Final Battle at Haining

Since the creation of the Black Heaven Book, no one had ever been both a Calamity Master and a Calamity Slave simultaneously; even the founder had practiced the two roles separately.

To practice this bizarre cultivation technique without side effects, the best method was for two people to act as each other's Calamity Master and Calamity Slave.

Cultivate in pairs, serving as master and slave to one another; first refine the Hidden Meridians, then connect the Manifest Meridians; purge the Slave Seal, and a self-sustaining cycle is born; leap beyond the Four Laws, and the Calamity Power becomes free.

This method sounds simple, but executing it is as difficult as ascending to heaven; otherwise, the Black Heaven Book would not have been passed down for thousands of years while always being regarded as a forbidden, evil art.

However, after Wang Xuan used One-Click Max on this technique, all thirty-one of his Hidden Meridians were fully opened, and his Calamity Power surged forth like a fountain.

A flash of inspiration struck him, and he attempted to gather Calamity Power directly within his ocular Hidden Meridians; unexpectedly, he forcibly carved out a Calamity Sea around his eyes, and the Mystic Pupil ability was born as a result.

At this moment, he was both master and slave unto himself, directly shattering every ironclad rule of the Black Heaven Book.

As for how exactly he achieved this, or whether it would leave behind any hidden dangers, one would have to ask his talent.

With the Mystic Pupil fully activated and paired with the Emperor's Qi-Gazing Technique, the entire Haining Prefecture held no more secrets in his eyes.

He hovered in the firmament and unleashed Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin; the sword intent within his body connected with the energy of heaven and earth, and the sword light filling the sky moved like living creatures, precisely striking the powerful auras that were surging up from within the city.

Under the superposition of several divine arts, the Grandmaster servant players were barely able to withstand a single blow, falling in droves as their corpses tumbled from rooftops and blood trickled down through the gaps in the tiles.

"They're actually committing suicide to exit the plot world?" The changes throughout the city were all within Wang Xuan's view.

Massacre was simple enough for him, but he keenly noticed that the auras belonging to the Royal Clan were rapidly extinguishing, like candles blown out by someone—as people died, the lights went out.

This situation felt as if a switch had been pressed, and immediately afterward, more than twenty Royal Clan auras extinguished in unison at almost the same moment, as if they had agreed upon it.

"It seems those Royal Clan members who were killed off have finally realized that in this second layer of the plot world, they can no longer take me down just by relying on superior numbers." Wang Xuan pondered, yet his strikes became even more ruthless.

The sword light filling the sky was like a torrential downpour, constantly weaving through the streets and alleys of the city, piercing through roofs, walls, and cellars, pinning the Grandmaster servant players to the ground with pinpoint accuracy.

Those servant players didn't even see what their enemy looked like before they died; they only saw a flash of sword light pass before their eyes, and then their consciousness sank into darkness forever.

Thinking back to when he first entered this plot world, the plot had collapsed, and both the main and side quests were in total disarray; he had to cautiously gather intelligence, killing his way forward one step at a time, and only managed to resolve the crisis through his extraordinary courage and methods.

At that time, he was confident that he could rely on his unparalleled talent and aptitude to carve out a smooth path of blood; now, it seemed everything was exactly as he had thought, even smoother than he had anticipated.

"I am simply too overpowered. In a world of hacks and cheats, only someone with my supreme talent can dominate the present age!" Wang Xuan couldn't help but mutter, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

"Eh, are they trying to run?" While deep in thought, he noticed dozens of Grandmaster auras fleeing rapidly toward the outskirts of the city.

The speed at which those auras moved was significantly faster than the average Grandmaster servant player, clearly having refined movement techniques or light-body martial arts.

Especially as a Calamity Master who practiced the Black Heaven Book, he keenly sensed that those auras faintly carried the scent of Calamity Power; they were clearly servants who had activated one of the Nine Divine Abilities—the Calamity Slave—having been infused with Calamity Power by the Royal Clan to derive a Calamity Sea.

