Translator: CinderTL
A wave of turmoil surged within Chen Feng as he gazed at the crimson moon hanging in the sky.
The crimson orb emitted an eerie red light.
"Is this an anomaly caused by another Strength?"
"Or could it be a genuine eyeball?"
He had never considered such a possibility before, but now he couldn't help but entertain this terrifying speculation.
If the earlier phenomenon truly was a blink, whose eyeball could it possibly be?
"An Evil God?"
The two words settled in his mind, and despite having witnessed the Black Tide's power firsthand and believing he had experienced many grand spectacles, Chen Feng found it difficult to remain calm.
He desperately hoped his theory was wrong, yet an inexplicable intuition surged within him, whispering that this speculation was not entirely impossible.
Finally, at the distant gap in the collapsed high wall, a deafening roar erupted.
ROAR!!!
The earth-shattering roar shattered all speculation. Chen Feng looked up to see the One-Eyed Lava Troll standing at the breach, roaring skyward. Flames engulfed its body, making it resemble a mobile volcano.
In addition, he could vaguely make out a Sixth-Tier Griffon, its wings spread wide as it soared through the air, passing through the gap in the wall, and a Giant Lizard Creature, its massive form leaping over the breach.
But as Chen Feng sensed the Sixth-Tier aura, he felt an inexplicable familiarity—it was strikingly similar to the Sixth-Tier Black Tide Creature he had killed earlier.
It was as if it had been resurrected directly.
Boom!!
The Holy Shield Colossus unleashed another punch, instantly killing a powerful Sixth-Tier human-snake beast.
An inexplicable chill crept into Chen Feng's heart. He immediately flapped his Blood Wings and flashed onto the Colossus's shoulder.
From there, he gazed at the distant breach in the high wall.
Whoosh!!
The stone wings beat, and the Holy Shield Colossus soared into the sky, carrying him toward the designated direction.
Along the way, Bone Eagles burning with phosphorus fire and Batfolk with glowing eyes fearlessly swarmed to attack.
Without Chen Feng needing to lift a finger, the Colossus's stone wings thrashed, unleashing a hurricane that drove back all the attackers.
Five hundred meters... one thousand meters... three thousand meters...
Man and colossus flew in a straight line toward the distant high wall. Although Qinggang City was vast, the area they had previously explored was already close to the wall.
From afar, the world beyond the wall appeared pitch black.
The sky was dim, making it difficult to see much.
Only at the breach in the wall could one make out a dense swarm of black dots—thousands upon thousands of non-human creatures, most with twisted, deformed bodies covered in festering sores, their eyes burning with crimson and black.
Knowing they couldn't stop him, they still recklessly climbed high towers or walls, leaping into the air to drag him down.
This mad act was just the beginning. Soon, more and more flying creatures filled the sky.
Bone Eagles, Eaglemen, Winged Serpents, bats...
They swarmed like locusts, ignoring death as they surrounded him, even though they knew they couldn't get close.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Black Flash pierced through the air, clearing everything in its path.
A series of muffled explosions sent flying creatures plummeting to the earth like rain.
In the midst of this chaos, a Giant Lizard Creature on the ground suddenly reared up on its hind legs, lifting its head to unleash a fiery breath.
Across the open space, a Sixth-Tier Griffon stood its ground, refusing to dodge. It even charged forward to attack.
Meanwhile, the Magma Troll leaped from the high wall, its body erupting in flames as if about to self-destruct, soaring into the air.
BOOM!!!
All the attacks converged at once, obliterating the swarming flying creatures.
Below, the dark breath of the Giant Lizard Creature tore through the air. In front, the Magma Troll's fiery explosion ignited a towering inferno, briefly illuminating the world like a blazing torch.
Just as the Holy Shield Colossus was about to be struck, it abruptly halted in mid-air.
Golden runes flared across its surface as its golden armor stubbornly deflected the fiery breath.
Then, like massive stone hands, its enormous white-and-gray palms blocked the air, absorbing the shockwave and searing heat.
The sky continued to blaze with fire. The self-destructive attack of a 6th-tier creature was undeniably powerful.
The Sixth-Tier Griffon, now twisted and deformed, let out a chilling screech as it swooped down. The Holy Shield Colossus stood its ground, unfazed. It raised a palm, which instantly transformed into a fist.
Boom!!!
The punch landed squarely, and the Griffon's eagle head exploded.
The powerful shockwave from the impact scattered most of the nearby flames. The Griffon's lion-like, mutated body plummeted to the ground, its outstretched wings kicking up a whirlwind of white mist.
Chen Feng remained uninvolved throughout the battle, using the brief flash of the exploding flames to glimpse the scene beyond Qinggang City's high walls.
Thick, black mist, like liquid, filled every inch of space.
It was as if a black ocean had enveloped the city, and with every surge of the mist, new Black Tide Creatures emerged from its depths.
They came in an endless stream, a relentless cycle.
