The Cult Faces Crisis! Three-Way Siege

In one of River City's strongholds, a pale-faced man sat in a bright, transparent room, draped in a black robe patterned with blazing clouds.

He had a rugged face and a beard covering his chin. Holding a bottle of liquor to his mouth, he gulped it down.

"Ah!"

He set down the bottle, speared a piece of roasted meat with a fork, and muttered while chewing.

"Black Bear is dead? He went to the night market and somehow got killed... Damn it, let me see who the hell is trying to steal my catch!"

He propped his legs on the table and snapped his fingers. A young blonde, blue-eyed woman in a vibrant cheongsam entered, its slit reaching the top of her thigh.

She slowly walked up to the man, her gaze dull and lifeless, like a robot.

"Transmit the scene from before Black Bear died."

The man ordered.

The woman in the cheongsam nodded slightly. Her originally beautiful face suddenly wrinkled, then split open down the middle as spirituality gathered and formed an image.

The man's previously indifferent eyes widened the instant he saw the person in the image. After staring blankly for a moment, just as he wanted to keep watching, the image abruptly cut off.

"Hiss... Yellow robes?... Could it be... the King in Yellow?

What is that guy doing?! He actually dared to wear those clothes out in public!

Could the incarnation of that existence have descended into the human world?!"

The man's expression instantly turned terrified. The liquor bottle in his hand unknowingly fell to the floor, and he did not even notice the sharp glass shards piercing his palm.

"..."

"...The King in Yellow! He has appeared!"

No...

They could not delay any longer. It was time to act. The King in Yellow had appeared in River City, and no one knew how the situation would develop from here. The unification plan could only be carried out ahead of schedule...

Countless thoughts flashed through the man's mind. He hurriedly pulled out his phone and made a call. After anxiously giving a few instructions, he hung up, stood, and put away the tattered blood-red battle flag on the table. As he walked out, he said,

"The Ghoul Cult suffered a blow some time ago. This is the perfect chance for us to strike! Notify the Calamity Serpent Society and the Grotesque Circus. Gather everyone we can and take down the Ghoul Cult first!"

If they refuse to listen, beat them until they do!"

The cheongsam woman's split head automatically closed, revealing her beautiful smile once again. She followed behind the man and began making call after call.

"The Great Cataclysm of a thousand years ago was also known as the Reign of Chaos in the Third Epoch. The gods began to fall, and Beyonders began to appear among humanity. Some could breathe fire, spit water, summon lightning, or transform into giants. After being passed down through generations, and through countless battles and mergers, the Federation emerged, along with the three great orthodox churches above it.

They were the War God Church, which worshipped the 'Twilight Giant'; the Church of Nature, which worshipped the 'Holy Mother Tree'; and the Church of Knowledge, which worshipped the 'Darknight Sage.'

They stood above the laws of society. Some believers were assigned to the Special Affairs Departments of various cities to shoulder important duties. If powerful monsters appeared in human settlements, the strong members of the churches would personally step in to eliminate them.

Generally speaking, a Guardian City was guarded by a Morning Star Tier powerhouse, and that powerhouse was usually also a believer of one of the churches.

Meanwhile, the main cities above the satellite cities contained certain powerful Unknown-Tier existences.

..."

Su Ziyu carefully flipped through the contents and gained a rough understanding of the changes in the Beyonder world over the past three years.

Apart from the three great orthodox churches, there were also cults with all kinds of bizarre names. They appeared throughout the world and operated over broad areas. For example, the Ghoul Cult Su Ziyu had encountered before was a relatively small cult whose main area of activity was within the major satellite cities.

There were also ancient cults such as the Crimson Tongue, the Calamity Serpent Society, the Seekers Society, and the Necromancer Society. Their areas of activity were unknown. There were even assassination organizations like the Black Tailor, which was rumored to worship an existence known as the Shadow Demon.

The book recorded that cults such as the Crimson Tongue and the Calamity Serpent Society operated throughout the major satellite cities and wilderness regions. As for the ancient Necromancer Society and Seekers Society, someone had once found traces of them at sea.

With the All-Seeing True Eye, Su Ziyu finished flipping through the hundred-plus-page book in half an hour.

To his regret, there was no information about the Old God Cult within it. It seemed that this church truly was mysterious enough that most people could not come into contact with it.

He then took out the Octopus-Head Key he had bought earlier. That man in the Black Bear mask had seemingly noticed that the key was extraordinary as well, making Su Ziyu even more curious about what secrets it held.

He activated the All-Seeing True Eye and examined it closely. He only detected spiritual fluctuations from the key. After some thought, he slowly infused a portion of his spirituality into it, letting it spread across the key's body in coiling rings.