However, wanting to escape in front of him was clearly wishful thinking.

Wang Xuan diverted a portion of his focus to steer dozens of sword beams, causing them to turn and pursue the fleeing targets; the speed of the sword light was far beyond what any light-body technique could match, and in the blink of an eye, the distance was closed.

On a high platform in the city, Orona and Hoshino Taki looked ghastly.

The two stared fixedly at the latest order issued on their panels, which read: In order to successfully execute the Final Ordinance, the ordinance must be carried out in its entirety!

The 'Final Ordinance' was actually quite simple, and it hadn't been used for many years.

It meant that during a mission, if the target was found to be impossible to clear, then to ensure important resources did not fall into the target's hands, all mission executors were to forcibly exit the plot world. The servants would take away any remaining resources or corpses, bury the storage bags in a hidden location, and once the plot world restarted, those with the proper authorization would collect the storage bags one by one.

At this moment, the information appearing on the panel clearly told the two that if they wanted to implement the 'Final Ordinance', someone had to step forward to pin down the target, allowing the Grandmaster servants to act.

Not to mention whether they could stop the target, charging up there now was clearly suicide.

Being killed off was the best-case scenario; what they feared most was the target using the God-Splitting Spike.

If they were struck by that thing, even if they exited the plot world, the agony of a split soul upon returning would be enough for them to suffer.

What was more troublesome was that even if they charged up to die, the ordinance would likely not be executed successfully. When they exited the plot world and returned to the Bureau, they would be hit with additional charges; it was a dead end either way, and no matter how they chose, they were at a loss.

"Damn it! Ye Xianxian, I'll kill your mother!" Orona smashed the long table in front of him to pieces with a single palm, splattering wood chips and fine wine all over himself.

His eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving violently; he looked like a trapped beast pushed into a corner. Before, he had been mocking Hoshino Taki for his mental breakdown, but now he had fallen into the same plight himself. The situation had changed so quickly that it left him caught off guard.

"Orona, we absolutely cannot accept this order. I intend to exit the plot world; I won't gamble on the target not using the God-Splitting Spike!" Hoshino Taki said with a grim face, his internal energy already beginning to churn, and faint muffled sounds emanated from his meridians—he was clearly intending to reverse his energy flow and commit suicide. "At worst, I'll report it to my family after I return and have them fight for a sentence reduction for me!"

"Wait!" Orona suddenly grabbed his wrist, his grip so tight his knuckles turned white. His heart was beating rapidly, as if it were about to leap out of his chest.

He didn't know if the Hoshino family would help Hoshino Taki.

But the Augustus Family would absolutely not help him. He had committed a grave error within the family and had been forcibly sent to the Waste Disposal Bureau; his sentence was the longest in the Bureau, and he had spent years there doing dirty, exhausting work.

If he were to have his sentence maxed out again because of this, he couldn't even imagine how he would go on living.

Therefore, when Hoshino Taki proposed exiting the plot world, Orona had never felt his heart beat so violently.

One person dying was better than two, and the odds of gambling on survival would be slightly higher. He calculated rapidly in his mind, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.

"Hoshino-kun, I'm afraid it's not as simple as you think. Have you thought about why the Bureau Chief sent this order to us!" Orona steadied his mind, his brain working at high speed, trying to find a reasonable explanation.

Hoshino Taki didn't even think about it, blurting out, "What other reason could there be? It's nothing but discrimination! Discrimination against people like us, those damned Shenzhou people, discrimination against foreigners!"

His voice was filled with anger and resentment, his fists clenched until they creaked.

Orona's eyes lit up, and he immediately climbed the ladder, "Exactly, Hoshino-kun, think about it. The Bureau Chief is from the Ye Royal Clan of Shenzhou; he is the leader, and he is the one leading the discrimination.

If you ignore the order and return to the Bureau, even if your family can pay the price for you, the negotiation demands from the inside will be expanded infinitely. Are you sure your family will still be willing to spend resources on you then?"