Everything, without end, originated from this source. Qinggang City was like an isolated island trapped within this abyss.
"Could it be... that Qinggang City itself has truly been dragged into the Abyss?"
His gaze heavy, Chen Feng's mind raced with uncertain speculations.
Finally, the crimson moonlight in the sky grew increasingly blood-red and eerie.
As if fueled by some unseen Strength, the mist beyond the walls churned once more. The silhouette of a massive creature pierced through the darkness, resembling a black warship breaking through the ocean's surface.
Chen Feng narrowed his eyes, making out its form.
Over a dozen meters long, its scales were pitch-black and grotesquely distorted.
It was none other than the one-horned giant crocodile the Holy Shield Colossus had slain earlier, now eerily resurrected like a creature returned from the dead.
Roar!!
Whimper!!
Screech!!
At the same moment, a continuous stream of Black Tide Creatures continued to emerge, either piercing through the black fog and swarming over the high walls like a plague of locusts through the massive gap that resembled a chasm, or else they were the remnants that had already been in Qinggang City.
They leaped onto skyscrapers, soared through the air, spewing dark light or breathing fire. Countless attacks rained down again, their piercing sounds grating on the nerves.
His heart sinking, Chen Feng ordered the Holy Shield Colossus to ascend higher, hoping to get a better view of the area beyond the city.
However...
All he saw was a vast, black expanse, devoid of earth or vegetation. The black fog seemed to have enveloped the entire world, leaving only the Holy Shield Colossus radiating golden light, its stone wings vibrating as it punched through the surging tide of Black Tide Creatures.
Chen Feng showed no joy at this. Instead, he stared intently at the black fog outside the city, his expression grim.
Amidst the churning chaos, the Abyssal Griffon, One-Eyed Lava Troll, and other 6th-tier creatures that had previously been killed were now returning from within the black fog.
Buzz!
Their eyes snapped open, revealing a brilliant azure sky. Beneath a trail of white vapor, a virtual blue light projection hung suspended in the air above the street.
A plump woman injected herself with a serum and instantly transformed into a slender, exquisitely beautiful woman.
The advertisement's slogan flashed in blue light. Chen Feng rose to his knees, retracted his gaze, and glanced at his phone.
[7:05]
"Whew."
Chen Feng exhaled a turbid breath, finally emerging from the Dream Realm unscathed.
It had been an age since he'd felt this sense of relief.
Ever since breaching the Safe Zone's Spatial Barrier, he'd been on the defensive, constantly hunted by Black Tide Creatures.
But now, thanks to the Holy Shield Colossus's overwhelming power, he could finally breathe easy, no longer feeling so cornered and desperate.
Though the black mist seemed capable of endlessly resurrecting those Black Tide Creatures, none of the creatures it spawned exceeded the Sixth-Tier level, unable to overwhelm the Holy Shield Colossus.
"The black mist can't resurrect life indefinitely."
"There must be some cost involved, but I haven't yet figured out the principle or found a weakness."
Recalling the events, Chen Feng remembered how the Holy Shield Colossus had ultimately obliterated the resurrected Horned Giant Crocodile and the Abyssal Griffon.
Those creatures hadn't reappeared since. Though the black mist churned through the night, spewing forth an endless stream of Black Tide Creatures, the leaders were unfamiliar Sixth-Tier creatures he hadn't seen before.
This indirectly confirmed his vague suspicion: resurrecting creatures of a certain strength, such as Sixth-Tier beings, likely came at a cost. Otherwise, why would they vanish after three resurrections?
Furthermore...
"Perhaps the power draining I sensed before was the energy returning to the black mist after those creatures died."
"Precisely because of this, they can reappear in a cyclical manner."
Chen Feng's eyes flickered as he recalled the past.
Each time he killed a Black Tide Creature before, its corpse would vanish into an illusion, its power being extracted.
Connecting the dots now, it was clearly related to the Black Mist.
He couldn't help but glance down at his chest.
Within the mark of the Heart of Life, the turbid Black Tide energy was slowly being purified—a small portion he had snatched from the power extracted from the Dream Realm.
If one day this talent, coupled with his rising Life Energy Level, grew to an unparalleled degree...
Could he then truly kill Black Tide Creatures, preventing their resurrection?
The thought flashed through his mind, leaving him standing motionless in a daze.
Chen Feng gradually calmed his fluctuating thoughts and emotions, finally turning his gaze to the panel before him.
[Extreme Martial Arts: 3]
[Golden Profound: 5]
[Limit Breaking Orbs: 32]
[Strength: 72.9 → 73.2]
[Agility: 62.6 → 63.1]
[Constitution: 73.9 → 74.1]
[Will: 74.9 → 75.2]
Despite the interference of the Blood Moon and the ambush by a Sixth-Tier creature leading a Black Tide army in the Dream Realm last night...
But thanks to the transformed Holy Shield Colossus, he finally broke free from the encirclement and once again increased his efficiency in gathering Light Orbs.
