Chapter 395: War Rises, the Net Closes, Devouring the True Immortal

"T-this has to be a joke?!"

"What kind of creature is this?"

Staring blankly at the horrifying scene in the distance, Wei Ziqi swallowed hard and rasped.

Lao Zhao beside him was likewise speechless, fixed on the terrifying sight afar as if struck mute. Not just him—every living being in the entire city, from ordinary mortals below to great cultivators of the Hua Shen Realm above, had become like statues, silently watching that scene.

Heaven and earth lost their color. That terrifying, ocean-like aura churned, spread, and swept in all directions, instilling the deepest fear in all things—a pressure nearly materializing into a sea, against which no resistance could be mustered. The might of a True Immortal!

Even though the other party had not deliberately released any oppressive aura, had not so much as lowered a true gaze, was merely approaching as if strolling, merely existing there—the aura that leaked out unintentionally was enough to bring fear and despair to every living being below the True Immortal realm.

This was a True Immortal fully revealing their complete form, the celestial phenomena arising spontaneously from no longer concealing and restraining themselves.

At this moment, silence reigned!

Not a single soul in the city dared to move!

This is the instinct engraved deep within a living being's genes—just as ancient humans, upon encountering terrifying predatory beasts, would go rigid all over, paralyzed with fear and unable to move, because their genes told them: move and you die! Only by abandoning resistance and praying the other party takes no interest was there a slim chance of survival.

This is the true sovereign beneath the starry sky—the True Immortal!

When Immortal-level beings do not appear, the True Immortal is invincible!

Only those great cultivators who had already broken through to the Hua Shen Realm managed, after a brief buffer, to employ every means at their disposal to barely break free from that nearly tangible binding sense of fear.

But that was all they could do. As for anything else—resisting or fleeing—it wasn't that they wanted to diminish their own prestige and boost the enemy's morale, but the gap between Hua Shen, that is, Earth Immortal Realm, and True Immortal was simply too vast. Under such a despairing disparity, any resistance was futile!

They could only stare in shock, muttering to themselves in awe: "Th-this is a Demon King who has touched upon Immortality? And which ones are they?"

Before such an existence, they could only hope that the mysterious and merciful Lord in the black robe would act, or that the newcomers were friends, not foes.

"Hehe… I, Bai Hao, have arrived. Won't you come out and meet me?"

"…Qin Yuan has arrived as agreed. Please, let us speak…"

Just as everyone was in despair, thinking they were about to be attacked by terrifying creatures, the approaching terrifying beings finally halted their steps, not breaking through the city wreathed in immortal light. Then a voice, clear as could be, rang out.

"What?!"

Countless people were suddenly shocked, raising their heads in disbelief. They had already shown expressions of despair, pinning their hopes on the powerful and merciful existence in the black robe to act, but never expected such a turn of events.

Among them, Lao Zhao was the most incredulous—this, this being was the powerful Demon King he had previously gone on a mission to see?!

Although when he had stood before that Demon King back then, he could feel the gap between them that he could never bridge, this was still too…

Thinking of the Demon King who had shown him a friendly attitude after he handed over any ring, and then looking at the BaiHaoYaoWang before him, larger than the entire city…

So this is a Demon King? ……

At this moment, countless people gazed at that despairing figure and murmured to themselves.

Yet their bodies unconsciously relaxed. As long as it's not an enemy, as long as it's not an enemy…

Indeed, this was a place sheltered by that merciful true cultivator—what enemy would dare…

Just as everyone was relaxing, thinking this way.

"Screech—!"

A piercing explosion suddenly rang out, caused by a blade-like purple flame tearing across the sky.

Purple flame from nowhere burst forth in an instant, from bottom to top, piercing through the massive shadow soaring close in midair with the speed of lightning—piercing, too, the relief that had just risen in everyone's hearts.

The soaring massive shadow froze,

Heaven and earth suddenly fell silent, as if an instant had become eternity.

The next moment, a wail as shrill as the buzzing of bees and crying of birds rang out. Then purple flame, dense beyond measure and drowning the heavens, erupted violently—bursting forth from within that massive bee-bird-like body, transforming into world-burning flames of destruction, upon which countless vengeful spirits wailed piteously.

