Central Forest Garden.
Little Sparrow sat in the side hall, watching the race at the Ox-Horse Factory while applying the best medicine to herself.
"Phew... finally done. Time to go serve Phoenix Emperor."
Little Sparrow clapped her hands, straightened her skirt, and strode towards the main hall.
However, when she pushed open the sandalwood door, there was no one inside.
The majestic and beautiful figure was not on the phoenix throne that symbolized the highest power in Soul Return Town.
"Huh? Where's the adult?"
Little Sparrow scratched her head and stopped a few maids passing by in the corridor, asking, "Have you seen Lady Phoenix Emperor?"
The maids all shook their heads.
"I don't know, Sister Little Sparrow. Phoenix Emperor left this morning."
"I see..."
Little Sparrow touched her chin thoughtfully.
In this Soul Return Town, what could be more important than the Dragon God?
"Oh! I understand!"
The Little Sparrow's eyes lit up, and it slapped its forehead.
"The adults must have thought watching the live stream wasn't enough, so they went to the Ox-Horse Factory to keep an eye on things themselves!"
"After all, that's the Dragon God!"
Thinking of this, Little Sparrow's previously anxious heart was finally at ease.
She happily ran to the storage room, picked up a broom, and began sweeping up the fallen leaves.
"I need to clean the house spotless before Phoenix Emperor brings Dragon God back!"
The innocent Little Sparrow waved its broom in the sunlight, completely unaware...
Phoenix Emperor is currently in an inescapable hell where even sunlight cannot penetrate.
At the same time.
The deepest part of the Ox-Horse Factory is 10,000 meters underground.
This is the true Abyss.
In stark contrast to the bustling competition venue above, the air here was stifling and suffocating.
"Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!"
The sounds of mining echoed through the enormous underground caverns.
Looking out, tens of thousands of miners with their eyes rolled back were wielding pickaxes, chiseling at the rock face.
They felt no pain, no fatigue, only endless labor.
In the very center of the cave stands a mechanical furnace that is hundreds of meters tall!
The furnace was entirely red, spewing out scorching steam.
This is the secret to the operation of the entire Soul Return Town: the Soul Furnace!
Around the furnace stood more than twenty ghost guards clad in dark red heavy armor and wielding crimson giant blades.
Bloodblade Guards!
They are the core armed force of Soul Return Town.
Each of them alone is enough to go toe-to-toe with an S+ level expert from outside!
At this moment, more than twenty S+ level experts have gathered here, solely to protect this furnace with their lives.
"No... no! Please don't kill me!"
"That was done by that beast Xiao Fan!"
"It has nothing to do with us! We haven't even seen him for years!"
A scream broke the sound of the knocking.
A group of ordinary ghost guards were escorting dozens of ragged people toward the furnace.
Among these people are elderly people with white hair and children who are still in school, but they all have one thing in common.
They're all surnamed Xiao!
"Shut up, all of you!"
The leader of the ghost guards kicked a Xiao family man who tried to resist to the ground.
He waved his hand and shouted sternly at his colleagues behind him.
"Order from above! The sinner Xiao Fan is suspected of insulting the supreme Dragon God, a crime that cannot be forgiven!"
"He is sentenced to have his entire family executed!"
"Now, all members of the Xiao family, including their blood relatives, will be recalled and utilized!"
"Strip him of his sanity, condemn him to eternal enslavement in the mines, to atone for his sins by mining for the sake of Soul Return Town for all eternity!"
Upon hearing this, the Xiao family members were completely devastated.
No! You can't do this!
"You heartless bastard Xiao Fan! You've ruined my whole family!"
Several mothers held their children tightly in their arms, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing frantically until their scalps were broken and bleeding profusely.
"Lord Ghost Messenger, I beg you!"
"We old bones can die if we want, but at least spare the children! They're innocent!!!"
Seeing the few bewildered and ignorant children, the ordinary ghost guards responsible for escorting them paused for a moment.
However, at this very moment...
"Da da da."
The sound of high heels clicking on the floor came from the end of the dark passage.
Accompanying the footsteps was a divine might that made all the Bloodblade Guards tremble!
"Let's do it."
A cold, desolate voice rang out.
Phoenix Emperor, dressed in a floor-length gown and crystal high heels, emerged from the shadows.
Thump! Thump!
All the ghost messengers in the arena knelt on one knee in an instant!
"Greetings, Phoenix Emperor!!!"
Phoenix Emperor ignored them, focusing instead on the ghost commander who had just wavered.
"I ordered you to act, are you deaf?"
"Yes... yes!!!"
How could the commander of the ghost messengers dare to feel even a shred of sympathy?
He jumped to his feet and ordered his men, "Quick! Throw it all in! Leave nothing behind! Throw it!!!"
"No! Ahhh!"
Amid screams, dozens of members of the Xiao family, young and old, were pushed into the furnace by the ghost messengers!
"You Devils!!!"
At the very back of the procession, an elderly woman from the Xiao family, supported by two ghost messengers, had completely gone mad.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and she let out a roar of impotent rage.
"You're a tyrant! You heartless, vile woman!"
