Drum Tower Conference Hall——

There were not many people sitting at the large conference table, but there were about ten people including Han Ji, Du Xiao, Zhu Meng, the gray-white man, the demon man... and so on.

"Although the ancient king has awakened, he doesn't seem to have the intention of destroying the ancient capital. According to reports from his subordinates, no trace of any undead was found within a radius of hundreds of kilometers around the ancient capital, either during the day or at night." said the gray man.

The gray-clothed man cast a questioning look at Han Ji: "President, should we choose to retreat or start rebuilding?"

When considering the issue of reconstruction, the first thing to face is the threat of the kingdom of the dead.

Compared with the past, the current situation is different. In the land of the dead in the past, it might be rare to see the awakening of a monarch-level undead once in a hundred years.

Most commander-level and monarch-level undead are sleeping underground. Unless a large number of living people break into their tombs, they may not wake up for a hundred or a thousand years.

However, the situation is completely different now. Half a month ago, the catastrophe that occurred in the ancient capital has almost awakened the entire kingdom of the dead.

In addition to the well-known Eight Dead Kings, there are many other monarch-level undead on this land.

With the current strength of the ancient capital, it would be impossible to defend it once the kingdom of the dead attacks again. What’s worse is that there is an ancient king whose strength far exceeds that of a monarch.

“The Ancient King…his strength definitely exceeds the monarch level, but it’s not clear whether he is at the forbidden spell level or the emperor level.” Zhu Meng analyzed in a deep voice.

If it is at the forbidden spell level, it means he is still a human being, a magician, and it will be relatively easy to deal with.

But what if the ancient king also turned into an undead, and became an emperor-level undead... then the problem would become extremely tricky.

"I have applied to the Supreme Magic Association for the stationing of forbidden spell wizards, and the association has approved this request. The ancient capital will not be abandoned, whether it was half a month ago or now." President Han Ji announced solemnly.

Upon learning that a forbidden spell wizard would be stationed in the ancient capital, everyone stopped discussing the issue. It was obvious that the ancient capital would not be abandoned.

Boom boom boom!
There was a knock on the door of the conference hall, and then Xu Mu pushed the door open and walked in.

"You're all here." Xu Mu said as he walked to the conference table and sat down. "That's great. There's something I want to discuss with you."

"Oh, our Sleeping Beauty is finally awake. Do you know that you slept for half a month? We were so worried that we almost invited all the healing wizards in the ancient capital to treat you." The demon man teased.

"Half a month already... Although I knew I had been sleeping for a long time, I didn't expect it to be so long." Xu Mu scratched his head. It seemed that every time he returned from a place of disaster, he would fall into a long sleep.

But this should be the last time. After all, the wolf girl is no longer alive, and he has completely acquired the power of chaos. Now he is the real victim.

Besides cultivation, it is not enough...

"You mean the power you displayed before?" said President Han Ji.

"Regarding this, we have already thought of a countermeasure for you. We will keep your matter confidential for the time being and make it public when the time is right. At that time, we will claim that this is a power left over from the Totem Era, and that using it will require a huge price."

"Since you have already arranged it, then I have no problem." Xu Mu nodded.

"Oh, by the way, where is Saran? Could she have run away?" Xu Mu suddenly remembered that Saran was still in the ancient capital. Could she have escaped?

"Don't underestimate us. Putting aside Saran's conspiracy, she is only a super-class wizard and is under restrictions. How could we let her escape so easily?" said the gray man.

"At present, she is still in our custody. When the chief judge of the Supreme Court arrives, she will be escorted to the imperial capital and placed under the strictest supervision."

"I heard that there is an organization called the Holy Court abroad. As for this organization... never mind, I don't want to talk much about it. What I want to ask is whether it is possible for the Court of Inquiry to hand over Saran to this organization for supervision." Xu Mu continued to ask.

"The Holy Court, I know that organization. They have caused some minor troubles to our ancient capital before."

"The Inquisition is different from the Magic Association. It is an organization belonging to our country. Once it falls into the hands of the Inquisition, it will be almost impossible to supervise Saran." The gray man explained.

"Okay, then I have no other questions." Xu Mu said, picked up the apple on the table and started to eat it in big bites.

