600 meters.
500 meters.
400 meters.
300 meters.
200 meters.
100 meters.
However, at that moment, a mountain wind blew by, and Chen Zhuoqu and Hu Jingyi quickly tucked themselves in to meet the strong wind with the smallest possible contact area.
Zhang Hubao wasn't so lucky; before he could even react, he was swept away from the group by the wind!
At such a low distance, it was too late to open the parachute, and it was also too late to readjust the direction and enter the sinkhole!
Hu Jingyi exclaimed in surprise and turned to look at Zhang Hubao, who had lost his balance.
In his final moments before falling, Zhang Hubao said over the communication channel: "Keep going, everyone. Life should be like a candle, burning from beginning to end, always shining brightly."
With a loud crash, the sound of Zhang Hubao falling to the ground mingled with the sound of Chen Zhuoqu opening her umbrella.
Then the sound stopped abruptly.
Hu Jingyi, suspended by a parachute, slowly descended to the bottom of the sinkhole. This hardworking but clumsy boy burst into tears, while Chen Zhuoqu remained calm: "The knight died in the challenge of life and death, and he died a worthy death."
As she said this, her fingernails dug into her palms.
Everyone knows that the life-or-death challenge can be deadly. Before the wingsuit flying challenge was even completed, several of the knight reserve members fell off a cliff and died. Today, there will probably be even more deaths.
But they had no way back.
Li Shutong watched this scene quietly from inside the airship. He hadn't expected that the second team would suffer casualties, which was not good news.
Death transmits fear; once someone behind sees another fall to their death, those who haven't yet taken the challenge will feel that fear.
However, there are still more than ninety reservists who will face a life-or-death challenge.
Li Shutong paused for two seconds, then turned to look at the youthful, inexperienced faces: "Who's next? Don't be afraid, this is the knight's destiny..."
Before he could finish speaking, many people stepped forward.
Hu Xiaoniu: "I'll do it!"
"I'll do it!"
"I'll do it!"
Li Shutong was somewhat taken aback; there was no fear on those young faces, only determination.
In this instant, everyone shed the childishness from their faces.
In just a moment.
Li Shutong thought some people would back down, not because he underestimated anyone, but because it's human nature.
To his surprise, none of the knights retreated!
Hu Xiaoniu said, "Zhang Hubao didn't regret anything before he died, so we won't regret anything either."
Li Shutong suddenly laughed: "Now you're starting to look like knights... I'll risk my life to find one forbidden item for each of you."
Someone laughed and said, "Master, say that again, and I'll record it for you."
"I recorded it!"
"What the hell is this, recording all the time?!"
Li Shutong sighed, "Knights are indeed all bad people. Hurry up and jump, don't waste time!"
If it weren't so dangerous, he would have kicked all of them off the ground.
The airships shuttled back and forth in the sky at extremely high speeds, and squads of reserve knights leaped down. There had never been such a crazy act in the world!
From noon until nightfall, this frenzied behavior gradually came to an end.
Everyone sat silently beside the Gaoshanping sinkhole, gathered around the campfire.
Only Chen Zhuoqu remained calmly tallying the number of participants: "62 people completed the challenge, 27 people failed but successfully opened their parachutes, and 8 people failed and died..."
Everyone lowered their heads.
Li Shutong looked the young girl over and felt that she was more resilient, because only she knew that in these heavy times, there were some things that had to be done.
He said, "You and Hu Jingyi have already survived seven life-or-death challenges. You don't need to go to the next wingsuit flying challenge. I will have an airship drop you off 120 kilometers to the south. You will need to go and meet up with your parents on your own."
But Chen Zhuoqu stubbornly said, "I want to go on my last wingsuit flight too."
Hu Jing looked up in surprise: "We don't need to go."
Chen Zhuoqu shook her head: "I want to walk this path with my senior brothers and sisters. The true meaning of the path of a knight is not to strengthen one's body, but to temper one's heart. So I want to finish this path... that is what makes a true knight."
Li Shutong laughed and said, "I used to think you were really lucky to have become knights. Now I think the Knights Organization is really lucky to have you."
Hu Jingyi said, "Then I'll go too..."
Chen Zhuoqu looked at him: "Aren't you afraid of death?"
Hu Jing grinned and said, "I'm not afraid."
Li Shutong stood up: "Then let's set off now."
Chen Zhuoqu asked curiously, "Grandmaster, it's not enough for us to do this alone. Are there others who are working as hard as we are?"
Li Shutong replied, "There are many more."
...
...
On the vast land of Northwest China, a steam train is speeding along.
It traversed the desolate Tak no-man's-land, passed through the source of the Chunlei River, and crossed mountains and land.
The long, narrow black car swayed precariously, spewing thick black smoke from its front and emitting a long, drawn-out whistle signaling its departure.
The mournful sound of the steam whistle echoed forlornly in the vast天地 (heaven and earth), with no one responding.
Zheng Yuandong stood at the back of the train, silently looking at the carriage full of gold coins, including the correct one.
Lu Yuan walked through the long carriage to Zheng Yuandong's side: "We've passed the boundary marker. In another hour, we'll arrive at the small town outside Forbidden Land No. 001. What's next?"
