Chapter 850: The Name of the Venerable One, Xu Zhifan's Choice

Divine Array Hall.

Xu Zhifan stroked the texture of the iron chair with one hand, his head bowed, his gaze terrifyingly dark.

"What about Qiming Village?"

He spoke slowly.

Inside the hall, the array attendant spoke slowly:

"Qiming Village is the furthest from Luo Town; news has yet to arrive."

"Hmm."

Xu Zhifan nodded slowly, waved his hand in silence, and signaled for the array attendant to withdraw.

Although he did not yet know the news from Qiming Village, he had already guessed the outcome in his heart.

Qiming Village was the furthest from Luo Town, so if Chen Yan were to deploy an auxiliary array to guide the 【Annihilation】 Grand Array, the difficulty would be the greatest.

The reason he let Chen Yan go was that the thousands of people in the four villages of Qiming Village had actually been abandoned by Xu Zhifan long ago.

In the Evil Realm, the Tainted Blood Human Race had a clear hierarchy.

The Tainted Blood humans staying in village-level Pure Lands possessed distinct, abnormal structures inherited because their ancestors were constantly eroded by malice.

Therefore, in Xu Zhifan's view, the destruction of a village-level Jing Tu was actually acceptable.

From beginning to end, he did not know to what extent Chen Yan had mastered the auxiliary array, because he had abandoned Qiming Village from the start, so he did not care.

What Xu Zhifan truly found difficult to bear was that the town-level Jing Tu had also been affected by the Small Tide.

Just then, a voice rang out within the main hall.

"Have you decided?" The voice carried a hint of mockery:

"Even when given the chance, you are useless. Your abilities, Xu Zhifan, are mediocre; even if you keep the powerful Array Pivot Envoys within the Luo Town base camp,

you still cannot preserve Luo Town. You are truly..."

A person in black appeared and slowly shook their head.

Although they did not say it, the way they looked at Xu Zhifan was truly as if they were looking at a piece of trash.

Xu Zhifan's face turned gloomy to the extreme:

"I want to see your Great Leader!"

…………

At the same time.

Within the Sea of Malice.

A massive boat-leaf drifted.

Above the boat-leaf, the superstructure was layered like a city, with vermilion-lacquered corridors, golden railings, and bronze bells hanging from the eaves.

Armored soldiers holding weapons stood on the corridors, their auras powerful.

Inside a cabin.

A man wearing pitch-black battle armor stood before the window with his hands behind his back; he appeared to be about fifty years old, wore a thick beard, and nobility and tyranny flowed between his brows.

The black-armored man turned slowly and looked behind him.

Jiang Guanxin, with a deathly pale face and a completely bald head, was clutching a cup of hot tea, trembling incessantly.

"Jiang Guanxin," the black-armored man said.

"Ah!" Jiang Guanxin was as if struck by great terror; the cup in his hand fell instantly, and hot tea spilled onto the deck.

The black-armored man frowned, waved his hand, and a look of disappointment appeared in his eyes.

"Lord Prefecture Master, what do you wish to say?" Jiang Guanxin asked with a trembling voice, his eyes darting around as he kept looking at his surroundings.

It was as if he were worried that some terrifying thing might suddenly emerge at any moment.

The black-armored man turned away without answering.

He was extremely disappointed by Jiang Guanxin's current state of disarray and anxiety.

The black-armored man was none other than Fang Rui, the current Prefecture Master of the Yang Prefecture.

Before the Small Tide, Jiang Guanxin had found him, claiming to have encountered a powerful Pure Evil Ancient God Beast in Luo Town.

Fang Rui examined Jiang Guanxin's behavior and concluded that Jiang Guanxin had indeed encountered extreme terror recently.

However, it should not have been an encounter with a Pure Evil Ancient God Beast.

Because, according to Jiang Guanxin's account, the one who caused him to become like this was another Array Pivot Envoy in Luo Town, Chen Yan.

And Chen Yan had influenced him at the Divine Array Hall.

But unless the tide arrived, Ancient God Beasts could not enter the Jing Tu, let alone approach the 【Annihilation】 Grand Array within the Divine Array Hall at close range.

If an Ancient God Beast could approach the 【Annihilation】 Grand Array so wantonly, the human race in the Evil Realm would have perished long ago.

What Fang Rui cared about was the unknown powerhouse capable of deploying divine arrays, as discovered by his Deputy Envoy, Ma Zhiyao.

Fang Rui even speculated that this Chen Yan might be the one who personally wiped out over a dozen settlements of Law Enforcers.

Fang Rui placed great importance on any existence capable of deploying a divine array, even if it could only create a Morning Star-level 【Annihilation】 Grand Array.

Therefore, once the Small Tide ended, he headed directly to Luo Town with Jiang Guanxin.

It was just that.

He had called Jiang Guanxin over, wanting to ask more about Chen Yan.

Yet, the moment Jiang Guanxin heard the two words "Chen Yan," he would tremble all over and could provide no useful information at all.

"That is all, you may go back."

Fang Rui said calmly.

In an instant, Jiang Guanxin hurriedly spoke:

"Prefecture Master... Lord Prefecture Master, that... that person is a Pure Evil Ancient God Beast, he absolutely is..."

