Mass Death

A sharp pain coursed through his body. Zhang Chen clutched his head and collapsed to the ground, convulsing uncontrollably.

Green blood vessels appeared in his eyes, completely covering the whites of his eyes.

The green-robed man, Poisoned Playboy, slowly walked a few steps, squatted down in front of Zhang Chen, and revealed a chilling smile.

"Alas, what a pity. If it weren't for the mission given to me by that being, I wouldn't have been willing to lay a hand on you. After all, all the poison techniques in the world today originated from me, and you can be considered my successor."

"Ugh..." Zhang Chen felt a burning sensation in his throat, as if thousands of knives were scraping against it, and he couldn't utter a single word, only making muffled sounds.

Poisoned Playboy gently patted Zhang Chen's head and smiled, "Don't worry, everyone in your family is dead. The poison I personally administered will go to accompany you. I didn't let a single one escape."

"Puff!"

Upon hearing these words, Zhang Chen coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The infusion of blood restored his voice.

He tried desperately to get up, but his limbs twitched uncontrollably, and his bloodshot eyes burned with endless rage.

"Dozens of lives! You come from the Era of Ten Thousand Kingdoms, so why are you attacking us? We are your descendants!"

He might have been able to understand such a conflict between enemies, but to be inexplicably subjected to the flames of annihilation was something he could not comprehend.

Poisoned Playboy sighed, "You can only blame yourselves for offending that being. Don't worry, this world will eventually be destroyed. You're just going ahead of us. As long as we live, our lineage will not be broken. The most important thing in a person's life is choosing the right side. You didn't choose the right side, so death is the only path for you. But we will live on for generations to come."

"That being..." Zhang Chen's eyes were gradually losing focus. He was nearing the end of his life and wouldn't last much longer, but he still clung to his last breath. "Is it the ultimate enemy that His Majesty spoke of?"

Poisoned Playboy shook his head, his green robe fluttering in the wind, a wisp of poisonous mist gradually spreading. "You may be mistaken. You are not worthy to be his enemies at all. He has destroyed countless worlds and brought countless worlds back to life. Do you deserve to be enemies of such an existence?"

Countless worlds...

Countless worlds...

Zhang Chen suddenly realized, his tone turning sharp as he angrily shouted, "I understand! You were afraid of death, so you betrayed this world, and now you've become his lackeys! Bah, disgusting things!"

A wisp of poisonous mist from the Poisoned Playboy seeped into Zhang Chen's body, completely extinguishing the life force in Zhang Chen's eyes.

Poisoned Playboy stood up, his eyes turning incredibly cold and fierce.

"Even if there were only a sliver of hope of winning, I wouldn't have taken this step. But the power of that being is so great that I can't even see a sliver of hope of winning, so don't blame me."

As soon as he finished speaking, several figures flashed around, and more than a dozen people suddenly appeared in the courtyard.

Poisoned Playboy turned to look at these people and asked, "Is the matter finished? Make sure it's done cleanly."

One of them nodded. "It's almost done."

Poisoned Playboy waved his sleeve and soared into the air. "Since it's almost time, let's leave. We must not linger any longer, lest we repeat the same mistake."

No one spoke; they followed Poisoned Playboy and left the small, remote town.

Below, darkness enveloped the entire city, and beneath that darkness lay countless corpses.

The city was once vibrant but now lifeless. Street vendors and pedestrians lay dead in pools of blood, and the entire city instantly became a ghost town.

Many of those in the Bureau of Surveillance department also perished, lying in pools of blood.

Poisoned Playboy and his companions walked away with indifferent expressions, disappearing into the sky.

Such situations occur in various corners of the world, on the edge of Barbarian Territory, where a lack of manpower prevents timely responses.

Destruction continues, and danger is gradually enveloping the entire Barbarian Territory.

Barbarian Territory, royal palace.

After finishing their day's work, Chu Ling, Ye Zi Qing Xue, and the others were sitting in the room drinking tea.

Beside her, Xu Ling, who looked to be in her teens, was looking down at a book.

Given Xu Ling's growth rate, this is considered normal; she has already blossomed into a refined young lady.