The sky went dark…

The erupting, burning purple flame was like a purple sun illuminating all directions. The entire world echoed with those wails, and amid the flickering ghostly shadows, it was as if hell had descended upon Ren Jian.

"Drip…"

"Damn it! What the hell happened!"

A plump, crystalline bead of sweat slid quietly down Wei Ziqi's forehead, splashing into broken droplets.

Yet Wei Ziqi had no time to spare for that. The despair he'd felt just moments ago from the arrival of an invincible being had only just given way to relief upon learning the newcomer knew that big shot in the black robe—when this damned game world once again threw him a curveball he never imagined: the invincible being had been pierced through and killed in one strike!

At this moment his mind was blank, for there were too many twists, too many for him to even grasp what had happened.

"Long, Lord! You're actually not dead?!"

On the ground, Bai Hao, whose heart had been brimming with joy at the prospect of obtaining a large haul of Essence Stones, now felt an uncontrollable coldness spread throughout his entire body. He stared fixedly at the tall figure standing at the center of the purple sun above, devouring the Spirit of a massive bee-bird-like creature, and spoke word by word in disbelief.

The second-generation Long Lord of LongFu, whom they had once joined forces to kill, was actually not dead!

A trap! This was a trap aimed specifically at them!

This was Bai Hao's first thought upon realizing it. Those mysterious immortals—Jie had never once thought of their deal at all. They had been deceived by the Long Lord, who for some reason had not died!

Run!

The Long Lord, who could ambush and kill the QinYuanYaoWang who was slightly stronger than him, was absolutely no opponent he could match!

In the span of a racing mind, the BaiHaoYaoWang, coming back to his senses, was about to turn and flee.

"No! No! Bai Hao, save me! Save me!"

This scene was naturally seen by the QinYuanYaoWang, who was caught in a death crisis. Amid his painful struggles, he frantically sent out a plea for help.

Yet no matter how he struggled, he could only watch in despair as his own great power faded. That sliver of indestructible Characteristic within him, under the gnawing of absurdly numerous ghostly wraiths, gradually became tattered and ruined, and his consciousness began to weaken and blur.

He… was about to fall.

Under the gnawing of ten thousand spirits, Qin Yuan clearly recognized this point…

"Hatred! I hate this! Damn coward! Ah… I, I curse you, curse you…"

For a moment, knowing he was about to fall, he instead came to resent that massive figure trying to flee. In his crimson bird-eyes burned venom and unwillingness. Despair and unwillingness allowed him to condense his last sliver of strength into a curse, only to drag Bai Hao, who had abandoned him, down with him!

Setting aside the Qin Yuan whom Baichuan had seized the chance to ambush successfully in secret, Baichuan now stood atop the heavens, ignoring the Qin Yuan whose soul was being gnawed by ten thousand spirits and whose power was constantly flowing into himself, and coldly gazed down at the massive BaiHaoYaoWang on the ground.

The 【Spirit Absorption】 ability was best in this regard. The immortality that had once made True Immortals the most troublesome—even peers or Immortal-level beings found it hard to destroy their Spirit—before this activated ability, could only be like chirping chicks awaiting slaughter, no longer possessing even a shred of their former eternal indestructibility, obediently gnawed by ten thousand spirits and transformed into nourishment on his path to greater strength.

"Run, run. The Cage has been laid. Where could you possibly flee to?"

While murmuring, the expression-calm dragon, within Qinyuan's fearful gaze, deep within a pair of dragon eyes wreathed in purple flames, suddenly lit up with a seal — a twisted, grotesque script resembling insect trails and bird pecks, faintly forming the character "Spirit."

In an instant, the countless players and native cultivators still scattered across the wilderness on the ground eerily raised their heads in unison, the same seal as in Baichuan's eyes lighting up in their gazes as well.

That was something Baichuan had deliberately sent out on various missions — and now, at last, it was beginning to take effect!

One saw surging waves of powerful energy abruptly erupt from within the bodies of all the players and cultivators whose eyes had lit up with the seal, wrapping them in clusters of dense, variously colored flames of light. At this moment, every person wrapped in those flames of light possessed at the very least the strength of a Transcendent Realm peak, and a few directly wielded the power of an Earth Immortal!

