a lesson, wouldn't any random person dare to scheme Gu Nan from behind the scenes in the future?
"Senior Gu Nan." At some point, Zhuangxuan had walked up to Gu Nan, blocking his path and meeting his gaze without flinching.
Even if Gu Nan had a vicious reputation outside, it didn't seem to be enough to make Zhuangxuan fearful.
This young man actually acted with great delicacy.
Earlier, when he wanted to persuade Gu Nan to visit Clear Profundity Realm, he didn't use the more respectful address of "Senior", as he wouldn't have been able to get Gu Nan to take him seriously if he had taken too low a stance.
However, at this meeting, he placed himself in a lower status as a junior, not wanting to make Gu Nan feel like he was isolating him.
Zhuangxuan's dull demeanor didn't make him look like a crafty person by any stretch of the imagination. However, his actions seemed to have a very clear goal, which was doing as much as possible to unite as many forces as possible.
In terms of being the Heaven-God Alliance's head manager, Zhuangxuan had almost done as much as humanly possible. There was nothing to nitpick about.
"Gu Nan." Xue Ren paused briefly before speaking as well, "The big picture is more important."
However, even faced with these two's dissuasion, Gu Nan continued forward without looking back, walking straight past Zhuangxuan and casually waving a hand behind him.
Only when Gu Nan's figure had completely disappeared did Immortal Empress Taisheng helplessly shake her head. "His entire journey has been too smooth-sailing. He hardly suffered any setbacks, so it's inevitable that he's like this."
"Lu Wen is standing behind Duan Wenqi. This is not a good target to use to regain his confidence." Xue Ren similarly shook his head.
Gu Nan's miraculous feats had obvious problems in the eyes of many. Advancing too fast inevitably led to an unstable foundation, and this world had never been one where whoever went the fastest would go the furthest.
In particular, it was all too common for geniuses who had a smooth life up until then to fall flat on their faces because of a single setback.
Ever since Gu Nan's debut, he had been the one gaining things from almost every battle—even when he faced Song Fei, Gu Nan had similarly achieved his goal.
But such a person practically suffered total defeat this time, losing the vast majority of his army in one fell swoop, so it was only natural for his mentality to become unstable.
From the perspective of Immortal Empress Taisheng and Xue Ren, they could actually understand Gu Nan's feelings.
Similarly, Zhuangxuan could also understand those feelings, but that didn't prevent him from making the best choice.
"Since Senior Gu Nan is adamant about this, let him do what he wants. Everyone else can just act according to the plan… The other party only made one move so far, so we cannot fall into disarray on our own."
After saying this, he made the most official salute and turned to leave. The mobilization of the Heaven-God Alliance's resources was not something that could be clarified in one or two sentences, and it still required Zhuangxuan to plan the specifics.
"This brat is a little interesting." After Zhuangxuan left, the first person to make a comment was actually Mad Fist, who was standing at the side.
Immortal Empress Taisheng also remarked, "He and Lingyang are the same type of people… although they don't look like it."
Daoist Lingyang had a gentle personality, treated people with humility and courtesy, and had keen insight regarding worldly affairs, making him an excellent candidate to manage the Heaven-God Alliance.
But this disciple he taught probably only had half of Lingyang's courtesy and character.
However, no matter how it looked on the outside, at least there wasn't much of a problem in terms of ability. Even Immortal Empress Taisheng was satisfied with him and temporarily dismissed her thoughts of competing for that position.
For someone of her status, while fighting for some authority was certainly useful, it wasn't to the point where that position was an absolute necessity.
Xue Ren revealed a faint smile. Even though Gu Nan's reaction was a bit unexpected, Zhuangxuan was still able to establish his position, so this trip wasn't in vain.
...
Savage Beasts World.
The transfer of the Astral Gate members went quite smoothly. They were sent to Clockwork Heaven without many issues, which allowed Duan Wenqi to finally feel slightly consoled.
Before Savage Beasts World ascends to a Realm Level plane, these personnel can only stay in Clockwork Heaven for the time being.
With years of experience in managing Astral Gate, Duan Wenqi's ability in actually running a plane was no inferior to some top-tier Star Rulers.
If he hadn't tried to reach the heavens in one fell swoop with Astral Gate and Zi Luo Heaven, perhaps Savage Beasts World would've advanced to Realm Level a long time ago or even qualified to break through to a Heaven Level plane.
Now, with Duan Wenqi's center of focus shifting back, Savage Beasts World instantly entered a phase of rapid development.
By relying on a time flow far faster than that of the outside world, Savage Beasts World underwent rapid changes day by day, and in a very short time, it went from savage wilderness to a semi-technological era.
During this, of course the influx of a large number of Astral Gate members was also indispensable. After all, Astral Gate was a top-tier organization in the Myriad Heavens, so its technology was equally top notch.
Inside the current Savage Beasts World, structures inscribed with strange runes could already be seen, sitting on top of a foundation surrounded by the same runes.
Duan Wenqi calmly presided over all of this, and the blue-clothed youth Fang Tun was standing in front of him, reporting on the mission progress one by one, just as he had done in Astral Gate.
"Continue to support the human race and teach them the method to capture and rear the beast races." Duan Wenqi said as such, "The human race's civilization potential isn't something that beasts can compare to."
"Yes," Fang Tun respectfully answered and was about to continue his report when he saw Duan Wenqi's expression change.
"My Lord?"
Duan Wenqi frowned slightly, as if he was trying to sense something with his eyes closed, but in the end, he shook his head. "It's nothing, continue."
And so Fang Tun resumed his report. Actually, what Duan Wenqi sensed just now was a vague feeling that someone had entered Savage Beasts World, but then the feeling disappeared without a trace.
His first thought was that Gu Nan had come, but then he dismissed the thought.
This was because, by definition, other Star Rulers were unable to hide their presence inside someone else's astral world.
It had nothing to do with the strength or characteristic of the foreign Star Ruler's power. As long as the enemy Star Ruler was inside this environment and still interacted with the outside world, they would inevitably expose themselves.
Perhaps they might be able to hide themselves from other people, but they definitely couldn't conceal themselves from the owner of the world itself, who was one with their astral world.
Duan Wenqi knew this very well, so he ultimately chose to trust himself and his senses.
However, there was one situation that was an exception—that was when the one who entered the astral world wasn't a Star Ruler.
On the other side of Savage Beasts World, a silver-robed figure slowly manifested, wrapped in a layer of shadow that concealed all of his energy signature.