Zong Shen was in the habit of wearing the Communication Crystal on the battle armor on his chest.

It was already past eleven at night, who could be sending this message at this hour?

He thought about Luna and Wenresa escorting everyone back to the living area.

Zong Shen's heart tightened immediately, fearing they might have encountered some mishap.

He hurriedly pulled open his coat and took out the Communication Crystal from his pocket.

The number "8" appeared on the Communication Crystal.

This was Jiang Yi's number, why was she contacting him so suddenly at night?

At this hour, if it wasn't something significant, Jiang Yi definitely wouldn't be reaching out to him.

Also, Zong Shen hadn't noticed any support requests from his legion, so it likely wasn't due to the Frosty Snow Beast.

After a brief moment of contemplation, harboring his doubts, he chose to connect the crystal.

"Hello, what's the matter?"

Zong Shen asked directly.

"Lord Zong, someone asked me to help contact you..."

Jiang Yi's voice came from the other end of the Communication Crystal, and this reason for the contact left Zong Shen somewhat speechless.

His mood had not yet completely uplifted, and remnants of a dispiriting feeling left him lacking in patience.

However, Jiang Yi's performance during this period was impeccable, diligent without fault.

Out of trust, he restrained himself, suppressing the urge to complain, and asked further in puzzlement.

"Who is it?"

Jiang Yi paused briefly before hurriedly replying.

"It's Chen Rui, the one from the Territory Level Ranking."

"I don't know what method he used to pinpoint our area."

"And then he managed to find out about our legion and my information."

"He sent a private message to me through my listings in the Market."

"I don't usually block private messages, so I saw his message just now."

"Chen Rui claims to have something very important to discuss with you."

"He asks you to respond to his private message."

Jiang Yi quickly explained the cause and effect, giving the reason for her unprompted late-night contact.

Chen Rui was widely known among the continent's lords as a renowned high-level player.

He had long occupied the forefront of the Territory Level Ranking.

Before Zong Shen's sudden rise, he even held the top spot for nearly a week.

Currently, as the first and only open leaderboard,

the Territory Level Ranking had extensive visibility.

Almost all lords had checked it at some point.

When undertaking territory expansion tasks, surrounding monsters would attack, with larger expansions covering a wider range.

So the territory level often directly reflected one's strength to some extent.

With every level of territory expansion, there were certain risks and pressures to bear.

However, monsters like Zong Shen who rose to level eight in one go during the Challenge Period were exceptions not to be considered.

Anyone would know he had once taken down the regional challenge Boss, so jumping eight levels at once was quite normal for such a prodigy.

But Chen Rui was different; he remained much more low-key than Zong Shen.

Yet his territory level continued to improve steadily.

It's been many days since Zong Shen's rush to the top, and Chen Rui raised his territory level to lv7 just yesterday morning, just a step behind Zong Shen!

Such a stance made all lords sense that he was a hidden powerhouse.

In reality, it was true; he was indeed an unquestionable powerhouse.

In terms of mentality from two lifetimes, territory development progress, or even personal combat strength among lords, he was a brilliant presence.

Although still somewhat behind compared to Zong Shen, among ordinary lords, he was already at the top of the pyramid.

Therefore, upon receiving Chen Rui's private message and verifying his identity, Jiang Yi took his request seriously.

Because Chen Rui made it sound quite urgent, Jiang Yi worried about delaying Zong Shen's business and quickly contacted him via Communication Crystal.

Hearing Jiang Yi's explanation, Zong Shen instinctively frowned.

"I understand; I'll check the private message now."

He replied softly, and they exchanged pleasantries before hanging up the crystal.

Zong Shen placed the Communication Crystal on the long table in front of him.

His expression growing more puzzled by the minute.

"Chen Rui?"

"It seems I've never interacted with him before..."

"Since arriving, there's been no intersection at all."

He thought carefully and realized that aside from contending on the leaderboard, they had absolutely no interaction or contact.

And even in the leaderboard struggle, the opponent remained composed and didn't blindly compete when he quickly reached lv8 territory level.

Maintaining a steady pace, he gradually raised his level.

The entire timeline was so peaceful that Zong Shen almost forgot about the leaderboard.

With no results after all his pondering, Zong Shen could only open the Private Message Channel to contact the person directly.

Utilizing the channel search function, Zong Shen found Chen Rui's private message amidst the vast array of blocked conversations.

[Chen Rui1994613]

Opened the chat channel, and lines of information began to refresh.

Examining the dates, Zong Shen was surprised to discover that the other person had been trying to contact him a week ago.

The opponent's wording was very polite, bordering on courteous.

Even without any previous exchange and being strangers, he addressed Zong Shen with honorifics.