"Kandeli..."
Nine Swords Venerable's voice carried a weight of emotion that surprised even himself. Kandeli was actually willing to sacrifice his freedom, or at least the appearance of it, for one of his treasures!
Of course, Kandeli didn't truly care. He could always self-destruct this clone.
The only high-level treasure present belonged to Sun Piercing Venerable. As long as Sun Piercing Venerable didn't intervene, it would be nearly impossible for Dance Spirit Venerable to prevent Kandeli from detonating his clone and escaping!
Dance Spirit Venerable beckoned Kandeli to her side with a casual wave, then tossed the crimson crystal sphere toward Nine Swords Venerable with equal nonchalance.
Nine Swords Venerable caught it, first glancing at Kandeli with visible concern before carefully assembling the crystal component onto his Cliff Palace.
A moment later,
"It didn't reach true Supreme Treasure level," Nine Swords Venerable said, shaking his head with a mixture of disappointment and satisfaction. "But it's comparable to a set of High Arcana treasures working in tandem. This definitely qualifies as a quasi-Supreme Treasure."
"That's still excellent," Han Jue said, offering genuine reassurance.
Top-level palace-type High Arcana were formidable enough that ordinary Universe Venerables couldn't penetrate their defenses. Breaking through such protection required at least the strength of a top-tier Universe Overlord, and only a Universe Master could truly destroy one.
Nine Swords Venerable's Cliff Palace now far surpassed ordinary top-tier palace treasures. As a quasi-Supreme Treasure, unless a Universe Master personally intervened, it could safely withstand attacks even from top-tier Universe Overlords!
Within this Eternal Lake Secret Realm, aside from that unknown Universe Master, only Sun Piercing Venerable's Star Belt posed any real threat to Nine Swords Venerable now.
Domain-type treasures truly were overwhelmingly powerful in terms of functionality.
For example, Han Jue himself possessed the high-level domain-type treasure called the Ten Directions Lotus Sea, which offered extremely versatile effects that worked for both offense and defense.
"Wu Ling, you..."
Sun Piercing Venerable, who had been standing silently to the side throughout the entire exchange, finally couldn't contain himself. But Dance Spirit Venerable silenced him with a single sharp glare, and he retreated a step with an irritated huff.
Dance Spirit Venerable turned her attention to Kandeli, studying him with an expression of keen interest, though what thoughts swirled behind her eyes remained unknowable.
Han Jue and Nine Swords Venerable watched this scene with mounting tension, worried that Dance Spirit Venerable might suddenly attack.
"Don't be so nervous."
Seeing their wariness, Dance Spirit Venerable let out a melodious laugh. "Come now, let's go sit on my Wu Ling Star, shall we? We can discuss what comes next."
"Han Jue, be careful," Nine Swords Venerable transmitted privately.
Han Jue gave a slight nod without speaking aloud.
The two retreated into Nine Swords Venerable's Cliff Palace and followed Dance Spirit Venerable and the others toward Wu Ling Star. With the Cliff Palace's formidable defenses, even if these two top-tier Universe Overlords suddenly turned hostile, they could withstand the initial assault.
On Wu Ling Star.
"I'll be direct with the three of you."
At Dance Spirit Venerable's enthusiastic invitation, the five of them gathered in a vast hall suffused with pink mist.
Dance Spirit Venerable no longer displayed her earlier flirtatious manner. Her expression turned serious as she said, "I want to join the Virtual Universe Company. How do I accomplish that?"
"What?"
All three members of the Virtual Universe Company were stunned speechless. Even Sun Piercing Venerable hadn't expected Dance Spirit Venerable to say something like this.
"Because you're not originally from the human race, directly joining the Virtual Universe Company is unlikely," Nine Swords Venerable explained, though clearly puzzled. "However, you could choose to join the Hongmeng, the human alliance. That path remains open to you."
"Alright, then I wish to join the Hongmeng," Dance Spirit Venerable said with a decisive nod.