"You are so dedicated. You are a student, but why do you seem to care about the whereabouts of Saran more than we do?" said the demon man.

"Indeed, if I were from Bo City, I would only be more concerned about Saran's whereabouts." The demon man nodded in agreement.

"I don't have any more questions. You guys can chat slowly. I'm going to catch up on some sleep."

After Xu Mu finished speaking, he finished the apple in his hand, threw the apple core into the trash can, clapped his hands, and then left the conference room.

Take a nap first, and then practice after you wake up.

……

……

There is still some time before the National Team's travel begins. During this time, Xu Mu has been staying in the ancient capital, immersed in cultivation.

With the help of the rich resources provided by Han Ji and others, he invested unprecedented enthusiasm and effort, devoting himself to cultivation!
I have to say, being a hero does have many benefits. With the support of an entire city behind you, you not only have no worries about food and drink, but most importantly, there are extremely abundant magic resources!
The lightning magic has been cultivated to the advanced third level, and the space magic has also reached the advanced second level. Only the water magic is still at the intermediate level, which is really embarrassing.

Before traveling, you must break through the water magic and reach a high level!

One hundred million...failure?
Two hundred million...failure?
Three hundred million...success!
The demon man looked at Xu Mu coming out of seclusion with a refreshed look on his face. The corners of his mouth twitched so much that they almost touched the ground. He thought to himself, damn, it took me three hundred million to break through to the high level, and how can you be so refreshed!
"Huh?" Xu Mu's puzzled eyes fell on the demon man, "Why are you still here?"

"The ancient capital is in need of help. The boss, Councillor Zhu Meng and I have to stay and lend a hand. Do you think I am willing to stay here and don't want to go back to the Magic City?" the demon man replied unhappily.

"Oh, oh, so that's how it is. With my current level of cultivation, I can definitely fight ten people at once in the National Government Competition and become an invincible existence." Xu Mu touched his chin with interest.

In this training in the national government, if any ignorant guy dared to provoke him, he would just throw a deadly thunder ray at him, and if the opponent could survive, he would sincerely praise him as "awesome".

"We should not take it lightly. The National Government Competition has gathered the most promising and powerful young talents from around the world. These contestants all have their own characteristics and are by no means ordinary people."

"Although you are very powerful now... forget it, just don't do anything wrong." The demon man paused for a moment, realizing that he didn't seem to have any better suggestions for Xu Mu. "President Han Ji is really generous. He actually gave you three Star River Veins directly. You are directly using the resources to improve your cultivation." The demon man looked at Xu Mu with a regretful expression, as if to say that this was simply a waste of resources.

"There's no way. After all, the water system has a low presence, and I've never had time to practice it specifically." Xu Mu shrugged helplessly.

"By the way, is there anyone selling water soul seeds in the ancient capital?"

“This is not the prosperous Demon City or the Imperial Capital. How could there be soul seeds for sale? Even if there were before, they would have been absorbed by others in the disaster.” The demon man shook his head.

"Well, I know someone who possesses a top-grade water soul seed. Unfortunately, my cultivation is not high enough, otherwise I could just go and get it." Xu Mu sighed, revealing a hint of regret in his words.

After the catastrophe in the ancient capital ended, Wu Ku actually left. It was a pity that he did not come to rescue Saran.

After all, he was extremely eager to possess the destructive power of the water system.

After talking with the demon man for a while, Xu Mu set off for the airport and took a flight back to the Magic City.

The stay in the ancient capital has been long enough, it’s time to return to the Magic City... Wait, he seems to have missed something?
Forget it, it doesn't matter.

……

……

As soon as he got off the plane, Xu Mu rushed to Qingtian Hunting House without stopping. Pushing open the door of the hunting house, he looked around, and did not see the little girl he had not seen for a long time. What caught his eye was only an old man in his sixties, smoking leisurely.

"You're back." Old Man Bao's gaze fell calmly on Xu Mu.

"Why do I feel like the Magic City is a bit deserted?" Xu Mu asked as he walked straight to the refrigerator and took out snacks that were reserved for someone.

