"Sizzle!"
The screen flashed with static, as if the world had merely shivered.
As the last rays of the setting sun shone down once more, the red lanterns lit up again, and the dilapidated ruins were transformed into a bustling street with carved beams and painted rafters.
Those hideous Evil Ghost and mummies were once again draped in fresh human skin.
The cheers and drumbeats continued, but if you listened carefully, the sound was much quieter than before.
Among the crowd, some elderly townspeople who remained conscious stood frozen in place as if waking from a deep dream.
Only those soulless zombies, whose souls have long been drained, are still fulfilling their duties as extras, shouting numbly.
On the high platform.
Jiangnan had already withdrawn his hand.
Phoenix Emperor's hand, which had regained its fair and jade-like appearance, remained suspended in mid-air.
A gentle breeze rustled her elegant skirt as she stared blankly into Jiangnan's wary eyes.
His eye sockets began to tremble violently and uncontrollably.
Wronged...
Sad...
Despair...
And the fury of being exposed to her face welled up in her eyes.
She bit her red lips so hard that they bled.
"Good... very good..."
Phoenix Emperor did not say another word.
She abruptly withdrew her hand, unleashing a surge of energy that transformed her into a streak of crimson light.
It soared into the air and plunged headfirst into the heart of the Ox-Horse Factory!
Backend.
"It's all over, it...!!!"
Shangguan Shuyi clutched her head tightly with both hands, frantically pacing around like an ant on a hot pan.
"How exactly do those bunch of good-for-nothing idiots do their jobs?!"
"It's just burning some stones, and they actually cut off the supply?!"
"Why did this happen! Now everyone's true colors have been revealed!"
"And of all times, it had to come at this crucial moment when Phoenix Emperor was holding hands! Who the hell was slacking off?!"
Liu Ruyan, standing to the side, frowned and looked Shangguan Shuyi up and down with a strange expression.
"Hey, what exactly happened just now?"
Liu Ruyan crossed her arms and pouted, "The images were flashing, with skeletons and dried corpses everywhere."
"I thought the medicine they gave me later contained wild mushrooms, which caused me to hallucinate."
Shangguan Shuyi paused, her expression shifting for a moment, before lowering her voice to explain.
"I'm telling you, don't spread this around!"
"The bodies of everyone in this Soul Return Town depend on the [Source] dug out from underground as their energy source!"
"Once the energy supply is cut off, the disguise will fail, and everyone will be exposed!"
"The power went out at just the right moment, completely ruining Phoenix Emperor's reputation. She's definitely ready to kill someone now!"
"Oh, I see..."
Liu Ruyan drew out the last syllable thoughtfully, then fixed her gaze on Shangguan Shuyi.
"Since everyone has revealed their true forms, why didn't you change?"
"Me? Are you stupid!"
Shangguan Shuyi gave her a look as if she were an idiot.
"The power supply is clearly back on now! The picture is back, so I definitely didn't reveal my true form!"
Liu Ruyan did not refute or press further.
She simply withdrew her gaze, burying this secret deep within her heart.
As someone who stood beside Shangguan Shuyi and witnessed the entire transformation that lasted only a few seconds, Liu Ruyan could be 100% certain...
In the instant when everyone else turned into Evil Ghost, Shangguan Shuyi remained completely unchanged!
"This good friend who fought alongside me..."
"Her identity is definitely not just that of the manager of the Second Ring Town and Third Ring Town."
Liu Ruyan remained secretly wary.
In the center of the stadium, not far away.
Jiangnan showed no shock whatsoever at the terrifying anomaly that had just occurred.
On the contrary, everything went as he expected.
How could this eerie paradise possibly be a place for the living?
"But what exactly is maintaining this enormous illusion..."
Jiangnan narrowed his eyes slightly.
He clearly sensed it the instant the anomaly occurred.
The [Human Emperor Lamp], which had been silent for so long, suddenly trembled violently!
It is a kind of thirst and resonance that only arises when one encounters a vast amount of the essence of the soul.
"It seems the key to all this lies beneath this Ox-Horse Factory."
