Black Star Gate and the Self-Salvation Society

"Hint: You have discovered Black Celestial Master Zhang Daoyun (LV102/Elite/Fallen Qi Refiner...)"

"There's actually someone here?"

Above the city wall.

Roger cast a powerful Stealth Spell on himself.

Then it floated lightly towards the square near the South Gate.

Even without this Stealth Spell.

Roger's movements were also very inconspicuous.

Because at this moment, the ruins of Dragon City are almost completely covered with dense Black Lotus.

These Black Lotus bloomed quietly.

They were very close to each other.

If viewed from the sky...

It was as if I could see extremely dense black fish scales.

Compared to the lotus flowers Roger saw in the southern part of Dragon City.

The Black Lotus here are three to five times larger! Roger noticed.

At regular intervals.

There will be an exceptionally large super lotus flower.

At the heart of the flower, there is often a cold-blooded Daoist soldier holding a weapon guarding it.

These Daoist soldiers were enveloped in three streams of black energy—

The first layer is used to immunize against fear; the second layer keeps them energized, even without sleep; and the third layer provides extremely high Defense Value.

It can even achieve a level of Invulnerability to Swords and Spears after being upgraded!

This is the Netherworld Dao Soldiers! Roger had seen the description of this kind of Dao Soldier in the knowledge of the Five Elements Dao Soldier's crafting.

Compared to the Five Elements Dao Soldiers.

The Netherworld Dao Soldiers are more specialized.

They place more emphasis on the realm of killing and warfare.

Every Netherworld Dao Soldiers is a born warrior.

They were fearless and battle-hardened.

The data is displayed in the data column.

These Netherworld Dao Soldiers are proficient in at least three combined attack techniques and six formations that can be interchanged.

Although their strength is only at the extraordinary level.

But if they join forces, even the Ascended Ones wouldn't dare underestimate them!

Roger made a rough estimate.

There are now about 100 Netherworld Dao Soldiers lying dormant in Dragon City.

Generally speaking.

According to the requirements of the formation.

The number of Daoist soldiers here is approximately 109 or 110.

The extra one is to prevent the formation from collapsing due to the complete loss of a single Dao soldier during battle.

And the commander of these Daoist soldiers was naturally in the center of the Black Lotus.

The man standing on a low rooftop!

The man was wearing a clean and tidy black robe.

He was quite handsome.

They could be described as having bright eyes and sharp eyebrows.

He held a magic sword in his left hand and a talisman in his right.

Roger saw it clearly.

That talisman was probably used to control the Netherworld Dao Soldiers.

As for that magic sword...

It is entirely black, made of strange materials, and has a lotus bud carved on it.

Its uses are obvious.

"Are these Black Lotus and Netherworld Dao Soldiers controlled by this Qi Refiner named Zhang Daoyun?"

Roger's heart skipped a beat.

"What happened to the vanished sorcerer?"

Before he could think further...

The pavilion that Zhang Daoyun used for his ritual suddenly split open from the center.

The two sides are divided in two according to the Yin-Yang principle of the Eight Trigrams.

Immediately afterwards.

Beneath the pavilion, layers of cage-like structures were revealed.

The cage reeked of a nauseating, fishy stench.

As the cage continued to rise.

A mournful cry then rang out from within.

Roger looked closely.

Who else could be filled with those demons who roamed the wilderness before? "So this guy captured all the demons? But what's his purpose? To refine them into Netherworld Dao Soldiers? What would he need so many Dao Soldiers for? And demons like these shouldn't meet the rules for refining Dao Soldiers, right?"

Roger felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

On the data panel.

"Hint: You have discovered 8700 demons..."

You've discovered the magic weapon, the 'Beast Trap Cage'.

Beast Trap Cage: A common magical artifact used to capture spirit beasts, often with a large confinement space, capable of storing an astonishing number of creatures...

There are more than 8,000 demons in total.

This was clearly a huge temptation for Roger.

But Roger was even more curious about the other person's background—

He did not believe that Zhang Daoyun himself was the ultimate controller of this Black Lotus.

Because for a newly promoted Qi Refiner...

Controlling such a large number of Netherworld Dao Soldiers is actually a very difficult task.

He could be attacked by the Daoist soldiers at any time.

Not to mention, while controlling the Dao soldiers, he also released Black Lotus into the surrounding areas of Dragon City! So he held back for a moment.

In the end, they didn't make a move.

He simply cast a few divine spell marks on a few of the demons.

