The Guardian Spirit calmly shook her head, "Because they captured me at my weakest moment, my current situation is not particularly good."

"Dao Lao! Master Gu! You guys—sigh!" Judge Yan heard the news and immediately exclaimed in anxiety. However, his words were cut short by his overwhelming feelings of helplessness and shame.

Judge Yan was so conflicted because the conflict between Hao Yun and the Spiritual Realm had now become public. In this situation, there was no reason for Judge Yan to urge Hao Yun and the others to hurry up and assist the Guardian Spirit against Elina. Moreover, apart from the Guardian Spirit, no one else present knew how to enter the Realm of Balance. Even if Judge Yan was eager to protect his lord, all he could do was wait anxiously on the sidelines.

Another reason Judge Yan didn't want to rush Hao Yun and the others to confront Elina was because he knew how powerful Elina had become. From the perspective of an old friend, Judge Yan naturally didn't want them to undertake this mission. At the same time, Judge Yan was also very worried. Once Hao Yun and the others successfully dealt with Elina, would the Guardian Spirit turn against them unexpectedly? Even if the Guardian Spirit did allow them to leave in the end, where would they go from there?

As an old friend of many years, Dao Lao immediately understood Judge Yan's thoughts from his conflicted expression. Therefore, Dao Lao stepped forward and tapped Judge Yan's shoulder with his fist, comforting him, "Old Yan, rest assured! Since we've promised to assist the Guardian Spirit against Elina, we won't go back on our word! Besides, this isn't our first encounter with Elina, so we'll naturally make adequate preparations and not act recklessly."

In reality, Dao Lao was only speaking lightly on the surface, while deep down, he was secretly lamenting. Intuition developed over many years of battlefield experience told him that this mission was likely a dangerous journey with no return. Even if they managed to defeat Elina, Dao Lao couldn't guarantee that the Guardian Spirit wouldn't turn on them, taking advantage of the situation. However, at this point, worrying excessively was pointless. With the arrow already on the string, Dao Lao could only turn all his worries into a firm belief and first focus on dealing with Elina before considering their next steps.

After bidding farewell to Judge Yan and Master Gu, Dao Lao once again resumed his usual carefree and mischievous old man appearance, to avoid causing too much sadness for his two old friends after what might be their final farewell. Dao Lao laughed heartily, "Haha! Gentlemen, since the situation is urgent now and for the safety of the Spiritual Realm, I have to take the first step! Let's settle with Elina first, and we'll come back to reunite with you two later!"

"Judge Yan, Master Gu, I'm taking my leave as well! I will fulfill my mission to the best of my ability, ensuring that the upper and lower systems are safe from Elina's destruction!" Hao Yun also politely bid farewell to Judge Yan and Master Gu.

Judge Yan and Master Gu both stepped forward to pat Hao Yun on the shoulders, bidding him a warm farewell. At this moment, the two old men looked at Hao Yun as if they were seeing their grown-up child about to venture out into the world alone, their eyes filled with hidden worries and affection, as well as encouragement and anticipation.

Of course, Judge Yan and Master Gu also showed regret towards Hao Yun. Since Hao Yun became the envoy of the Underworld City, he had made several military achievements in the thirteenth district of the Underworld Spirit Realm. However, the two old men had not had the opportunity to give Hao Yun more praise or better training to help him grow into a pillar of the Underworld City. Now, they had to let him participate in a dangerous operation that far exceeded his capabilities once again.

Thinking of this, Judge Yan and Master Gu couldn't help but press their palms on Hao Yun's shoulders again. They seemed to be apologizing to Hao Yun in this way, indicating that the current situation was beyond their control. If possible, they also hoped that Hao Yun would not participate in such a dangerous mission. At the same time, the two old men also seemed to indicate that no matter what happened next, they and the entire thirteenth district of the Underworld Spirit Realm would stand behind Hao Yun as his strongest supporters.

Perhaps everyone realized what the separation meant at this moment, making the atmosphere instantly become very heavy. So, Hao Yun hurriedly pretended to laugh lightly, "Hey! Why are you all suddenly making the atmosphere so sad? Judge Yan, Master Gu, this isn't the first time we've encountered troublesome matters! You two should have confidence in our abilities! Acting so gloomy, it's as if we're going to the guillotine later, how unlucky!"

Judge Yan heard this and quickly cheered up, "That's right! Old Hao said it right! We're just going to deal with Elina, and she's causing trouble in the Spiritual Realm's territory. There's really no need for us to be so nervous! Haha! I say, Old Hao, you can rest assured and charge forward boldly! I believe that fate will protect you, this favored child of the gods, and ensure your victorious return!"

However, as soon as Judge Yan spoke, he immediately felt embarrassed. Receive the favor of the gods? Hao Yun and the others had clearly already separated from the Spiritual Realm, completely losing the protection of divine power. So, what favor from the gods could they possibly receive? This statement was simply too foolish!

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Seeing Judge Yan's embarrassed expression, Hao Yun continued to pretend to be relaxed and waved his hand, saying, "Oh well! What favor from the gods or not? People are doing things, and the heavens are watching! I believe that as long as our actions are worthy of our conscience, fate will naturally favor us with good luck!"

Then, with a tone of regret, Hao Yun said to Master Gu, "Ah, Master Gu! My Earth world has now become such a mess. I don't know when you'll have a chance to meet your two idol sisters! Otherwise, while you can still freely enter and exit the Earth world, hurry up and bring back my computer! At that time, I helped you store a lot of videos of Sister Hua Ba and Sister Nazha on the computer! You can take them back to enjoy slowly and keep a memento!"