At the same time.
Ten thousand meters underground, Soul Furnace.
"Bang!!!"
The Phoenix Emperor descended upon the Control Console of the furnace.
She grabbed the Bloodblade Guards by the neck and lifted him into the air as if he were held in one hand.
"Have I been too merciful, or too lenient with you all?!"
Phoenix Emperor's voice was so cold it seemed to freeze the soul, and her fingers tightened little by little.
"How dare you slack off and try to cheat at the most crucial moment?!"
"Speak! Who forgot to add the source?!"
"Ugh... Phoenix Emperor, spare me!"
The surrounding ghost messengers were so frightened that they all knelt down in unison.
The captain, who was being choked in mid-air, struggled desperately, his face turning purplish-red, and managed to squeeze out a sound.
"My lord... it really wasn't our fault!"
"We're also puzzled..."
"Just now, the power of the Soul Furnace suddenly and inexplicably increased several times!"
"The energy was drained instantly, meaning the originally planned [source] was simply not enough to burn!"
"What? Increased power?"
Phoenix Emperor frowned sharply, her eyes filled with disbelief.
She threw the ghost captain ten meters away, where he slammed heavily against the rock wall.
The Soul Furnace suddenly and forcibly increased its power to extract energy; there's only one possibility!
That means someone bypassed her permissions and used the highest-level control terminal, [Heaven-Peering Mirror]!
They forcibly manipulated the Spatial Law of this Soul Return Town!
"Whoosh!"
Without pausing for a moment, the Phoenix Emperor turned and transformed into a streak of crimson light, rushing out of the mine entrance once more!
The Ox-Horse Factory's high platform.
Give me the Heaven-Peering Mirror!
As soon as the Phoenix Emperor landed, it shouted sharply and snatched the bronze mirror from Shangguan Shuyi's hand.
Her fingertips moved rapidly across the mirror surface, and her vast divine sense instantly connected to the entire surveillance network of Soul Return Town.
The next second, the view from the Heaven-Peering Mirror abruptly changed.
The scene clearly shows that a hidden corner of the Third Ring Town has been forcibly opened by someone!
In front of that door stood two figures, preparing to flee.
It was commentator Ingrika and Eagle Country team captain Aeria!
What enraged Phoenix Emperor the most was that Ingrika was tightly clutching a mirror in her hand that was exactly the same as the [Heaven-Peering Mirror]!
As Demigod who has lived for thousands of years, the knowledgeable Phoenix Emperor recognized the essence of that ability at a glance.
"Sequence 043! [Copy and Paste]!"
Phoenix Emperor turned her head, her phoenix eyes glaring at Shangguan Shuyi was trembling beside her.
"This is the 'good employee' you carefully selected?! Doesn't he know a wolf has entered his house?!"
"Thump!"
Shangguan Shuyi was so frightened that her legs went weak and she immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
"It's all my fault! I was blind to let the wolf into the house!"
"Your subordinate will immediately lead the Bloodblade Guards to capture those two ungrateful wretches and skin them alive!"
"No need."
Phoenix Emperor's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and its white robes fluttered even without wind.
"Dare to defy the Emperor and threaten the very foundation of this nation..."
"I will personally go and send them on their way!"
Boom!
Before the words were even finished, the Phoenix Emperor tore through the sound barrier, transforming into a streak of light and soaring straight into the sky above the Third Ring Town!
A gentle breeze swept across the chaotic stadium.
Jiangnan stood quietly, watching the Phoenix Emperor's departing figure, her expression blank.
"That's perfect, I should go do what I need to do."
He turned around and casually Godslayer Spear over his shoulder.
He ignored Shangguan Shuyi, who was still kowtowing on the platform, and the townspeople around him who were silent with fear.
Jiangnan strode forward, as if taking a leisurely stroll, and stepped into the bottomless, dark mine shaft of the Ox-Horse Factory without looking back.
The Human Emperor Lamp trembled wildly within his body, guiding the way.
He wanted to see for himself the truth hidden deep within the hellish depths of Soul Return Town...