"Sarang, whom you captured in the ancient capital, is now being escorted to the imperial capital by the chief judge of the Supreme Court. In order to ensure that everything is foolproof, the Supreme Court has mobilized a large number of manpower to participate in the escort." Old Man Bao took a deep puff of his cigarette and explained slowly.

"Just a Saran requires the joint action of two cities. Is this guy really that important?" Xu Mu asked with doubt. He never thought that a Saran would require such a huge force to deal with.

"You know, our understanding of the Black Church is still quite limited. Above the cardinal is a mysterious pope."

"If the Pope takes action personally...Saran may indeed escape." Old Man Bao explained.

"Okay." Xu Mu did not continue to ask. It was obvious that the official's understanding of the Black Church was indeed quite limited. The White Pope was just a super-class wizard. How could he have enough strength to rescue Saran?

"You should rest for a few days first, and then report to the Imperial Capital Academy. The training of the National Team will begin soon." said Old Man Bao.

"There's no need to rush. It won't be too late for me to go on the day of departure."

"it's up to you."

After a few days of crazy travel in the Magic City and several surrounding cities, Xu Mu reluctantly bid farewell to the Magic City and boarded a flight to the Imperial Capital after repeated urging from a new president of the Forbidden City.

Arriving in the imperial capital again, the air quality is still bad. The sky is covered with a layer of gray-brown haze, and the blue sky and white clouds are still out of reach.

The gathering place was set at the competition hall of the Imperial Capital Academy, which was the same hall where the Imperial Capital Academy and the Magic Capital Academy had previously held an exchange match.

After arriving at the designated gathering point, Xu Mu immediately saw five older mages with serious faces standing at the entrance of the competition venue. They should be the mentors responsible for the training of the National Government Team, but he didn't know how strong they were.

Xu Mu was the last person to arrive. When he stepped into the meeting point, Mo Fan had already arrived and was chatting and laughing with Zhao Manyan, seemingly sharing their recent situation and interesting stories.

In the team, there were a few faces that were familiar to Xu Mu, such as Mu Ningxue, Nan Jue, Ai Jiangtu and others. They might have met before, or just passed by each other.

"Everyone is here." Instructor Feng Li, the middle-aged man with a tiger head pattern on his forehead, slowly approached. His eyes, like an eagle's, quickly swept over the fourteen team members.

"Fourteen people, how can it be so many?" Xu Mu touched his chin, feeling somewhat confused. He remembered that in the original book, the number of people in the team did not seem to be so large.

The total number of the team is 14, of which 10 are regular members and there are 4 substitutes. The four substitutes are Mo Fan, Zhao Manyan, Mu Ningxue, and a guy named Zu Jiming.

"Your goal is to participate in the World Academy Competition, namely the Venice Water City National Academy Competition."

"The purpose of this training in various countries is not only for you to accumulate practical experience and increase your magical knowledge, but more importantly, to obtain the necessary admission ticket to enter the Venice Water City competition. Nearly two hundred countries around the world will participate in this competition, but not all countries are eligible to participate." Feng Li emphasized this point firmly and forcefully.

Each instructor pointed out to them the things that needed attention and asked them to take notes carefully.

The departure time and personnel composition of the team were not announced in any farewell ceremony, and this was the case for every country.

The contestants will not be officially presented to the world until the opening of the Venice Water City Competition.

The first training mission of the National Government team was quite unique. It required the freezing of all team members' bank cards and prohibited anyone from using public transportation such as airplanes and ships.

Under the above restrictions, the members of the National Government team must find their own way to reach their destination - the island country.

……

Walking on the beach in an unknown location, a group of fourteen people moved forward aimlessly.

"Mo Fan, have you played that game 5?" Xu Mu suddenly turned to Mo Fan and asked curiously.

"That game 5? Of course I have played it, but that was in high school. Later, I devoted all my time to practicing magic. As I mastered more and more magic, I no longer had time to play games." Mo Fan replied.

"Why did you suddenly think of asking this?"

"Look what that is?" Xu Mu asked, pointing at a cruise ship in the distance.

"That's a cruise ship, what's wrong... Wait, you're not planning to take over that cruise ship, are you?!" Mo Fan's eyes suddenly widened, his face full of disbelief. (End of this chapter)