For future tracking purposes.

On the terrace.

Zhang Daoyun swung his magic sword fiercely.

He was also muttering to himself.

Accompanying his movements.

The Beast Trap Cage kept rising.

They quickly rose to a height equivalent to more than ten stories in the air.

Immediately afterwards.

A gust of wind blew by.

Roger saw a hideous monster lurking in the sky.

In the blink of an eye.

The monster extended a bluish-gray claw.

He grabbed the Beast Trap Cage in one swift motion.

In the blink of an eye, the cage vanished without a trace.

The wind gradually receded into the distance.

The world was completely peaceful.

All that could be heard was Zhang Daoyun's heavy breathing from the balcony.

"Hint: Zhang Daoyun used the 'Celestial Ghost Transport Technique'..."

"You've discovered the Dragon City Topographical Map..."

The Celestial Ghost Transport Technique is definitely not a spell that Zhang Daoyun can control.

This guy clearly showed a hint of fear when the Heavenly Demon appeared.

This suggests that there is indeed someone else behind this matter.

Roger took this opportunity to quietly climb up to the rooftop.

He came up behind Zhang Daoyun.

And on the table where the other party was casting the spell, they saw a Dragon City Topographical Map!

The text contains a detailed record of the terrain and topography surrounding Longcheng.

Even several nearby cities are described in great detail! Furthermore...

This geomantic map also records in detail the distribution of the sorcerers.

Red is generally used to indicate places where there are many demons.

And the areas with a high density of red dots.

It basically matches the dense Black Lotus locations in Roger's memory.

"So Zhang Daoyun is probably doing someone else's bidding. The person behind him is using the Black Lotus and the Heavenly Ghost Transporter to frantically collect demons..."

"This is too much of a coincidence... I just started to deal with the demons, and now a competitor has appeared. It's as if the demons are a new species that no one has touched in the past few hundred years..."

Roger muttered to himself.

He always felt there was something fishy about this.

Even if it wasn't the Blue Blood King who did it.

It must have been a scheme set up by some old fox.

Of course, this situation might not necessarily be directed at me.

After all, no one knows about the secrets and insights he's gained from investing in magical artifacts.

"Let's go and see what's going on. This Zhang Daoyun is just a pawn, not worth mentioning..."

Thinking this way.

Roger prepared to follow the direction of the divine mark.

But just then...

Zhang Daoyun, who was resting on the rooftop, suddenly shouted, "Who's there?!"

Roger remained unfazed.

Distance.

A Black Lotus withered away silently.

A youthful face appeared.

He was a boy.

He carried two swords on his back and held one in his hand.

The sword in his hand emitted a white fluorescent light.

Roger knew that the white fluorescence had an invisibility effect.

This boy was most likely trying to use invisibility to get away with it.

But unexpectedly, Zhang Daoyun still found out.

"It's you?!"

I saw that boy.

Zhang Daoyun's expression turned extremely gloomy. "What are you doing here? Do you want to die?"

"The Dragon City Ruins aren't your territory. What's wrong with me coming over to take a look?! Oh, you want to kill me just because I came to take a look? What kind of logic is that?"

The boy retorted defiantly.

Zhang Daoyun's expression twisted slightly:

"Reason? You want to reason with me?! Black Star Gate is not a place for reason! How about I kill you and turn your corpse into Netherworld Dao Soldiers, then I'll come and reason with you?"

The boy's face turned pale.

But they persisted without retreating:

"Then come and kill me! Come on!"

Zhang Daoyun remained silent with a somber expression.

He stared intently at the boy.

After a while.

He suddenly threw the magic sword in his hand to the ground.

"Let's go, Bai Ming, the farther away from Dragon City the better..."

Zhang Daoyun suddenly spoke.

"You know I won't kill you, but... if someone else sees us, things will be different..."

"For your own good, go away..."

Upon hearing this...

The boy named Bai Ming's tone softened as well.

But his eyes remained resolute. "I won't leave, this is my mission..."

"What kind of bullshit mission is this?! The Celestial Capital fall, and you're still thinking about your little mission!"

Zhang Daoyun couldn't help but burst into curses. "Telodal deceived us! All six immortal sects were wiped out! And those who remain are a bunch of real monsters!"

"This planet is finished, not just Dragon City, do you understand? What you want to do is simply impossible! It's not just because you're too weak, but because of the enemy... the enemy..."

Speaking of which...

