The Shen Yan announcement echoed throughout the entire star system, meaning that no matter if it was students undergoing examinations, mentors monitoring them, divine patrons executing missions, or wanderers drifting in the asteroid belt… everyone received this notification.
At that very moment, the map of the East Sea Dragon Palace had just been loaded.
The surrounding seawater suddenly rippled, the coral reefs’ colors growing even more vivid and radiant.
In the distance, the outline of the Dragon Palace halls shimmered faintly—resplendent with gold and jade, precious light flowing like a river.
Su Fu and Teacher Zhuge hid amidst the coral thickets, and simultaneously saw the shock reflected in each other’s eyes.
“Shen Yan is upgrading?” Su Fu was stunned.
“It can still upgrade?”
At that moment, a semi-transparent system upgrade countdown appeared in the upper right corner of her vision: [02:59:47]
This was clearly a reminder for all users to log off quickly and await the upgrade.
Su Fu hadn’t expected this to happen so suddenly.
She turned to Teacher Zhuge: “Should we continue then? If it’s upgrading, we probably won’t be able to keep supporting the exam sheets, right?”
Teacher Zhuge pondered for a moment, then slowly said, “If it’s just treasure hunting, two hours should be enough. You can control the seawater now, can’t you? Sense if there’s any treasure down here.”
Su Fu thought it over and nodded—after all, they had come this far.
She immediately activated her Divine Ability— [“Marine: Four Seas Tidal Birth”]!
In an instant, she felt as if she had become one with the entire sea.
Every drop of water, every current, every hidden undertow—all extended from her perception.
She could feel the subtle ripple caused by a fish swimming far away, detect temperature changes around a distant underwater volcano, even catch faint traces left by birds flying kilometers overhead.
The entire sea region spread out around her like a sphere, with her at the center.
If she wished, she could stir the waters, raise tides—it was as if her consciousness had become the ocean itself.
With such vast perception, finding treasure was only a matter of time.
At the same time, she multitasked, asking Teacher Zhuge, “Teacher, why haven’t I ever heard that Shen Yan can upgrade?”
After all, Shen Yan was an SSS-level Divine Artifact forged by the combined power of twelve top-tier deities, a vital force in humanity’s defense against anomalies.
And yet, it still needed to upgrade?
But on second thought, it made sense.
Even gods must keep pace with the times and evolve to face ever more complex anomalies.
Teacher Zhuge’s expression grew grave, “Generally speaking, each Shen Yan upgrade signals major upheaval to come. The last upgrade was a hundred years ago. After that, the types of anomalies increased dramatically, and many previously unseen new anomalies emerged.”
He continued, “Moreover, powerful combined anomaly phenomena appeared, triggering waves of disasters. At that time, the third and fourth star rings suffered severe blows. The turbulent period lasted a long while before gradually calming down—it’s only been a few decades since.”
Su Fu sucked in a breath, “That serious?”
Teacher Zhuge nodded, “Each upgrade is to adapt to evolving anomalies. This time, the announcement mentioned ‘unknown-level anomaly activities increasing’ and a ‘civilization crisis index rising.’ This is likely the direct cause for the upgrade.”
Su Fu’s heart sank.
“Does that mean those anomalies have evolved again? Or is some catastrophic disaster about to strike? Either way, it’s bad news.”
She felt like this was a major game version update—map expansions, more anomalies, escalating threats and conflicts.
How to put it—she sensed the ominous winds of a coming storm.
Teacher Zhuge’s gaze was complicated as he looked far ahead.
“We’ll only know after the upgrade,” he replied softly, his voice filtered and ethereal beneath the sea.
Su Fu sensed something was off.
Teacher Zhuge’s attitude was subtle, not what she expected.
But regardless, Shen Yan upgrading meant the divine powers behind it were upgrading too.
If even the gods took it seriously, it clearly meant big changes were coming.
Suddenly, Su Fu thought of something crucial—Shen Yan’s full name was “Divine Wisdom Fate Projection Device.”
That meant its essence was to simulate and predict the future, to forecast potential crises.
Its so-called superintelligence was just a trivial auxiliary function powered by immense computing power.
So the question was—
Su Fu asked Teacher Zhuge, “What does this update codename ‘Twilight Nexus’ mean?”
She felt there was something subtle about it. What did ‘the nexus between darkness and faint light’ mean?
Could it be humanity had reached some kind of critical juncture?
And the last line in the announcement, ‘awaiting the dawn’s arrival’—
Dawn?
It reminded her of the Council of Dawn at headquarters.
Dawn represented the coming of light.
A chill ran down her spine.
Teacher Zhuge lowered his gaze as a school of fish swam overhead, casting mottled shadows.
He said, “Each Shen Yan update codename represents a prophecy for the era to come. For example, during the Arrival Tide period, Shen Yan’s update was codenamed ‘Chronicles of Strange Tales.’”
He paused and said, “In that era, anomaly appearances increased exponentially. Humanity first realized we were facing not isolated monsters, but a full-scale invasion. In the Path of Balance version, the alliance between gods and humans was formally established. The Divine Academy system formed, and we found a balance to coexist with anomalies. Civilization entered a relatively stable phase.”