She inherited the looks of both Xu Bai and Chu Ling, appearing absolutely stunning, but her eyes darted around, revealing a mischievous and clever quality.

Although she was reading a book, she was actually listening to Chu Ling and the others' conversation, occasionally chiming in with a few words.

"I wonder when my husband will return." Chu Ling put down her teacup, her brows furrowed with worry, and her grip on the teacup tightened slightly.

It was supposed to be a leisurely afternoon chat, but when Xu Bai was mentioned, both Qing Xue and Ye Zi carried a hint of worry.

Perhaps other people in the martial arts world don't know where Xu Bai went, but as Xu Bai's closest people, they know the most.

Ye Zi gently patted Chu Ling's hand and comforted her, "Sister, what we need to do now is to put our husband's mind at ease. We need to manage this Barbarian Territory well so that our husband won't have to worry about this after he comes out."

Qing Xue picked up the teapot and poured a cup for Chu Ling: "My husband is a lucky man. He has always turned danger into safety since he rose from humble beginnings. We should have faith in him."

Chu Ling, comforted by the two women, nodded and said, "I know that now that my husband has reached the Saintly Realm, we can no longer catch up with him. Now we can only ask him to save some trouble."

Even if they are all geniuses, they can't keep up with Xu Bai's pace. In today's world, who would dare to call themselves a genius in the face of Xu Bai?

Chu Ling was well aware of this, so she could only do her best to handle everything for Xu Bai within her capabilities.

Xu Ling rolled her clear black and white eyes and said, "Mother, how about I go to the Ghost Market? My father can be unaffected by the rules in the Ghost Market, so I should be able to too."

He had only said a few words, and before he could finish, Chu Ling glared at him.

"Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? You just want to go to the Ghost Market. Let me tell you, you absolutely can't go!"

"Oh..." Xu Ling lowered her head dejectedly when she realized that her plan had been exposed.

Just then, the surrounding space shifted, and a dark figure flashed in from outside the door, gradually solidifying into a pretty young girl.

"Aunt Ying Yue..." Xu Ling immediately greeted her, pretending to be very well-behaved.

Normally, Ying Yue would tease Xu Ling a bit, but things were different today. She didn't say anything, but instead looked serious, her slender eyebrows furrowed tightly together.

"What's wrong?" Chu Ling noticed the difference in Ying Yue and asked.

Ying Yue said, "Something terrible has happened. In some cities on the edge of the fiefdom, people have been inexplicably wiped out. Our people have all died there. We are still investigating who it was."

"Whoosh!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Ling, Ye Zi, and the others immediately stood up.

Chu Ling said in a deep voice, "Hasn't the reason been found out? That shouldn't be the case. Now that the world is unified and the remnants of the Barbarian Tribe are gone, who could possibly take such drastic measures?"

Ying Yue shook her head. "We couldn't find out. I asked my father, and he couldn't find out who it was either. But the fact that we couldn't find out only makes it clearer who the other party is."

Chu Ling's eyes widened slightly.

At their level, they naturally know who it is; they know the secret.

"So the mastermind behind this is finally making its move?" Chu Ling asked.

Ying Yue said with certainty, "Even my father couldn't find it. He couldn't find it even using his luck. That's for sure."

Chief Mu has already moved to the Barbarian Territory, and he is a Exiting Sainthood -level expert. Even a Exiting Sainthood -level expert cannot be found. The answer is already obvious.

"Your Highness," Ying Yue said, "Now that it's confirmed, we should prepare ourselves. I suspect this situation will gradually worsen."

Chu Ling fell into deep thought, pacing back and forth.

No one spoke, waiting for Chu Ling's next decision.

Chu Ling finally stopped after walking for about half an incense stick's time.

She returned to her original seat, slowly sat down, tapped the table with her fingers, her eyebrows furrowed, and finally spoke her solution.

"Notify people in the outlying cities to move inwards as soon as possible, regardless of the pressure caused by overpopulation. Shrink as much as you can."

"All agencies must cooperate to ensure the successful completion of this operation as soon as possible!"

She holds a high position and has already handled many matters, and has developed a certain level of emergency response capabilities.

Chu Ling had managed the entire fiefdom perfectly, so when faced with today's events, she only needed to think about it briefly to understand what the other party was thinking.

