Ghost Domain

Zhou Yunxuan's body trembled faintly under the impact of this force, but he clenched his teeth and resisted with all his might.

At that moment, east of the Demon Suppressing Division, Qin Bo was still battling the anomalies.

Suddenly, he sensed the battle to the west. That berserk power swept across the entire city.

"Good grief, why does this feeling resemble the fluctuations from when the City Lord struck earlier?! Could a Resentful-level anomaly have appeared?"

He then leaped onto a rooftop and looked toward the west.

There, Baleful Intent and blood-red vital energy stood in fierce opposition.

He had already learned earlier.

City Lord Zhou Yunxuan's strength was at the Anomaly Control Realm!

That was three major realms above him. He was currently at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm.

The next step was the Blood Condensation Realm, followed by the Blood Burst Realm.

Only then came the Anomaly Control Realm!

Qin Bo wrestled inwardly with whether he should go and get a piece of the action.

The Anomaly Control Realm corresponded to Resentful-level anomalies. If he could cut one down,

it might grant him over a hundred years of lifespan!

In the end, after pondering it again and again, Qin Bo still jumped down from the rooftop and continued guarding his two alleys.

"I can't beat it. I absolutely can't beat it. I might not even be able to scratch its defenses."

Qin Bo threw himself back into battle with the anomalies. The butcher's knife in his hand flashed up and down, and every swing came with a system notification.

Although killing these ordinary anomalies did not grant much additional lifespan, drops of water wore through stone. It still made Qin Bo's aura increasingly steady.

Before long, the two alleys he was guarding were completely free of anomalies.

He had killed every last one of them.

"Gone?!"

"System, how much lifespan do I have?"

[Remaining lifespan: 138 years]

"I only gained a few decades of lifespan?! It's not enough. It's nowhere near enough."

"If I reach a higher realm in the future, the lifespan needed to deduce martial arts techniques will only grow."

"No, I can't stay here. I'm going to reinforce the other areas."

Qin Bo seized the opportunity and shot toward the other alleys like a bolt of lightning.

At that moment, the other martial artists were locked in fierce combat with the anomalies. Shouts of battle and screams of agony mingled together.

Without the slightest hesitation, Qin Bo charged straight into the area where anomalies were most densely packed.

The butcher's knife in his hand carried a fierce blade wind as it hacked viciously toward the anomalies.

[ Ding, killed a Resentful-level anomaly, obtained one year of lifespan ]

[ Ding, killed a Resentful-level aberrant beast, obtained one year of lifespan ]

The system notifications began ringing out frequently once more.

Qin Bo's arrival instantly eased the pressure on the martial artists in the area.

His blade work was sharp and ruthless. Every slash landed precisely on an anomaly's vital point, and in no time, the anomalies began dropping one after another.

"This brother is incredible!"

A young martial artist could not help praising him. He had already been struggling, but Qin Bo's arrival reignited his fighting spirit.

"Put your backs into it, everyone! We can't let this brother do all the work for nothing!"

Another martial artist shouted. Spurred on by Qin Bo, everyone's morale surged, and they fought the anomalies with ever greater ferocity.

But who would have thought that before they could even join in,

the battle on Qin Bo's side had already ended.

"Uh... Is this brother a newcomer?! How come I've never seen him before?"

"I haven't seen him either. This is way too fierce!!"

"Who knows? He's a new face. Could he be a newcomer who hasn't taken the assessment yet?!"

Before they could finish speaking,

Qin Bo had already sheathed his knife and stood there, surveying his surroundings.

Seeing that the anomalies in the area had been completely cleared out, he did not linger for even a moment. He once again dashed toward the next place where anomalies were densely gathered.

"Hey, brother, what's your name?!"

When Qin Bo left without even turning his head, everyone began asking who he was!

But Qin Bo did not turn around to answer them.

What a joke. Chattering for two more sentences means collecting two fewer anomalies.

Isn't that just robbing me blind and taking my life?

His figure weaved through the streets. Wherever he passed, anomalies fell one after another, while system notifications rang in his mind like a string of firecrackers.

However, just as Qin Bo was slaughtering anomalies everywhere,

a change occurred on the battlefield where Zhou Yunxuan was.

The Fox Demon suddenly exploded apart.

In an instant, white mist spread throughout the entire battlefield, enveloping City Lord Zhou inside it.

A special method of a Resentful-level anomaly—it could form a special Ghost Domain.

Within the white mist, Zhou Yunxuan immediately felt a powerful pressure bearing down on him.

The surrounding space seemed twisted, and even the circulation of his vital energy became difficult.

"Hmph, Fox Demon. Do you think this can trap me?"

Zhou Yunxuan snorted coldly and tried to find a flaw in the Ghost Domain.

He circulated all the spiritual power in his body. The golden sword in his hand shimmered as he warily observed his surroundings.

Suddenly, an eerie laugh came from within the white mist.

"City Lord Zhou, within my Ghost Domain, you won't escape even if you grow wings!"

The Fox Demon's voice came from every direction, making it impossible to identify its location.

Zhou Yunxuan had just been about to respond when he discovered that his voice seemed to be swallowed by the white mist and could not get out.

Suddenly, the scene throughout the entire Ghost Domain began to shift constantly.

The scene changed.

Zhou Yunxuan felt that he had arrived at the entrance of the Demon Suppressing Division.

Before him, a group of young men and women were battling anomalies.

In the next moment, Zhou Yunxuan's eyes narrowed.

He saw a familiar face.

Zhou Ruixue!

"Ruixue?!"

Zhou Yunxuan was badly startled and charged toward Zhou Ruixue without thinking.

However, as he drew near, he discovered that the surrounding scene had grown increasingly strange.

The young men and women fighting the anomalies moved with the stiff, mechanical motions of puppets, while Zhou Ruixue's eyes were hollow and lifeless.

"This is... an illusion!"

Zhou Yunxuan halted abruptly, secretly warning himself.

He knew that this was certainly an illusion created by the Fox Demon within the Ghost Domain, meant to disrupt his mind and drive him into a desperate situation.

"City Lord Zhou, look. Your daughter is about to die. Aren't you going to hurry and save her?"

The Fox Demon's voice rang out again, filled with beguiling temptation.

The scene suddenly changed.

Inside it, Zhou Ruixue could no longer withstand the anomalies' attacks.

An anomaly closed in on her at once.

"Dad, save me!"

"Dad, I don't want to die! Hurry and save me!"

Within the illusion, an anomaly bit down on Zhou Ruixue, while a group of anomalies around her pounced forward and began devouring her body.

Zhou Yunxuan's body trembled faintly, but he still held fast to his original resolve and remained unmoved.

"It's useless, City Lord Zhou. The illusions in this Ghost Domain can evoke the deepest fear and concern in your heart. You can't escape!"

The Fox Demon began laughing wildly.

Zhou Yunxuan drew a deep breath. He thought of the people of Yunzhou City and remembered his responsibility as its City Lord.

"For the sake of Yunzhou City, I absolutely cannot fall here!"

He opened his eyes, and a trace of resolve flashed within them.

Zhou Yunxuan concentrated all his vital energy in his eyes, trying to see through the illusion and find the flaw in the Ghost Domain.

Under the enhancement of his vital energy, fine cracks began appearing in the illusion before him.

Through the cracks, he seemed to glimpse a sliver of the real scene.

"Found it!"