With a faint ripple, Yan used World Authority to make his presence as inconspicuous as possible. He caused no further disturbance, but that was enough to keep the ordinary soldiers from noticing him.
Before long, Yan followed a squad of soldiers to the area near the main city gate.
On the gate tower, a burly, middle-aged man in official robes was talking to a long-bearded old man in an unusual robe.
From the expressions and gestures of the people around them, it was clear that these two were in charge of the city.
Could that old man be Master Sun? I'll test him first. As Yan wondered, he used World Authority to observe the other man. He found that Master Sun had solved about 200 Rhino Emperor Game boards—a world of difference compared to Shi Yan.
With that in mind, Shi Yan began listening to their conversation without restraint.
"...Lord Governor, the monster called 'Zhou' is leading the attack in the southwest of the continent. The capital of Great Jing Kingdom has already fallen, and the king's fate is unknown.
"But fortunately, this is only a remote town. I advise you to focus on protecting the city and await news from the king."
The governor seemed tempted, but perhaps because of his position, he still looked hesitant. "But, Master Sun..."
The two began arguing. With the help of World Authority, Yan heard every word. Neither the governor nor Master Sun had any idea he was eavesdropping.
At the same time, Yan remained invisible as he made his way onto the gate tower, openly leaning against a corner.
Let's see what these so-called monsters are.
As expected, Master Sun eventually persuaded the governor, who decided to hold Guan Town and wait to see how things unfolded.
Soon, one of Master Sun's disciples reported that monsters had appeared at the West Gate.
"Governor, I'll head to the West Gate first. I'll leave the rest to you." With that, Master Sun hurried toward the West Gate with several disciples.
Yan followed close behind. Master Sun noticed nothing amiss along the way.
They moved quickly, reaching the West Gate just as the monsters came into view.
Yan glanced over and saw dozens of bizarre creatures. Some had more than a dozen wings, while others had nine claws and four heads. Their only apparent commonality was that they were all white birds.
"Caw!"
Piercing cries rang through the sky, and the soldiers on the walls looked close to breaking down.
"Monsters! Die!"
At once, Master Sun let out a long cry. In response, thick thunderclouds gathered overhead, and bolts of lightning as thick as barrels rained down, engulfing dozens of monsters.
The lightning struck their bodies, leaving patches of charred black flesh.
Just as I thought. Yan narrowed his eyes. As he had expected, these so-called Celestial Masters were people in this outside world who devoted themselves to studying the Rhino Emperor Game and had achieved something through it.
Looks like the people out here aren't as strong as I thought. His unease at venturing into the outside world eased somewhat.
Seeing his attack work, Master Sun laughed and stroked his beard. "As expected, they're just beasts. The capital's fall must have had something to do with traitors... What?"
Before he could enjoy his success for long, he saw glowing white lines appear all over the monsters.
"Caw!"
With a series of long cries, the light swiftly dispelled the thunderclouds. The charred wounds on the monsters' bodies also began healing at a visible speed.
"..."
Master Sun looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Th-this... How is this possible? They're just beasts. Could they really solve the Rhino Emperor Game?"
On the other side, Yan watched in secret, his brow furrowing. As far as he could tell, each of the monsters had roughly the same level of World Authority as Master Sun.
With dozens of them working together, it was only natural that they could easily break his move.
Yet, somehow, Yan could sense something strange about the World Authority these monsters wielded.
For the moment, though, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
While Yan still had the leisure to ponder such things, Master Sun's back was already drenched in cold sweat.
Unwilling to give up, he tried several more times, but the monsters easily dispelled his attacks each time.
With their figurehead off to a bad start, the soldiers on the gate tower began to panic.
Yan came back to his senses and looked at the monsters about to charge into the city. With a quiet sigh, he took one step forward. The next moment, he appeared in front of Master Sun. He had also dropped his disguise, revealing himself completely.
"!"
Master Sun was startled to see Yan suddenly appear. How could someone get right in front of him without him noticing?
"You..."
Master Sun had barely begun to speak when he witnessed the most unforgettable sight of his life.
The area where the dozens of monsters stood seemed to be torn away from the ordinary world.
The monsters seemed to realize something was wrong. Glowing white light filled the entire area as they tried to escape.
But then the severed space twisted. Like an eraser sweeping over pencil marks, it wiped away the white light and the monsters alike, leaving nothing behind.
"..."
The sight shocked Master Sun, the governor and his men who had just arrived, and every soldier and civilian in Guan Town.
"As expected... The World Authority these monsters wield is exactly the same."