Clearly, her earlier suggestion about wanting Kandeli had been nothing but a smokescreen. This was her true objective.
"That's certainly possible, but you'll need to leave the Eternal Lake Secret Realm and pass the review process first. I don't have the authority to make that decision here," Nine Swords Venerable said carefully.
The addition of a top-tier Universe Overlord would undoubtedly strengthen the Hongmeng considerably, but Nine Swords Venerable lacked the authority to directly approve someone for membership. Among those present, Han Jue actually held the highest clearance level.
Han Jue was the former leader of Earth's human civilization, the personal disciple of the Lord of Ice Peak, and a Universe Venerable in his own right. This triple identity granted him authority comparable to a top-tier Universe Overlord, second only to a Universe Master.
Even so, recruiting a top-tier Universe Overlord still required a Universe Master's personal approval and intervention.
Lone wolves like Dance Spirit Venerable were notoriously difficult to recruit!
Without ties or obligations, they wouldn't care even if hunted relentlessly. If the situation turned sour, they could betray their temporary allies and cause catastrophic damage. Such incidents had occurred before, even members of the human race itself had turned traitor!
For example... Emperor Yan.
Even Lord of Starsea had only been able to join the Hongmeng so easily because of his relationship with Han Jue.
"I accept those conditions," Dance Spirit Venerable said evenly. "At the same time, I want to invite a Universe Master from your Virtual Universe Company to come here and help kill the Universe Master residing in this Eternal Lake Secret Realm."
"Wu Ling!" Sun Piercing Venerable finally couldn't restrain himself, his gaze darting around warily.
The surrounding space appeared as calm as stagnant water, but Sun Piercing Venerable's heart churned with waves of unease.
"Don't worry," Dance Spirit Venerable said with complete composure. "I have a high-level soul-type treasure protecting my consciousness, and your Star Belt seals off the surrounding space. That being couldn't possibly overhear our conversation."
"You... aren't you allied with that Universe Master?" Nine Swords Venerable asked with undisguised curiosity.
Dance Spirit Venerable's words had deeply shocked all three of them.
They'd come here to kill a Universe Master!
Universe Masters stood at the absolute pinnacle of the Original Universe, second only to the legendary True Gods. Killing one was extraordinarily difficult, and Nine Swords Venerable had no idea how such information should even be reported.
"In truth, Sun Piercing, you should explain it to them," Dance Spirit Venerable said, waving her hand dismissively.
Sun Piercing Venerable shook his head helplessly, then spoke with complete honesty, "The Universe Master within the Eternal Lake Secret Realm... in the early days when this realm was first formed, when he was still merely a Universe Overlord, he attempted to enslave me, Blood Moon, and Starflow. Although he failed, he forcibly placed soul restrictions within our consciousnesses. Any resistance to his will directly causes our souls to collapse, killing us instantly."
"Therefore, we cannot resist him. In recent years, aside from Starflow, we haven't even been able to leave the Eternal Lake Secret Realm. It was only through the intervention of your Virtual Universe Company that we saw any hope of breaking free."
"That Universe Master is about to formally awaken. Once he does, we'll likely all be forcibly taken as soul slaves, except for Wu Ling, who joined this realm after his failed enslavement attempts."
"If the Virtual Universe Company is willing to help us eliminate him, I too am willing to join the Hongmeng and dedicate my strength to the human race."
The three nodded thoughtfully, simultaneously exchanging thoughts through private transmission.
"Is what he's saying true?" Han Jue asked.
"It should be genuine, shouldn't it? But are these two really worth making an enemy of a Universe Master?" Nine Swords Venerable questioned doubtfully.
"We still need to assess how this Universe Master treats our human race," Kandeli said gravely. "A lone Universe Master without ties or allegiances, if he's hostile toward our human race, we'll suffer tremendous losses in the long term."
If this Universe Master's attitude proved antagonistic, then naturally they had to eliminate him while the opportunity presented itself.
The Eternal Lake Secret Realm sat in the very heart of human territory!