"Hey! At this moment, I really appreciate that you're still worrying about me!" Master Gu scratched his head nervously upon hearing this, responding with a strange expression. Afterward, he awkwardly chuckled a few times towards Haoyun. It seemed Master Gu wanted to say more but didn't know how to proceed.

"Master Gu, what's wrong? If you need anything from me, just say it." Haoyun quickly asked when he noticed. Hearing this, Judge Yan beside him couldn't help but grunt in a mocking tone, seemingly urging Master Gu to respond promptly.

Master Gu hesitated again, rearranged his thoughts, and then leaned closer to Haoyun, whispering, "Um... Oh, dear, my friend, it's like this. Actually, I managed to persuade Judge Yan long ago to grant me two positions for ascension to the ranks of Saints when Earth was in crisis. If anything were to happen to the two sisters during the crisis on Earth, I would immediately assist their souls in ascending to Saints and help them obtain permanent residency proof in the City of Spirits. So... hehehe, I'm actually not worried at all about not seeing the two beautiful sisters. Because I've already arranged everything for them! Oh! It's really a sin! I've even started looking forward to any mishap befalling them! Oh! What a sin, truly!"

"A sin? This is more than a sin, you... you're just... isn't this a bit sick? Master Gu, I never thought you could be such a depraved person! You... you're quite a playboy! I mean, if they really become Saints, you wouldn't think of using your influence to do something bad to them, would you?" Haoyun sarcastically remarked, his tone filled with extreme disdain as he thought of some very sordid scenarios.

"Hohoho! Throughout my life, I've been upright and of good character, how could I do such unethical things to weak women?! I just don't want to see a great loss of talent. I hope the beautiful scenery of Earth can be preserved forever, for the world to remember!" Master Gu chuckled loudly. But to Haoyun's ears, the slight tremor in Master Gu's laughter was enough to prove that he was feeling a bit guilty at this moment.

Shaking his head, Haoyun didn't want to engage with Master Gu anymore, who was preparing to indulge in fantasies of a hero saving a beauty. So he turned to the Guardian Spirit and asked, "Excuse me, Guardian Spirit, if we are prepared, how do we enter the Realm of Balance now?"

"Please be patient, Haoyun." The Guardian Spirit replied simply and said no more.

Meanwhile, Haoyun saw colorful lights radiating from the Guardian Spirit's face becoming brighter, coalescing into a colorful energy vortex several meters high not far in front of the Guardian Spirit. The swirling column of colorful energy moved slowly and irregularly in a clockwise direction in a small area, as if searching for something.

Just as Haoyun was somewhat fascinated by this column of colorful vortex, the Guardian Spirit suddenly spoke, "Right. Since I now have to focus all my energy on dealing with Elina, I can only suspend the purification task in Timeline N38 of Earth until the threat from Elina is removed. So, if you three can find a way to deal with Elina, please act quickly. Otherwise, by the time I recover from Elina's surprise attack and deal with her, everything will be irreversible."

"Despicable!" Haoyun cursed inwardly. Because the Balance Ring's intention was clearly to link dealing with Elina and saving the Earth world together, and to place all the pressure on Haoyun and his two companions.

However, considering that the Balance Ring's current condition was so bad due to its efforts to re-optimize the internal structure of the divine world, which had weakened during that divine war, causing it to lack the ability to simultaneously maintain the stability of the divine world, deal with Elina and the attack of the Dark Energy Storm, and operate the purification task. So, besides cursing the Balance Ring in his heart for its cunning, Haoyun could only accept this fact.

In addition, the Balance Ring's move was equivalent to voluntarily admitting that her current situation was very bad. This meant that the Balance Ring would find it difficult to guarantee that she would not encounter accidents during Elina's attack. And once the Balance Ring encountered an accident, it would inevitably affect the stability of the divine world, triggering an unknown disaster in the divine world, and endangering more innocent lives.

Although Haoyun and his team hoped that the Balance Ring would be punished for its misdeeds, in reality, they didn't want to see more innocent lives suffer undeservedly. So, while cursing in their hearts, they could only reluctantly accept the reality and prepare to bear the heavy responsibility of dealing with Elina in the upcoming battle.

"Now that we have no way back, Jia is very dissatisfied," Jia urged impatiently, "Okay! In any case, we will do our best to deal with Elina! You'd better find a way to send us over now! Time is running out!"

The Guardian Spirit did not hurry to respond but, after receiving an accurate response from Haoyun's three people, turned back to concentrate on watching the colorful energy vortex standing in front of it. Haoyun and the others also remained silent, focusing all their attention on the colorful energy vortex. Because at this moment, this vortex had stopped moving irregularly and had begun to accelerate its rotation in place. The huge suction force generated by the high-speed rotation of the colorful energy vortex soon swept all the airflow in the Judgment Hall into the vortex, causing the vortex system to rapidly expand until it formed a colorful tornado towering in the middle of the Judgment Hall.

After this towering colorful tornado formed in the middle of the Judgment Hall, the Guardian Spirit calmly said, "Because I can only briefly open the door to the Realm of Balance in an instant due to my very limited energy right now. So, please, my lords, rush into the vortex as soon as you hear my instructions. If you miss this opportunity, everything may be too late! Good luck to you three."