Remote Strike

The next moment, the man made his move.

An illusory, pitch-black vine shot from his hand and wrapped around Li Ming in the blink of an eye.

"Got you!"

The man sneered. This might have looked like a Dream, but what it bound was Li Ming's mental power within it. This technique had only one purpose: preventing Li Ming from leaving the Dream.

Everyone's expressions changed slightly. The Spirit Hall Pope? Why was she attacking the Purple Heaven City Lord?!

At the same time, several people hidden in the shadows made their moves. They were all experts Bibi Dong had recruited, skilled in Dreams and mental power.

Some were using Li Ming's mental power to search for his true location.

Others tried to leave marks on Li Ming's mental power so they could track him in reality.

Yet in the next moment, clear astonishment appeared on their faces.

They could not locate Li Ming's mental presence!

Li Ming smiled faintly. He had long anticipated this assassination attempt.

After all, rather than heading to their lodgings or strolling through Commercial Street after arriving, these people had come straight to his City Lord's Mansion. They had lingered outside for a while, as though they were targeting him. This had naturally triggered the Satellite AI's Alert Program, which immediately marked them. After comparing their information, it identified what types of Soul Masters they were.

Their purpose was naturally obvious.

After the Satellite AI made its comprehensive assessment, it reported the information to him. That was how Li Ming learned of their existence.

The reason he had not acted immediately and had instead allowed them to use their Soul Skills was that Li Ming wanted to test the Dream Space's Security System.

For their Soul Skills to affect Li Ming, they first had to breach the Dream Space's Firewall.

The so-called Firewall was a program created by the Satellite AI and run within the Dream Space.

They appeared to be standing close together, but in truth, an invisible yet massive wall stood between them.

This wall could be described as a maze. Whenever it determined that a user's attack could affect reality, it activated and sent that Soul Skill into a maze. The skill had to find its way out before reaching the next stage.

With the Satellite AI's immense computing power, once a Soul Skill entered that maze, it would likely remain trapped there forever.

Thus, the only way to escape the maze was to rely on overwhelming mental power to forcefully break through it.

A potential intrusion had become a forceful breach attempt, so the Security System's defense level naturally rose.

The maze became a solid wall, generated by the power of the Dream. Even if the opponent was an expert in Dreams, they still had to obey the Dream's rules when acting within one.

Here, they had to compete in Dream power.

They had to release Dream power through their Soul Skills and break his Firewall before they could attack the person behind it.

However, the Satellite AI's computing power was unlike human thought. It could create an infinite number of walls in an instant.

Breaking through them would take time, and those without sufficient strength could even be worn down for a lifetime.

Of course, that was only the second program. Normally, by this point, the Satellite AI would have already disconnected them from the network and forcibly expelled them.

If it discovered that they could not be expelled, there was also a measure to forcibly shut down the Server. It could even shut down the attacked person's Server.

The highest Firewall level was to lock onto the target with a Satellite Pulse Beam and physically eliminate them.

With this set of Firewalls, he basically had no security concerns within the Dream Space. The same was true for the other users.

Of course, that was only theoretical. Since these people had delivered themselves to him, Li Ming could use them to test the Security System.

Naturally, to avoid being caught off guard, he had still made several preparations.

For example, at this moment, the Satellite AI could forcibly disconnect them at any time. However, since one Server was connected to nearly a hundred users, shutting it down would affect the other users as well.

Furthermore, the satellites had already locked onto their real-world locations and could fire Pulse Beams at any time.

With preparations already in place, the Pulse Beams could arrive instantly. They were even more efficient than the Firewall, so nothing could possibly go wrong.

"You didn't bind him!"

Someone in the shadows could not help shouting.

The man's expression changed slightly. How was that possible? He had clearly bound him. Yet when he looked closely, he discovered a gap between the vine and Li Ming.

"The Pope of Spirit Hall?

I understand now.

Since you attacked me, are you prepared to die?"

Li Ming nodded and asked calmly.

"Hmph! What arrogant nonsense. At most, you can expel me from here. Even if you're a Title Douluo proficient in this field, don't think you can kill me from afar with nothing but this little mental power!"

The man sneered disdainfully. He was a Spirit Saint with exceptionally strong mental power. Even losing the mental power he had invested in this Dream would not harm him much. Nor did he believe that the Purple Heaven City Lord could kill him from afar, so he had nothing to fear.

"Is that so?"

Li Ming was not angered by his words. He directly mobilized the Satellite AI and fired the Pulse Beam.

The firing program had already been calibrated in advance. It entered the launch interface directly, without even a countdown.

In the quiet night, a beam descended from the sky, arriving in the blink of an eye without making a sound.

The beam instantly burned through the roof and landed precisely on the few people immersed in the Dream Space.

A powerful, lethal heat struck his body, followed immediately by a terrifying impact.

Boom!

The entire building was blown apart by the powerful shockwave, burying him beneath the rubble.

The same scene unfolded in several places.

Within the Dream, the man's previously arrogant face suddenly twisted, as though he were suffering some cruel torture. He looked like a ghost, so horrifying that one glimpse might cause nightmares at night. He instantly withdrew from the Dream Space.

It was not just him. The others hiding in the shadows were the same.

Although their expressions stiffened for only an instant after they left the Dream Space, that was enough for those powerful Soul Masters to see clearly.

"Their expressions!"

Chen Xin's face was grave. Those expressions were definitely wrong. Combined with how quickly they had left, they had likely been attacked in reality—and at the very least, severely injured!

"The person who shouted just now had the same expression!"

Gu Rong's pupils constricted. One person might have been a coincidence, but multiple people definitely were not.

This Purple Heaven City Lord possessed a means of long-range attack!

Had he accomplished it through the Dream?

The elders of the Clear Sky Sect and Elder Hall had all witnessed the scene. Their expressions darkened slightly as suspicion arose in their hearts.

If the Purple Heaven City Lord could attack through the Dream, they had to consider whether to abandon Purple Heaven City.

They were not worried about themselves. No matter what, the other party could not possibly kill Title Douluo like them across the distance between Dreams and reality.

However, disciples lacking sufficient strength would be much more troublesome.

And abandoning Purple Heaven City meant abandoning treasures like the Personal Cultivation Assistant, which were crucial to improving a Soul Master's strength. Given enough time, they might fall directly behind Soul Masters of the same level.

This made it difficult for them to weigh their options.

At that moment, Li Ming raised his brows slightly, a smile curling his lips. The Level 100 Pulse Beam's power was fairly decent. A Level 73 Spirit Saint had died instantly without any preparation.