Gao Tianfang was decisive and immediately gave the order. "Every Ranked Martial Artist in the city is to come here the moment they receive this order. Anyone who disobeys will not be spared!"
Dozens of personal guards received the order and immediately sprang into action, racing off in every direction through the city as fast as they could.
Meanwhile, all the Martial Artists present quickly spread out and surrounded the ruins of the central circular building, their faces tense as they stood ready for battle.
Yet ever since the central circular building had collapsed, the underground tremors had ceased. Beneath the ruins, everything was unnaturally quiet.
The quieter it was, the more nervous Gao Tianfang, Jueming, and the others became.
Even so, some people overflowing with curiosity still lingered nearby.
Chen Shi'an was among them.
Gao Tianfang turned and barked coldly, "Why are you still hanging around? Have you lived long enough?"
Only then did the onlookers scatter.
Not all of them went far, however. A few hid at distant street corners or inside buildings and continued watching in secret.
The ignorant knew no fear.
Chen Shi'an also retreated some distance, heading to the second floor of a teahouse diagonally opposite the central circular building.
The teahouse had already closed when Desolate Suppression City suddenly began shaking violently, but Chen Shi'an took an unconventional route, entering through a window.
He found a seat by a window on the second floor, sat down, and waited quietly, intent on watching the spectacle through to the end.
At the same time, however, he made his preparations. If Gao Tianfang and the others failed to suppress Desolation, he would immediately flee into the Desolate Ruins with the Blood-Clad Guard and any members of the Earth Pill Sect willing to follow him.
Time slowly passed.