He absorbed all the Skill, Limit Breaking, and Attribute Light Orbs, reaping a substantial harvest.
Next, he lowered his gaze to examine his skills.
Heavenly Aura Overlord Body, Extreme Martial Fist, Golden Dawn Art
"It's still uncertain whether Qinggang City has truly been pulled into the Abyss, and the area behind the black fog remains unexplored. I don't know if I can travel to other major cities within the High Wall Alliance."
After a moment of thought, Chen Feng solidified his resolve. He decided to temporarily save these Light Orbs, intending to use them for the corresponding sect's True Arts when he achieved Transcendence.
He worried that Qinggang City might have become an isolated city in this Dream World, with a limited number of corresponding Light Orbs that he could exhaust.
He would conserve them as much as possible. As for the Sacred Flame Awakening Method, there would be plenty of nourishment for it later.
With his decision made, he immediately began practicing moves within the room, familiarizing himself with the True Art techniques he had glimpsed in the residual memories when absorbing the Skill Light Orbs.
These were also part of his harvest, some from the Extreme Martial Hall and others from the Golden Profound Stream.
As he focused, he could see Force flowing out, converging in his palm to form a burning tiger head, condensing all his Strength within it.
Fundamentally, he should activate his Golden Body again and gather the power of his Physical Body to transform the Flame Tiger into a Daylight Tiger. This would allow him to unleash explosive close-range attacks or launch ranged bombardments, achieving perfect mastery of his Golden Body.
Alternatively, he could unleash the Ferocious Tiger Coiling of his True Intent, solidifying it into a protective barrier that would shield him from all attacks. Even more extreme, he could transform his True Intent into a meteor shower, amplifying the destructive power of his Blazing Sunburst.
These were just a few techniques for manipulating Force from the two major sects. In addition, he had memorized several other formidable True Arts for unarmed combat.
Unfortunately, these arts fell short of the sects' top-tier True Arts, and Chen Feng already felt he had enough techniques at his disposal.
He didn't want to waste time on more Light Orbs and delay his progress, so he decided not to practice them separately.
"The three major sects... I wonder what the Thunderclap Sect's ultimate True Art is like."
His eyes flickered as Chen Feng recalled the memories of Qinggang City, mentioning another top-tier sect.
He kept this in mind and continued practicing, adapting to his new memories.
Whoosh!
That same day, an aircraft bearing the crossed swords and shield emblem pierced through the clouds, sending ripples through the air as it approached the bustling urban district of Nanjiang City.
Someone rushed from the United Coalition Building after receiving news. The figures inside the aircraft silently watched the Martial Hall and shopping mall below grow closer.
Speaker Luo Wantao passed away unexpectedly at 3:40 PM yesterday.
Councilor Luo was from Pine Forest City and had served in the United Coalition for thirty-four years, holding positions including...
A mournful voice announced the news on the shopping mall's outdoor screens. The footage was in black and white, with the host's face etched with grief.
The crowd below was mostly stunned, many stopping in confusion.
"What exactly does the higher-ups mean by covering up the truth and calling it an accident?" someone inside the aircraft demanded, visibly displeased. He carried a briefcase and wore a Red Guard combat uniform, the crimson emblem on his chest clearly indicating his high rank.
"The Military conducted an overnight investigation last night and discovered that this incident may have hidden complexities. Moreover, we've never heard of a Sixth-Tier Modified Human in Utopia. There might be other shadows lurking behind the scenes," another Red General, a middle-aged man with a stocky build, replied.
"Furthermore, the situation in the Radiant Light Secret Realm is already somewhat out of control. If the truth about this matter were to leak, the impact would be too great. We could easily be swept up by public opinion, triggering a world-shattering war."
The man who had asked the question earlier fell silent for a moment before shaking his head.
Even if a full-scale war erupts now, what difference would it make?
And even if there's someone else pulling the strings behind Utopia, we can't completely rule out the possibility that they acted on their own initiative!
His dissatisfaction growing, he soon glanced at the high-altitude imagery transmitted by the scanning instruments in the cabin.
"It's the Nanjiang City Council," a Golden General accompanying them announced. The man raised an eyebrow at the news.
"Chu Shihong's information network is quite impressive. Did you tell him?"
The slender Red General carrying the briefcase turned to the middle-aged man beside him, who was slightly overweight. The latter didn't deny it.
"This is, after all, his jurisdiction. We may have come here under orders, with the authority to act first and report later, but it's still best to follow protocol."
"Besides, the person we're about to question is also a Nanjiang Councilor. We need to consider the implications."
After a brief pause, the slender Red General carrying the briefcase fell silent. He knew that the man they were about to question had long since pledged his allegiance to Speaker Li. Today's interrogation was less about following protocol and more about going through the motions.
His dissatisfaction intensifying, he couldn't help but ask, "What if he's truly connected to this matter?"
"What will you do then?"
(End of the Chapter)
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