Neither Li Rui nor Cheng Mingyue had ever encountered such a situation, unless it was a Secret Realm battlefield. Otherwise, any Secret Realm would have a countdown to entry.

"But... the Golden Scale Northern Abyss is indeed a normal Secret Realm."

Cheng Mingyue felt the situation was a bit mind-boggling. She rolled up her sleeve to take a look, but there was still no new Secret Realm imprinted.

Neither of them cared about the nine-star difficulty. Anyway, for Li Rui, whose level far exceeded his peers, even a full ten stars would not pose any problem.

"What should we do? How about you ask the division again?" Cheng Mingyue seemed more worried than Li Rui.

After all, the imprint is the source of power for an Extraordinary. If something goes wrong, it would be very serious.

Li Rui also felt it was necessary, then he made a phone call, but this time not to the Superpower Division, but to Song Yao.

His consultant position was in the Superpower Division, but he was organized under the consultancy department, and his nominal superior was Zhuo Feilong. However, he wasn’t familiar with the minister he had met only once or twice, so he simply contacted Song Yao.

"What’s the matter?"

The old man seemed quite nervous receiving the call. After all, he didn’t expect Li Rui, who was on a mission, to contact him; supposedly, this was an emergency contact method.

"Elder Song, don’t worry, it’s about the imprint. My next Secret Realm has emerged, but there’s no countdown. I wanted to ask you, what does this mean?"

He thought, since the other person was a seasoned veteran, he might have seen or heard of similar situations, even though they weren’t mentioned in the handbook of the Secret Realm agents.

Song Yao pondered for a few seconds and replied, "This situation is indeed unusual. If you ask me why, I can only guess that it might be caused by the disappearance of the Eternal Entry effect or it might be the impact of another event."

"...So you don’t know either?"

"I don’t know."

Song Yao said, "My imprint also just changed, like yours, without a countdown. I was just pondering it when you called."

Li Rui laughed: "If everyone’s unlucky together, then I’m relieved, hahaha."

"...You didn’t have to say that out loud."

Song Yao said with a touch of irritation, "Let’s wait for the Superpower Division to notify us. You should get in touch after some time to inquire about the situation."

Li Rui’s satellite phone was one-way, only he could actively contact domestically, no one could reach him. This was generally the configuration for covert missions.

After hanging up the phone, he spread his hands at Cheng Mingyue: "Nobody knows the situation, we can only wait and see."

Cheng Mingyue said, "Then we’ll just hole up here for three days. Let’s check if there’s any change in your imprint before making a move; that would be more prudent."

"Agreed."

Li Rui said, "In the meantime, we can gather intelligence through local news."

Thus, the two of them holed up in this small town. Since it was located on the border, not a major thoroughfare, it shouldn’t attract attention from the Holy Judgment High Court. Even if unexpected situations arose, it would be easy to escape.

However, the situation changed faster than expected. In just a few days, the situation became more chaotic, with the Western Kingdom almost starting open friction with the Holy Judgment High Court, which surprised everyone.

The main issue was that, as a chaotic land’s power, the Holy Judgment High Court should not be able to match the Western Kingdom. Even in the past, any conflicts of interest often resulted in one-sided concessions.

This time, however, Simon and personnel from the Western Anomaly Bureau were caught gathering intelligence by the Holy Judgment Institute, leading to a direct confrontation.

Under normal circumstances, small frictions would be followed by negotiations. However, the Holy Judgment High Court showed no intention of initiating dialogue, and the Western Anomaly Bureau was even less inclined to lower their stance for negotiations. Consequently, several attacks occurred in cities in the southwest of the Holy Judgment High Court’s territory.

Li Rui and Cheng Mingyue naturally paid attention to this unusual disturbance. At first, the Anomaly Bureau followed their usual method, using puppet forces from chaotic areas under their control to confront the Holy Judgment High Court.

However, the response from the opposition was surprisingly strong, constantly dispatching elite forces to the scenes, completely suppressing their opponents, forcing the Anomaly Bureau to act directly, escalating the conflict.

"Actually, this proves the authenticity of Morris’s intelligence; the Holy Judgment High Court has acquired some powerful mysterious individuals, giving them the confidence,"

Li Rui said, "This battle will depend on how the Western Kingdom responds. If they can’t secure a win, I suspect the next step will be the Holy Judgment High Court making demands. They’ve always wanted to establish a tangible political entity similar to the Polar Alliance."

Historically, the other major countries did not allow them to establish such a regime, so this religious organization had always been controlling several small countries in the area from behind the scenes. But if they withstand the Western Kingdom’s offensive, that would change.

This doesn’t mean a full-scale war would be out of the question; it’s mainly about the Western Kingdom having to weigh the pros and cons, and consider the reactions of other controlled regions and enemy forces. Engaging in a prolonged war might easily end up being unfavorable.

"In short, now is an opportunity; we should get closer to the High Court’s core region amidst the chaos to gather intelligence. Given that the Institute’s experts have been dispatched to the battlefield, their internal defenses must be weak," Li Rui explained.

"But what about your imprint..."

"It hasn’t reacted till now. We can’t wait indefinitely. Even the Superpower Division doesn’t know what’s going on; should we stop working altogether?"

"Alright then, I’m just a poor little assistant, my words don’t count," Cheng Mingyue said sarcastically. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Enough nonsense, pack up quickly and get ready to set out."

The two of them first reported their plan back home, then erased traces of their stay, without checking out as they had booked the place for a month.

After leaving the hotel, Li Rui found people associated with the Snake Eye and Snake Fang brothers and bought intelligence on the core areas of the Holy Judgment High Court at market price, mainly including recent deployments and movements of the Extraordinary.

After preparing, the two left the border town and began heading toward the Holy Mountain.

But soon, Li Rui realized the complexity of the situation.

"Due to the west’s warfare, many roads are now under martial law. We must act cautiously; if we openly move towards the Holy Mountain area, we would face strict inspections."

Cheng Mingyue reported the current status, "I suggest traveling at dawn, using the Rain Summoner’s abilities to cover our tracks and trying to enter the Holy Mountain area unnoticed. Hmm? What’s wrong with you?"

She noticed that while she was speaking, Li Rui suddenly widened his eyes, as if realizing a serious issue.

"No, nothing."

"Nonsense, I know you too well, spit it out."

"...."

Realizing he couldn’t hide it, Li Rui scratched his head and smiled foolishly, "I forgot I was a Rain Summoner. I only remembered after you mentioned that ability."