This time, the All-Seeing True Eye saw something unusual.

"Whoosh... whoosh!"

Waves surged like savage beasts. Raising his eyes, he saw a vast ocean before him, so boundless it seemed to have no edge. With a slight twitch of his nose, he could even smell the fishy scent unique to the sea.

"Whoosh, whoosh... whoosh..."

The waves rose again, then slowly fell. Something seemed to be hidden beneath the waters at the center. Merely staring in that direction made Su Ziyu's heart palpitate.

And this was merely an illusion formed from a trace of spirituality.

Once the spirituality dispersed, the scene before him gradually became unreal and dissolved away.

Su Ziyu felt as if he had suddenly returned to land from the sea, yet the fishy smell seemed impossible to wash off his body.

He grabbed his collar and sniffed to see whether there was any unusual scent. It seemed that the scene just now had altered his five senses to a certain extent!

Su Ziyu put away the key and nodded slightly.

The phenomenon that had just appeared was enough to show that the Octopus-Head Key was no ordinary item.

However, he still had no leads for now. He would keep it stored away and ask about it when he had the chance later.

After putting away the Octopus-Head Key, Su Ziyu thought of the man in the Black Bear mask he had encountered at the night market.

The bystanders watching the spectacle might not have noticed, but Su Ziyu had gone through an actual battle and had the Void Shadow Beast relay information to him, allowing him to learn secrets others did not know.

That man in the Black Bear mask was most likely not human. He was like a puppet, impossible to kill. Only after destroying a tiny segmented insect resembling a centipede had Su Ziyu truly ended the masked man's life.

Su Ziyu vaguely felt that he had been dragged into some kind of conspiracy again.

Rubbing his temple, he reflected on how strange everything had been lately. As he sorted through his thoughts, he suddenly received a message from Rage...

"Interesting... It's time to practice my swordsmanship."

The corners of Su Ziyu's lips rose slightly.

In the southern district of the city, the former Ghoul Cult stronghold had been captured by the Rage Knight and his army of undead, then turned into a resting place.

But tonight, it was exceptionally lively.

"Li Kangming, submit to our Calamity Serpent Society! The great Sea Serpent God will watch over you forever!"

A blue-haired young man spread his arms and shouted.

"Look at yourselves now. You have no people and no territory. What's the point of staying in that cult?"

Another Calamity Serpent Society member spoke up.

A man wearing a clown costume, his face painted in bizarre patches of red and yellow makeup, stepped forward. Tossing a small ball in one hand, he said in a shrill voice,

"Hehehe, join our Grotesque Circus! The Mother of the Grotesque is watching you! How wonderful would it be for us to play happily together!"

Behind the two cults stood a group of believers draped in black robes embroidered with blazing-cloud patterns. The woman in the cheongsam from before was at their head.

"Why waste words with them? Can't we consider annexation after killing them all?"

The woman in the cheongsam sneered.

The blue-haired man and the clown both seemed somewhat afraid of her and did not dare say anything more.

More than a hundred Ghoul Cult members followed behind the Rage Knight. They were all former subordinates whom Rage had recruited.

They did not really understand the changes that had occurred to the Rage Knight. They only knew that their master seemed to serve some important figure known as the Burial Venerable.

But after staying here for so many days, they had not even caught a glimpse of that important figure. This had stirred rebellious thoughts in the hearts of many believers.

Especially now that they were facing the joint siege of several cults.

Most of them were panicking inside.

The blue-haired man seemed to notice this as well. With a cold smile, he continued,

"Let me give everyone a piece of advice. Following the Ghoul Cult will lead nowhere good.

No matter how powerful Li Kangming is, can he withstand the assault of three cults?

Hahaha, how utterly ridiculous!

Anyone who wants to flee now, anyone who does not want to fight, step forward.

If you can turn the weapons in your hands against Li Kangming, then once we finish the purge,

we can give you a chance to join one of the major cults.

Hehehe, seize the opportunity, everyone..."

His tone was extremely persuasive, like a Wall Street securities manager selling junk bonds.

Many believers raised their heads one after another, as if making some kind of decision.

The blue-haired man's smile became even more unrestrained. His eyes were filled with the contempt and disdain of someone enjoying a spectacle, while the believers he had brought also revealed scornful expressions.

The clown stopped spinning the small ball in his hand and glanced in that direction, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

The beautiful woman in the cheongsam leisurely lit a cigarette, as though she were watching a farce.

"Ah!"

No one knew who it was, but someone finally let out a muffled roar, as though venting all the pressure in his heart. The believers who had once belonged to the Ghoul Cult actually turned their weapons toward their own companions.