It was obvious that the opponent was wary of their skilled fighters, so they adopted a hit-and-run tactic, maintaining their absolute advantage while attacking peripheral areas without lingering.

This method is indeed an excellent solution.

Because the world is so vast, they simply cannot attend to everything.

Chu Ling had thought about it a lot, but in the end she still chose this method.

Actually, an ambush could be set, but the people on the other side are all from the Era of Ten Thousand Kingdoms, and those people were as numerous as hairs on a cow in that era.

If it weren't for the fact that there were many experts here, they probably would have come out openly. So, since an ambush was useless, Chu Ling chose to retreat as much as possible.

The larger the area, the easier it is for the defense to have loopholes, but if it is condensed as much as possible, the experts here will be able to take better care of it.

As for the next steps, we can only wait and see after we've completed this step.

"Yes!" Ying Yue received the instruction and did not linger. She transformed into a black shadow and disappeared to carry out Chu Ling's instructions.

Ye Zi said, "Sister, it seems that the other side wants to use the Barbarian Territory as a stepping stone, and probably thinks that we are weak and easy to bully."

Chu Ling's eyes flashed with coldness. "Weak and easily bullied? They think that just because our husband went to the Ghost Market, they can do whatever they want, but they are wrong. Once we pull everyone inward, we will become an impenetrable fortress, and no matter where they try to attack, they will be too late."

"Don't forget, Chief Mu is still here. Once we reduce our defenses to their limit and Chief Mu can get here in time, they won't be able to advance an inch, and we'll be able to come up with a counterattack plan."

Ye Zi nodded in agreement, because there really wasn't a better way at the moment.

"We might get busy. Let's finish this cup of tea and get started. There are still some details we need to discuss." Chu Ling finished her tea and stood up.

Ye Zi and the others stood up as well. Without lingering, they continued walking towards the Imperial Study...

The Ghost Market.

Xu Bai is collecting progress bars.

He has made some progress recently, but it's negligible.

After all, what remains now are not very strong anomalies, so those progress bars are just a drop in the ocean for him.

But even a mosquito is still meat, and his current goal is to wipe out all the strange things in the Ghost Market. Collecting the progress bar is just a side effect.

Originally, he planned to proceed according to the usual schedule today, but something went wrong. Xu Bai raised his head, looked at the trembling sky, and frowned.

Is someone else about to be resurrected?

He was all too familiar with this scene. The last time this happened, it was a sign that someone had been resurrected. It happened again this time, and Xu Bai quickly figured out the reason.

"There should be many resurrected this time."

Compared to last time, the sky trembled even more violently this time, creating an intense sense of pressure.

Not long ago, two people were resurrected, and they could only feel a slight tremor. Now, it's like the sky has fallen and the earth has collapsed, which suggests that the number of people resurrected this time is not small.

"What exactly happened? How could so many people have been captured?"

Without much thought, Xu Bai flew directly into the sky and poured his True Yuan Power into the top of the sky.

The next moment, cracks appeared inch by inch, and a large hole grew bigger and bigger.

Inside the huge cave was endless darkness, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Xu Bai plunged directly into the large cave, and the surrounding darkness gradually faded away.

Heavenly Change, in shades of gold and grey, emerged from all directions, illuminating the darkness.

As things gradually became clearer, Xu Bai froze on the spot when he saw the densely packed crowd stretching as far as the eye could see.

"I haven't been here long, but why do I always feel like... the world is about to end?"

The densely packed people in front of them were also unaware of what had happened. When they regained consciousness, they looked at each other with blank expressions.

Clearly, even they themselves didn't understand the situation.

At this moment, Zhang Chen, who had died at the hands of the Poisoned Playboy, reacted the fastest. After sensing the Heavenly Change around him, he saw a tall figure in the sky.

"King Xu!"

As Zhang Chen couldn't help but shout out, everyone present heard the sound and followed the gaze to Xu Bai.

"It's King Xu! We actually met King Xu!"

"Your King Xu, the world is in danger! Those people have made their move! You must go out and stop them!"

"My entire family was wiped out. They were all vicious bastards, a bunch of treacherous traitors! Disgusting!"