“Break through,” Zheng Yuandong said. “Our destination is in Forbidden Land No. 001.”
There were only 12 Kunlun members in the carriage. They had traveled from the southwest, day and night, bypassing the orc legion to get here.
Lu Yuan said, "Didn't they say that Forbidden Land 001 is very dangerous? Let's go there..."
Zheng Yuandong said, "According to the time given by Ginkgo Mountain, the Qing family's air force is probably gone by now, and the Knight Reserve should have set off as well. Don't be afraid, everyone is doing their own thing, and no one can make a mistake."
He turned and left the last carriage, no longer looking at the correct gold coin.
An hour later, the steam train rolled over the small town outside Forbidden Land 001, a place long deserted, where even the sins that had once occurred had been forgotten.
The steam train wound its way through the boundless, dense forest and finally stopped in front of the enormous ginkgo tree.
After Zheng Yuandong got out of the car, he looked at the majestic ginkgo tree that had scattered golden leaves all over the ground. He realized that plants could be so splendid.
He shouted, "Heroic spirits of the Northwest Army residing here, would you please come out and meet me? The Eastern Continent is in turmoil, and the fleets and orc legions of the Western Continent have already reached our doorstep. I need you to join the battle!"
In the empty Forbidden Land No. 001, no one answered his calls, just as it had never answered anyone for thousands of years.
Lu Yuan and the others stood helplessly under the ginkgo tree. They were unsure whether anyone would respond to them, or even whether the heroic spirits nearby could hear their calls.
Zheng Yuandong held the Black Eye of True Sight, and saw a circle of transparent ripples rolling around him: "I am the previous chairman of the board of directors of the Bystander. According to the agreement made a thousand years ago, I hope that if the media encounters difficulties, the Northwest Army cannot stand idly by!"
Lu Yuan and Ni Ergou were stunned. There was actually such an agreement?
At that moment, a voice from afar said, "Your Bystander Organization has already separated from Hope Media, so you can no longer be considered Hope Media."
All the Kunlun members searched around, but couldn't find the person who had spoken.
Zheng Yuandong said solemnly, "Li Yunshou of the Li family of the Eastern Continent, in order to resist the Blackwater City fleet, led all 31,992 members of the Li family to perish together with the Blackwater City fleet in a nuclear explosion; Parents' Meeting..."
"No need to say anything more, I know all of this. Is there anything new?" the voice asked.
Lu Yuan said, "Currently, an orc army of over 200,000 is approaching City 5 in the southwest..."
Inside the forbidden land, someone said irritably, "Stop talking nonsense. We made an agreement with Ren Xiaosu that we cannot leave Forbidden Land No. 001 and cannot interfere with the lives of humans outside the forbidden land. Otherwise, why do you think we're working so hard to push the boundaries of Forbidden Land No. 001?"
Lu Yuan and Ni Ergou looked at each other in disbelief. Could it be that the deity Ren Xiaosu and the spirits of the Northwest Army had such an agreement?
Moreover, the reason why Forbidden Land No. 001 has been expanding all these years is because these heroic spirits cannot leave Forbidden Land, so they want to use Forbidden Land to cover the whole world?!
Lu Yuan asked in horror, "Everyone is trapped in this forbidden place, is it possible for them to survive?"
"You don't need to worry about that. This forbidden land is ours. We can set whatever rules we want. We can set rules like prohibiting war, murder, theft, and trafficking of women and children, and then the world will be at peace." The voice laughed, "Hahaha, that old bastard Wang Shengzhi's desire for judicial justice will probably succeed in our hands in the end!"
Zheng Yuandong said, "I know about your agreement with Ren Xiaosu. It's recorded in the bystander archives. He was worried that you would live forever and affect the outside world. But now that the country is destroyed and the family is ruined, do you still have to abide by that agreement?"
Silence fell over the forbidden land.
Suddenly a voice shouted, "Where's Qingchen? He robbed us before, why isn't he here this time?"
Zheng Yuandong replied, "He took the same path as Ren Xiaosu and hasn't come back yet."
...
...
An airship flew across the forbidden sea.
Qing Chen sat in the Fifth Princess, looking down at the LCD screen: "This Fifth Princess is quite interesting. Not only did she leave this airship behind, but she also compiled all the recent events that have happened in the Eastern Continent for me. For someone from the Western Continent, her investment is quite substantial."
Black Spider said, "She knew she couldn't kill you, so you killed her in the end."
Qing Chen pondered for a moment: "What do you know about that puppeteer Zong Cheng now? The Fifth Princess's information shows that he controlled the Chen Group, but after 'I' took over the Chen Group's aerial fortress, he went silent again. How did I evaluate him before I lost my memory?"
Black Spider said, "Before you lost your memory, you considered him one of your greatest enemies, and he was also the murderer of your sister-in-law."
"My brother, my sister-in-law," Qing Chen said thoughtfully, "is she the person named Qing Zhun from the files?"
“Yes,” Black Spider asked, “Boss, do you remember anything?”
“The name sounds familiar, but I still can’t remember anything about him,” Qingchen said.
Black Spider felt a pang of anxiety. Now that Qing Zhun had assimilated into the world, there were fewer and fewer memories of him in this world. What if Qing Chen could no longer remember his brother?