“In the Phenomenon-Origin version, people discovered the core law of anomaly operation—replication, deprivation, replacement of divine authority. From then on, we could predict certain anomaly behavior patterns. In the Divine Enlightenment Fusion version, human-god connections deepened unprecedentedly, acquiring divine skills became more stable and reliable, and for the first time, someone attained Divine Ability, sharing divine authority.”
Su Fu grew more amazed by the second.
Each update, each codename, marked a major turning point in human civilization—either fighting or compromising with anomalies.
They were milestones in the history of human civilization.
“So… Twilight Nexus…” Su Fu murmured, “means we are about to stand at the boundary between faint light and darkness? The faint light is the last hope, and the nexus… is the most dangerous place. Which side will humanity ultimately face?”
‘Deeper darkness or faint light?’ Thinking of this, a shiver ran through her scalp.
This was a question not to be pondered lightly.
She hadn’t realized Shen Yan’s version updates were prophecies of the coming era.
No wonder it was named so impressively—she’d felt that awe since day one.
Suddenly, Su Fu seemed to recall something.
“Wait, Teacher, if ‘Twilight Nexus’ is the next version’s name, what’s the current version called?”
A few translucent jellyfish drifted by in the coral thicket, their bodies glowing faintly blue like stars floating in the darkness.
“The current version…” Teacher Zhuge whispered, “The Wheel of Fate.”
Su Fu’s heart skipped a beat and her mind suddenly exploded.
Fate?
Had she come here because of fate?
No, probably overthinking it.
But Shen Yan actually gave such a mystical prediction?
Most people would interpret this codename as the Wheel of Fate starting to turn.
Once the gears engage, the entire machine begins to operate irreversibly.
“So what’s the explanation for this version?” she pressed.
Teacher Zhuge smiled, “Su Fu, explanations for a version don’t come immediately. Sometimes, even the next era can’t explain them.”
“Irresistible.”
He said calmly, “That’s left for future generations to judge. We who are confined to our era are often limited by it, unable to glimpse the full trajectory and final outcome of change. Like sailors lost in fog, only seeing the waves before them, unable to perceive the state of the entire ocean. Only observers looking back from the future timeline can see clearly where our voyage is truly headed.”
Su Fu thought about it—he was right.
Still, the name “Twilight Nexus” seemed ambiguous—neither total darkness nor full light—mysterious and elusive.
But prophecy was never easy.
Especially such wide-ranging, long-term predictions—just a few words hinting at the future was already incredibly powerful.
Just then, a clear image suddenly flashed through her perception.
Su Fu looked up sharply, eyes brightening.
“Teacher, I found it!”
Treasure—found it.
Excited, she pointed toward a remote annex at the edge of the Dragon Palace, looking much more dilapidated compared to the main hall.
The two quickly swam over, avoiding patrolling shrimp soldiers and crab generals, arriving at the destination.
This place was far from the main hall, almost without patrols.
The door was half-open, revealing a dim space inside.
Pushing the door open, Su Fu saw the walls embedded with many faintly glowing luminous pearls, but the light was dim and about to go out.
The deeper they went, the stronger a dense aura became.
Su Fu held her breath until reaching the very end, where she saw a door.
She exchanged a glance with Teacher Zhuge, slowed down, and carefully approached the door.
Through the crack, Su Fu saw a huge figure coiled in the center.
‘A Jiao!’
A nearly ten-meter-long blue Jiao dragon lay coiled in the annex, its scales hard and cold, its breathing heavy and slow, each exhale causing the surrounding seawater to tremble.
Its head was slightly bowed, eyes tightly closed, seemingly asleep.
Su Fu estimated it was about an A-rank anomaly.
Just then, the Jiao suddenly stirred, twisting its body and revealing the treasure’s gleam beneath it: a gigantic pearl.
Around the pearl lay piles of gold, silver, and jewels, stacked like a small mountain, sparkling under the luminous pearls’ light—enchanting and captivating.
Su Fu’s eyes lit up, heart racing.
The treasure was right in front of them, but unfortunately guarded by the Evil Flood Dragon.
Teacher Zhuge nodded and signaled her to try using Divine Ability and divine form.
The Jiao and Su Fu were both A-rank, perfect for her to test her upgraded powers.
At that moment, the Evil Flood Dragon coiled atop the pearl suddenly moved!
Its massive body twisted swiftly, head raised sharply, twin green vertical pupils glowing in the dark, staring fixedly at them.
The next second, the Evil Flood Dragon opened its blood-red maw, slapping its thick tail on the ground heavily, then lunged fiercely toward them.
“Damn, this Evil Flood Dragon’s pretty alert!” Su Fu reacted quickly, flashing backward and shouting, “Great Sage, assist me!”
In an instant, golden light condensed, and the Great Sage’s divine form appeared behind her.
“Ruyi Jingu Bang!!”
Su Fu grasped the Golden Cudgel, which rapidly expanded into a towering jade pillar.
She brought it down heavily on the Evil Flood Dragon’s head.
“Let’s see—whose head is harder, yours or my Golden Cudgel!”
The Evil Flood Dragon was clearly intelligent; seeing the cudgel coming down, it dodged swiftly.
Its head veered sharply to the side, but its massive body was too bulky to avoid.
“Boom!”
The cudgel smashed heavily into the Evil Flood Dragon, echoing like a boulder crashing into the deep sea.
“Crack!”
The crisp sound of bones breaking rang out underwater.