I curse you to a terrible death! I curse you to eternal damnation!!!
Faced with the old woman's vicious curse, Phoenix Emperor was not angry at all; instead, she let out a soft laugh.
"Hehehe..."
Phoenix Emperor stepped forward, lifted the old woman's wrinkled and tear-streaked face with her jade fingers, and looked her in the eye.
"I am a tyrant? I deserve to die a horrible death?"
"This is utterly ridiculous!"
"Old man, have you lived too long and forgotten what you even are?"
"I merely took back your [immortality]."
"Without me, there would be no Soul Return Town, no Xiao family, and not even everyone in this town!"
"They were reduced to ashes in that World Annihilation crisis a thousand years ago!"
Phoenix Emperor's voice suddenly turned cold, "You should be grateful to me for surviving until now!"
"Grateful?! Bah!"
The old woman spat a mouthful of blood at the Phoenix Emperor's feet, laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face.
"You're just doing this for your own selfish desires! Don't think everyone's a fool!"
"Don't you know whether we're alive or dead?!"
"My lofty Phoenix Emperor Queen! Wake up! We are already dead! Dead a thousand years ago!"
"This isn't some bullshit salvation, it's a curse! A curse of eternal life!"
"A vicious curse that even in death, you will use me as fuel to devour you completely!!!"
The old woman roared hysterically.
Faced with this tearful accusation, Phoenix Emperor simply looked at her calmly.
You're right.
"I built this place for my own selfish desires."
Phoenix Emperor withdrew her hand. "But... what about you?"
"The entire Soul Return Town has been cursed with this so-called eternal life curse."
"But for the past thousand years, you have enjoyed immortality and a life of ease..."
"Did you ever resist?"
Even opposition?
The old woman's laughter stopped abruptly.
She opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
Because what the Phoenix Emperor said was true.
They knew the truth, yet they were obsessed with this false immortality, and no one ever stood up to resist.
"What right do a bunch of complacent beneficiaries have to judge me, the Emperor, like the weaklings?"
Phoenix Emperor casually tossed the silk handkerchief onto the old woman's face.
"It's just a vicious dog biting back before it dies."
"Throw it in."
"No!!!"
Amid the old woman's desperate screams, she was kicked into the furnace!
Immediately afterwards.
"Boom!"
The enormous furnace began to operate.
Then, accompanied by a ticking sound, the outlet below the furnace...
It spat out several transparent stones that emitted a faint white light!
The aura emanating from this white stone was strikingly similar to that of external sources!
The only difference is that it emits astonishing energy fluctuations.
But that's not all!
"Buzz!"
The furnace roared once more, but this time, what it expelled was not stone!
Instead, it was the Xiao family members who had just been thrown in!
However, at this moment, their clothes were intact, but their eyes had become dull and lifeless.
A ghost guard stepped forward skillfully and hung a wooden stick around the neck of each of them.
The words "[Mining Slave]" were carved in blood above it.
The moment they received the wooden sticks, these dazed members of the Xiao family automatically walked to the tool rack to the side.
They picked up heavy pickaxes and headed deep into the mine without looking back, joining the endless army of miners.
"Using the souls of living people with consciousness as fuel..."
"To create a soul stone with energy..."
"Then turn those soulless shells into tireless mine slaves..."
"The crucible of the soul."
"Is this the bloody truth hidden deep beneath the seemingly idyllic Soul Return Town?"
Behind a natural crevice in the rock wall, less than 300 meters from the furnace.
A figure shrouded in shadow took in the entire scene!
It was none other than the missing elder, Yue Tian!
He successfully infiltrated this highly confidential location.
At this moment, veins bulged on Yue Tian's forehead, and he gripped a three-section staff in both hands.
This is his signature weapon, a top-grade Spirit Artifact, [Thousand Mechanisms]!
Each section of the stick represents a rule or ability.
Elephant Power...
Divine Concealment...
Sonic speed...
He had managed to sneak in here by activating his Divine Concealment, thus avoiding the guards on the outer perimeter.
"They've gone mad... they've all gone mad..."
Yue Tian gasped inwardly, "Using the souls of the living as fuel to keep the town running..."
"No wonder Sky Curtain rated Returning Soul Return Town as a yellow zone!"
"No! Where the hell is this yellow zone?"
"This is simply a bottomless black hole disguised in human skin!"
He finally understood why Soul Return Town was usually only open to entry but not exit!
Because everyone who enters this place will ultimately find their home in this melting pot!
"This is no longer a matter for the Sharp Blade Squad to handle!"
"Everyone must be evacuated as soon as possible, otherwise..."
"We're all going to become fuel here!"
Yue Tian gritted his teeth, not daring to linger for even a moment longer.
He planned to slip out of the underground den of demons silently while the Phoenix Emperor turned around.
However.
Just as he turned around...
Ahead of the dark, narrow stone passage, a stunningly beautiful figure appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
A pair of crystal high heels stopped less than three steps away from him.
Phoenix Emperor placed her hands together in front of her lower abdomen, her phoenix eyes looking down at him, who was hidden in the shadows.
Have you had enough of these foreign rats?