Yan had easily dealt with the monsters, but there was no joy on his face. Instead, he looked deeply uneasy.
The monsters' desperate struggle had revealed the source of the strangeness he had sensed earlier: the World Authority they wielded was exactly the same.
The Rhino Emperor Game was unfathomably intricate. A hundred people studying the same unfinished game would find a hundred different ways to solve it, and thus gain different forms of World Authority.
But the dozens of monsters all wielded exactly the same World Authority. That meant they had all solved the game in exactly the same way.
That was clearly abnormal.
Yan didn't know the deeper reason behind it, but these monsters were certainly more than they seemed.
He smelled a deep conspiracy.
"May I... call you young Celestial Master?"
Just as Yan fell into thought, a hesitant voice interrupted him.
Yan turned and saw the long-bearded old man looking at him cautiously. Below, the governor and the soldiers who had just arrived were all staring at him, too.
Seeing this, Yan had no choice but to set his worries aside for now. He said to Master Sun, "Master Sun, this isn't the place to talk. Let's go to the governor's residence first."
"Quite right, quite right. Let's go to the governor's residence." Master Sun hurriedly agreed.
With that, the two of them flew over to the governor.
Several hours later, Yan had finally learned the general state of the world from the two men.
It turned out that the outside world was divided into eight kingdoms: Jing, Liang, Yong, Qi, Yan, Song, Wu, and Yue. Each held sway over its own territory, and they were constantly at war with one another. There was also an organization called the Celestial Master Palace, which gathered people across the land who studied the Rhino Emperor Game and offered them guidance and assistance.
At present, at least seventy percent of those in the world skilled at solving the game belonged to the Celestial Master Palace.
When Master Sun learned Yan wasn't a disciple of the Celestial Master Palace, he clicked his tongue in wonder. "It seems there are still some extraordinary people living in seclusion across the land."
Yan only smiled faintly. Of course, he wasn't going to tell the two men about Bauhinia Village. He told them that he had been living in seclusion in the primeval forest south of Guan Town.
When the eight kingdoms came up, the governor looked dejected. "It's a pity. Ever since we learned a month or so ago that the capital had fallen, Guan Town hasn't received any news from the outside world. Who knows what the situation is now?"
After talking with the two men a little longer, Yan decided to head to the capital of Jing Kingdom and investigate.
The governor had wanted to keep Yan in Guan Town to help defend it, but seeing that Yan had already made up his mind, he couldn't bring himself to stop him.
Yan turned to the governor. "Governor, I think you should lead the townspeople out into the wilderness for now. Given the monsters' strength, Guan Town won't be able to withstand another attack. At a time like this, you can abandon the city for a while, but you should do everything you can to protect the people."
After offering his advice, Yan said no more. He took the map of Jing Kingdom that the governor had given him, along with a portable Rhino Emperor Game Array Book distributed by the Celestial Master Palace and gifted to him by Master Sun, then left the remote border town.
Only after leaving Guan Town did Yan realize how dire the situation on this continent was.
Even a remote border town like Guan Town had been attacked. The closer he got to the heart of Jing Kingdom, the more common the monsters roaming the land became.
Along the way, Yan had already dealt with more than a dozen waves of monsters of all kinds. The weakest were even weaker than those that had attacked Guan Town, with about 150 boards' worth of World Authority. The strongest wave, on the other hand...
It consisted of twenty monsters with the strength of 1,000 boards. Of course, they were no match for Yan.
But the more monsters he dealt with, the heavier his heart grew. Regardless of their strength, they all wielded the same World Authority. The stronger ones simply wielded more of it.
The only good news was that, by a stroke of luck along the way, Yan had solved the 2,000th board of the Rhino Emperor Game. This raised his World Authority to another level.
For every additional 1,000 boards he solved, his World Authority increased noticeably, and the new abilities he gained were exceptionally powerful.
When he first solved 1,000 boards, Yan gained Teleportation and took his first steps into the study of space. Now that he had solved 2,000, he had gained Space Strangling.
With Space Strangling, he could teleport much farther than before. A journey that would have taken him about a month now took less than twenty days.
"Is that the capital of Jing Kingdom?"
Standing atop a low hill, Yan gazed toward the distant city. Judging by its size alone, it could hold at least a million people.
But now, the former royal capital, Ying, was wreathed in smoke and lay in ruins. It looked desolate, and not a single person could be seen. Nor were there any monsters.
Only in the heart of the royal capital, where the palace had once stood, did a beam of white light dozens of kilometers thick reach straight into the sky, enclosing the entire palace compound within it.
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