Zhang Daoyun's voice suddenly stopped.

His eyes became incredibly lost.

His expression grew increasingly bitter. "It's because we haven't even figured out who our real enemy is..."

Then came a long sigh.

Zhang Daoyun plopped down on the platform.

His expression became even more dejected.

Bai Ming's complexion was also not very good.

He pursed his lips.

They still had some spirit. "No matter who the enemy is, we will defeat him; if we can't, then let us die at his hands... This is the motto of our Self-Salvation Society!"

"Alright, alright... This kind of slogan might fool a little kid like you..."

Zhang Daoyun smiled dismissively:

"Do you really believe that your kid doesn't have his own schemes?!"

"Maybe he's just using you..."

"No! Brother Lou is a good person..."

Bai Ming said firmly, "I've always been good at judging people—just like I've always thought you were a good person too..."

"Is he a good person?"

Zhang Daoyun gave a self-deprecating laugh, "If I were a good person, I would never have done those things... How many of those demons who were just sent away were Martial Artist from Dragon City? Although they became demons, they didn't deserve to be treated like this..."

"That's not your fault,"

Bai Ming said quietly:

"It's all because your sect leader is too wicked!"

"Shut up!" Zhang Daoyun shouted sternly.

"Don't mention that person, not a single word related to him!"

The boy shrank back.

His expression remained stubborn.

But they obediently kept their mouths shut.

"What exactly do you want here?!"

The atmosphere eased slightly.

Zhang Daoyun asked with a frown.

"Let me make this clear beforehand—there's no way I'll join your Self-Salvation Society. First, I have absolutely no respect for that pretentious brat; second, I also have that thing implanted in my body, so I'll never be able to escape the Black Star Gate in this lifetime; and third, I genuinely believe that I have a much brighter future in the Black Star Gate than in your Self-Salvation Society..."

Upon hearing this...

The boy's expression suddenly turned somber.

Obviously.

One of his purposes in coming to Zhang Daoyun was to persuade him to join the Self-Salvation Society.

Unfortunately, this option has already been rejected.

So he revised his wording.

He said earnestly, "I came here to steal the key to the Dragon City Underground Palace from you..."

"Dragon City Underground Palace?"

Zhang Daoyun frowned even more deeply. "That godforsaken place is so bad that even demons can't survive there. It's full of those King Yama Heads... What are you going to the underground palace for?"

The boy remained silent.

"With your pathetic Stealth Spell, you think you can steal things like others?"

Zhang Daoyun chuckled twice.

He immediately became serious and said, "If you don't explain things clearly, it's impossible to steal the key to the underground palace..."

The boy hesitated for a moment.

He gritted his teeth and said:

"Our boss said that if our plan fails, we still need a way out... You also said that this is a problem for the entire planet."

Our leader discovered in an ancient book that we came from the Quinan Star.

The Quinan Star was struck by a cataclysmic event that severed its spiritual energy.

The situation might be different now.

And even without spiritual energy.

At least there aren't any of those weird monsters.

Therefore, we are preparing to formulate an evacuation plan...

"You're going to Khunan?"

Zhang Daoyun looked surprised.

"It's just a fallback plan... but if we're going to Qynan, would you like to join us?"

Bai Ming asked unwillingly.

"No! I just think you're having wild ideas..."

Zhang Daoyun lazily tidied his clothes.

He casually hung a bunch of Brass Key on the outermost end of his belt.

I have absolutely no interest in your plans!

Moreover, the upgraded version of the Nine Provinces Treasure Ship, which can traverse the starry sky, is located in the Burial Forest in the northeast corner of the third level of the underground palace.

Many traps and terracotta warriors are buried over there.

There might even be giant snakes and the King Yama Heads appearing...

If it weren't for the yellow paper stained with the Bi Fang's Blood.

It's impossible to get through unscathed..."

"I'm sleepy, you should go now!"

As he spoke.

Zhang Daoyun then rested his chin on his hand and dozed off.

A deep sense of gratitude welled up in the boy's eyes.

Immediately.

He gripped the sword tightly in his hand.

It has entered stealth mode.

After a while.

The rooftop jingled.

Zhang Daoyun squinted and asked in a low voice:

"Did you take it? Hurry back!"

Who knew that at this very moment...

A muffled groan came from a distance. "No! I haven't arrived yet! What's wrong?"

???

Zhang Daoyun suddenly shuddered.

He looked at his empty waist.

I couldn't help but rub my eyes hard.