Socially anxious people transmigrate to another world; living in seclusion is too difficult.

Despite Su Yang's best efforts in flying, he still couldn't keep up with the speed at which the black tide was spreading. With the black tide about to arrive, Su Yang began to hesitate about whether to abandon Huang Lewei or Tang Wan. If he insisted on taking both of them with him, all three of them would die here. It seemed that only by abandoning one of them could he bring a glimmer of hope.

In a moment, Su Yang had already made up his mind. Just as he was about to let go, Tang Wan's voice came: "Look! The spread seems to have stopped!"

Upon hearing this, Su Yang was startled and increased the strength of his arm, flying forward for a while longer. Only after reuniting with Lin Anlan did he dare to stop and look back. He saw that the black tide had indeed stopped spreading. Looking around, wherever the black tide passed, life was ravaged, trees withered, and creatures were melted, resembling a living hell. Even the precious Weizhou Lake was adorned with a discordant black spot.

The four landed slowly, looking at each other in disbelief at the scene before them. None of them knew what had happened, but fortunately, they had survived. At this moment, Su Yang felt ashamed of his earlier thoughts. When faced with life and death, he still couldn't be righteous and awe-inspiring.

"This is absolutely terrifying! What on earth happened?!" Lin Anlan looked at the vast forest in the distance that had been almost completely leveled. The scene was simply too horrifying and unbelievable.

Su Yang also used his mental power to ask Die'er, "Die'er, what's going on?"

"I don't know what happened either," Die'er said, also quite shocked.

Huang Lewei, however, had his own guess and said angrily, "It must be those demonic army! They must have done something in the forest that caused such a catastrophe!"

"Oh no!" Tang Wan exclaimed as if she had just remembered something, "Could the empire also be eroded?!"

Lin Anlan estimated the time and distance, and said in a serious tone, "Judging from this range, it is very likely. As for the extent of the erosion, we don't know." She looked at the group and continued, "It seems that we can no longer return the way we came. Let's continue forward. The most important thing is to get out of the Spiritfall Forest as soon as possible. If there are any further changes, we may not even have a chance to escape."

Su Yang also thought Lin Anlan's words made a lot of sense. Now that things had come to this, preserving one's own life was the most important thing, so he agreed, "You're right. Which way should we go now?"

Lin Anlan looked around to roughly determine their location, then pointed to the mountains not far away and said, "We need to cross the Lone Dragon Mountains and cross the border to the Slivia Empire." After that, the group set off again, heading towards the Slivia Empire.

Meanwhile, in Huaijing, after issuing all the orders, Chu Jingwu disguised himself and left the palace alone. He wandered through the streets and alleys of Huaijing, and finally slipped into a deserted courtyard in a secluded place. He came to the wooden door, reached out and gently touched the door. Immediately, a small flame slipped through the crack in the door.

The people inside seemed to be ready for battle, but upon seeing the small flame, they quickly straightened their clothes, then slowly stepped forward to open the door and let Chu Jingwu in.

Upon entering the house, two people dressed in red cloaks stood inside. As soon as they saw Chu Jingwu, they immediately knelt down and said, "The Extreme Fire Academy welcomes Your Majesty!"

"Please rise, elders. I came in a hurry this time. To make a long story short, there has been an anomaly in the Spiritfall Forest, which is probably related to a supreme treasure. I need to use the treasure now, otherwise the empire will be in great danger." Chu Jingwu explained his purpose briefly in a very fast tone.

The two men were very puzzled and asked, "Your Majesty, this happened so suddenly. Should we notify the other elders to come and discuss this together?"

“I left a signal on the way here, and the other elders should be on their way now.” As soon as Chu Jingwu finished speaking, several more people appeared in the courtyard outside the door. Upon hearing the noise, Chu Jingwu immediately opened the door and waved to them.

The newcomers, like the two inside, wore red cloaks and bowed upon entering the room. However, before they could speak, Chu Jingwu interrupted them, saying, "Forget the formalities. We need to get instructions urgently. Get up and discuss this."

After they stood up, Chu Jingwu immediately said, "A horde of ferocious beasts rushed out of the Lingluo Forest, followed by an abnormal elemental energy. Wherever that energy went, the grass and trees withered, and the birds and beasts all died. I suspect that there is a supreme treasure in the Lingluo Forest, and this anomaly is caused by the treasure leaving its place. At present, the empire is at war. In order to stop this energy and recover the lost territory, I need to call upon the Heavenly Fortune Treasure."

After hearing his words, the six elders looked at each other in silence. At this moment, one of them took off his cloak, revealing his true face. Upon closer inspection, this person was none other than Tong Hexuan, the dean of Qinwang Academy.

Tong Hexuan frowned and first said something that seemed unrelated to the matter at hand: "Your Majesty, even if the situation is critical, you must not lose your composure. What Your Majesty did and said just now was ultimately a loss of composure."

"Elder Tong, I was too hasty. However, the current situation does not allow me to remain calm. The heavy burden of the legacy left by the Chu family is suffocating me. Elders, what do you think of my proposal?"

Tong Hexuan shook his head helplessly, then said to the other two, "Lu Motong and Xu Demao, you two, share your opinions."

Upon hearing Tong Hexuan call his name, Lu Motong spoke first: "I have heard a little about the war. I think His Majesty's decision to take this opportunity to completely drive out the invading enemy is wise. However, whether we need to use the Imperial Treasures to deal with the ferocious beasts and the abnormal energy needs to be discussed further."

"Elder Lu is right, Your Majesty. May I ask where that abnormal energy has spread to now? And will calling upon the Imperial Treasure truly be effective? If it is ineffective, not only will it be unable to resist the erosion, but it will also expose the Imperial Treasure of my Heavenly Fortune Empire, which will inevitably attract other countries to fight for it in the future. I'm afraid the losses will outweigh the gains." Xu Demao gave his analysis.

"I really don't know where this has spread to," Chu Jingwu said somewhat somberly.

"Your Majesty," Xu Demao continued, "what I mean is, since it's still unclear where the spread has reached, why not first mobilize our forces to deal with the imminent horde of ferocious beasts before making any further plans? At the very least, we can't allow the treasure to appear so easily."

"Your Majesty, Elder Xu," another elder, Fan Zheng, said, "I received news that the force that eroded Luowen County showed no signs of stopping and was still spreading rapidly. I believe that even if it stops in the future, no one can predict when or where it will erode. If we let it go unchecked, at least half of the Tianyun Empire's territory will be reduced to nothing. At that time, will we still have the strength to recover to our peak?"

A debate ensued, but Tong Hexuan intervened, saying, "Enough! Such disrespect before the Emperor is utterly unbecoming!" He then turned to the other two who had remained silent and asked, "Xi'er, Ruo'er, what do you think?"