Fang Rui frowned:

"I have already said, an Ancient God Beast cannot enter the Divine Array Hall."

Jiang Guanxin's face turned deathly pale, a look of terror emerging in his eyes:

"But he is different. With just a single glance from him, I entered another world, and there I suffered endless torment..."

Fang Rui looked at Jiang Guanxin and sighed slightly; Jiang Guanxin was effectively ruined.

That Chen Yan...

Even without having met him yet, Fang Rui felt Chen Yan's methods were a bit too ruthless.

He reckoned Chen Yan had mastered some kind of illusion array technique capable of disturbing the mind, directly invading Fang Rui's divine sense.

Fang Rui's gaze softened:

"If he is an Ancient God Beast, I will exhaust everything to annihilate him, rest assured."

Seeing Fang Rui make such a promise, Jiang Guanxin finally calmed down gradually, gritting his teeth as he said:

"Lord Prefecture Master has boundless strength; you will certainly be able to slay... slay him!"

Fang Rui looked at Jiang Guanxin, who had been frightened to such a state, and sighed inwardly.

If the one who could fabricate the Morning Star-level 【Annihilation】 Great Array was indeed Chen Yan.

Although he appreciated the talent, he would still have to give him a good reprimand.

Look at what you've done to someone else's child.

…………

At the same time.

Bai Town.

Array Master Hall.

"What did you say?"

Deputy Prefecture Master Ma Zhiyao rushed in hurriedly, looking at the Bai Town Array Master and Peng Linjun sitting inside the Array Master Hall.

After leaving Luo Town, Ma Zhiyao had come to Bai Town to search for someone capable of deploying a divine array.

As it turned out, he had not found one.

After the small tide passed, he had prepared to leave.

As it turned out, just as he arrived at the pier, the Bai Town Array Master sent someone to call him back.

The Bai Town Array Master looked at Peng Linjun, who had just returned from Qiming Village, and said:

"Peng Linjun, you tell him."

"Yes!" Peng Linjun looked at Ma Zhiyao and said:

"This subordinate is an Array Pulse soldier sent by the Array Master to support Qiming Village in Luo Town, where I encountered Honorable Chen Yan."

Ma Zhiyao's expression was urgent:

"Get to the point!"

"Yes!" Peng Linjun saluted again and said:

"I and thousands of villagers in Qiming Village witnessed Honorable Chen Yan annihilate an eighth-rank Ancient God Beast and over a dozen seventh-rank Ancient God Beasts with a single blade strike.

Moreover... Honorable Chen Yan did not deploy an auxiliary array; he casually fabricated array patterns and drew upon the power of a divine array, protecting the entire Qiming Village!

The Honorable One... is a great existence so powerful that one cannot know his true strength!"

As Peng Linjun spoke, Ma Zhiyao's breathing had already stalled.

When he heard that Chen Yan had slain an eighth-rank Ancient God Beast with a single blade, his brain felt like it had crashed.

"You..." Ma Zhiyao gave a forced, mirthless smile:

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Peng Linjun laughed sheepishly:

"Not only did this subordinate see it, but the thousands of villagers in Qiming Village all saw it.

If it weren't for the fact that everyone saw it, and Honorable Chen Yan did not instruct this subordinate to keep it secret, this subordinate would never have revealed such news!"

Ma Zhiyao's expression changed drastically; he could hardly believe his ears, his eyes staring fixedly at Peng Linjun.

Originally, he only wanted to find the existence capable of deploying the 【Annihilation】 Great Array.

But now, he had actually found an existence capable of casually slaying eighth-rank Ancient God Beasts.

How was this any different from going to pick wheat ears and ending up finding a mountain of gold?

With a thud.

Ma Zhiyao slumped to the floor, as if he had lost all his strength.

In his mind, he kept replaying the scene from when he went to Luo Town.

He had his subordinates investigate all the Array Pivot Envoys who had come to greet him.

But at the time, Ma Zhiyao was still in a fit of anger because he knew Xu Zhifan had falsely claimed credit.

He had overlooked one thing.

That was, he subconsciously assumed those Array Pivot Envoys who greeted him were all the Array Pivot Envoys in Luo Town.

And he had ignored the existence of someone as powerful as Chen Yan.

A wave of palpitations flashed through Ma Zhiyao's mind.

It was just like suddenly recalling some mundane things that happened during the day at night, only to suddenly realize one had overlooked some huge terror hidden in a corner.

Sweat seeped out from his body continuously, more and more.

An existence capable of casually slaying eighth-rank Ancient God Beasts was, in Ma Zhiyao's heart, no different from a great terror.

This was an existence far more powerful than the Yang Prefecture Prefecture Master.

In fact, one could say he is the supreme figure of the Evil Realm!

The Master of White Town looked at Ma Zhiyao and actually felt a sense of understanding.

After all, he had been in a similar state back then.

After a long while, Ma Zhiyao slowly stood up:

"I... I must return to Ziyang Prefecture immediately... No!"

Ma Zhiyao's eyes flickered, and he hurriedly shook his head:

"Go to Luo Town!

I will go to Luo Town first to pay my respects to that Venerable One!"