These past few days, the young couple, Dongfang Chen and Mu Ningxue, had been inseparable.
They stuck together while eating, sleeping, and even cultivating. Every time, they were all over each other.
Dongfang Chen didn't mind. He'd just personally proven that although Mu Ningxue seemed cold on the outside, she was warm within.
Besides, having the usually aloof Mu Ningxue become a little clingy was a rather nice experience.
Dongfang Chen had no complaints, but Ye Xin Xia was feeling a little jealous.
She knew Brother Chen hadn't neglected her, but the "something" she'd longed for had gone to Sister Ning Xue first. That had left Ye Xin Xia feeling down these past few days.
Fortunately, Dongfang Chen had noticed the girl's little pouts.
So, after Mu Ningxue begged him to stop in her usual cold voice, he set aside a whole day to spend alone with Ye Xin Xia, making up for the girl's jealousy.
Ye Xin Xia was a little jealous, but she wasn't the sort of girl to make a fuss over nothing.
When she learned that her beloved Brother Chen had deliberately set aside an entire day just for her, her jealousy disappeared.
After experiencing the warmth hidden beneath Mu Ningxue's icy exterior and spending some time with Ye Xin Xia, Dongfang Chen received a message from Tang Yue.
From Tang Yue's message, Dongfang Chen learned that Mofan had entered the Earth Sacred Spring.
That meant the Bocheng Disaster was about to begin.
If he'd just arrived in this world and was still weak, Dongfang Chen would have run as far away as possible from the Bocheng Disaster. He wouldn't have gotten involved at all.
But now, he was strong enough to face the disaster.
And thanks to Dongfang Chen's connections, Bocheng's defenses were far stronger than in the Original Work.
After the Black Church's attempt to kidnap Dongfang Chen, as well as the hints he'd dropped, Bocheng now had a large number of Military Department troops stationed there. Even Tang Yue, a Judgment Department member, had brought in quite a few people from the Judgment Department.
In fact, the previous month, Dongfang Chen had spent a fortune through the Hunter Union to post a large number of Bounty Missions, attracting quite a few capable High-level Hunters.
The Bounty Missions only required the Hunters to stay in Bocheng for a month and help maintain public order when needed.
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell there was something fishy about the Bounty Missions, but plenty of Hunters were still drawn in by the generous rewards.
That was the power of money.
On top of that, Bocheng had plenty of high-level fighters.
There was Zhan Kong, a High-Tier Mage, of course, but he was no longer the strongest fighter in Bocheng.
Dongfang Chen had temporarily brought in three High-Tier Mages from the Dongfang Family.
And Butler Sai, who had already advanced to Archmage, was stationed there as well.
Tang Yue had even secretly brought along her close friend Leng Qing from the Judgment Department.
As the deputy head of the Lingyin Judgment Department, Leng Qing was also an Archmage.
With the Little Purple Crystal Winged Lion King, whose strength rivaled a Great Commander, and Dongfang Chen, who had reached the Dou Ling level, defending Bocheng would be no problem.
Dongfang Chen had chosen to face the Black Church head-on not only because he'd grown somewhat attached to Bocheng, but also because they'd tried to kidnap him.
He, Dongfang Chen, wasn't some pushover anyone could take advantage of. If the Black Church dared to plot a kidnapping against him, they had to be prepared for him to strike back.
More importantly...
[Drip! The system has detected that Wutan City is about to come under attack from the Soul Hall. Host, do everything in your power to protect Wutan City.]
[Mission Reward: Rewards will vary based on the extent of the damage to Wutan City. The less damage it suffers, the greater the reward.]
[Note: Damage is measured by property destruction and the number of casualties.]
The Crazy System, silent for a long time, had come back online.
As soon as it did, it issued Dongfang Chen a mission to "Protect Wutan City."
As it happened, the mission aligned with what Dongfang Chen was already doing. Even without it, he would protect Wutan City—no, Bocheng.
After spending so much time with the system, Dongfang Chen had started to get confused without realizing it.
Luckily, he hadn't accidentally called Xuexue and Xin Xia "Xun'er" and "Yanran" when cuddling with them. Otherwise, he would've been in for a world of trouble.
Dark clouds blanketed the sky over Bocheng, blocking out the sun.
The scene looked as if the apocalypse had arrived.
"Young master, those clouds don't look right."
Butler Sai looked up at the sky.
As an Archmage, his senses and instincts told him that the clouds seemed to be under someone's control.
"You're right. Those clouds are strange. Grandpa Sai, tell everyone to prepare for battle," Dongfang Chen said.
The clouds really were being controlled. The one behind it was Wu Ku, one of the three generals in Salang's faction.
Wu Ku was a Water Element Calamity-Afflicted who could command water and summon rain. He was the one who had called forth the downpour.
The rain had also been infused with a potion concocted by another of Salang's generals, the Black Alchemist. It gave the entire storm the power to drive Demons into a frenzy.
Just as Dongfang Chen told Butler Sai to get ready and called Mu Ningxue and Ye Xin Xia over to him, a deafening alarm rang out across Bocheng.
The Military Department troops stationed at the Defense Line had sounded the Crimson Alert!
Beyond the Defense Line, amid the torrential rain that obscured everything, one pair after another of crimson eyes began to gleam. They covered the mountains and plains!
Those crimson eyes belonged to Demons that had been driven berserk.
In a hidden spot somewhere in Bocheng, Mu He, who had been gone for a long time, appeared.
Beside him stood a fellow member of the Black Church: Wu Ku, the man who had unleashed the torrential rain.
"I didn't expect the Military Department to find the underground entrance. Mu He, years of planning have just gone up in smoke. Heh," Wu Ku said with a hint of schadenfreude.
Although he and Mu He both served under Salang, they weren't on good terms.
Now that he had a chance to mock Mu He, Wu Ku wasn't about to let it pass.
"Hmph! Bocheng is a mere testing ground. Don't forget, the key to our plan is in the Ancient City!" Mu He said angrily.
The underground entrance beneath Bocheng was crucial to the Demon attack.
Without it, the Demons couldn't sneak into Bocheng without anyone noticing. They would have to break through the Defense Line head-on.
Now that Bocheng had strengthened its defenses, there was no telling whether the Demons outside the city could even break through.
"But I haven't been gone all this time for nothing," Mu He sneered.
He hadn't been away because he was afraid of exposing anything. He'd been devising a new plan in case the underground entrance was discovered.
Mu He's new plan was simple: smash through Bocheng's Defense Line by force!
Although the disaster in Bocheng was only a small experiment, Mu He still wanted to give Lady Salang a satisfying result.
Originally, Mu He had planned to attack Bocheng with a single Winged Cang Wolf at the Commander Level. But now that Bocheng's defenses had been strengthened so much, he'd brought in four Commanders instead!
Although that boy Dongfang Chen had an Archmage Butler at his side, when disaster struck, the butler would surely focus on protecting Dongfang Chen first.
So how could Bocheng, with only one High-Tier Mage—Zhan Kong—hold off four Commander Level Demons?
Even if Dongfang Chen's Commander Level Summoned Beast joined the fight, it still wouldn't be enough.
Mu He sneered, immersed in the joy of his plan about to succeed.
Unfortunately, his calculations were about to fall apart.
He had no idea that Bocheng now had several more High-Tier Mages, along with Leng Qing, an Archmage who had arrived in secret.
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