Yet these beings ranging from Transcendent peak to Earth Immortal, in the very next moment, under Baichuan's will, transformed into cannonballs and were hurled forth, employing the most tragic self-detonation possible — all to hinder the fleeing Bai Hao by even a fraction!

"Boom boom boom—"

In an instant, explosions rang out one after another, each one comparable to a full-force strike of the Earthly Immortal Realm, and this terrifying power all poured down upon the body of BaiHaoYaoWang.

"Damn it, what's wrong with these ants?! Are they not afraid of death?"

Hindered by the continuous self-detonations of Earth Immortals and Transcendents, BaiHaoYaoWang was for a time plunged into a situation where every step was agonizingly difficult. His massive body constantly burst open with shallow dents, and he himself kept retreating step after step — these were self-detonations carrying the special power of players capable of breaking through defenses a full realm higher, combined with the strongest explosive force of Baichuan's Wheel Rotation Seal!

Even a True Immortal realm existence could not completely ignore it.

For a time, BaiHaoYaoWang, burdened with the endless pale-white barbed long spears on his back, could only fight back — fleeing while constantly swatting away the self-detonating "missiles" that precisely locked on and came at him, as if slapping mosquitoes!

……

"What on earth happened?"

"Where's the black-robed big shot? Why hasn't he made a move yet?!"

The terrifying battle that had suddenly erupted — on one side, a dragon-headed humanoid dragon shrouded in purple flames; on the other, the BaiHaoYaoWang who had earlier seemed to have some connection to the black-robed big shot — left Wei Ziqi, Lao Zhao, and the others bewildered. They could not help exchanging glances, constantly scanning their surroundings, trying to spot that figure which made them feel at ease.

They were utterly unaware that outside the city, those players and cultivators who had once consumed all manner of special heavenly materials and earthly treasures had all lost control of themselves and become human bombs, solely to hinder the Demon King for even a moment.

At this moment, Ye Minmin, who was outside, was in despair. At first, she had been just like the players in the city — fear, relief, shock, stunned — staring at all of this that had suddenly happened. At the start, she had even felt relieved that she had not stayed inside the city, but had come out to do missions instead.

That way, she could avoid the eye of the storm and observe from afar outside.

But who would have thought — not long after, in the briefest instant after the great battle erupted, she watched in horror as the player friends around her, gathered in clusters, instantly erupted with world-destroying powerful energy — and she was no exception.

Gaining such powerful strength out of nowhere should have been a good thing, so why were they all acting as if they didn't value their lives, transforming into kamikaze squads?!

They actually detonated all the power in their bodies, becoming human bombs hurled forth to hinder that powerful Demon King in their eyes?

Had they lost their minds?

At first, that was what she thought — until she heard the wail let out by one player after self-detonating, and felt her own body, under that mysterious energy, lose control and fly out as a human bomb. Then she understood……

But she would rather not have understood!

Watching the Demon King draw ever closer, Ye Minmin, whose entire body had lost control and erupted with all her power, in her final moment thought in a scattered, desperate daze.

But it was too late. In the next instant, as the screen went black, her character was already dead.

Returned to the game pod, with darkness pressing before her eyes and so weak she was nearly out of breath, she struggled to open the player forum.

Because she wanted to know what on earth had happened.

Sure enough, as the screen before her eyes flickered, she saw at that moment the entire player forum filled with wailing, all manner of curses flying — all posted by the players who had been willingly turned into self-detonating trucks!

Paying no heed to those meaningless curses, she kept searching for useful information. Before long, she finally found a useful post: "The Truth of the Self-Detonating Players! Is the Black Robe Good or Bad?"

She pressed her pale, cracked lips together, recalling the faint sense of familiarity from that out-of-control power in her final moment. Indeed, she was not the only one with such a guess.

……

On another front, accompanied by a final shriek, that pale-red, bee-like yet bird-like figure was at last completely devoured.

"My power has grown by nearly half……"

Sensing the increased power within his body, Baichuan murmured to himself, then looked toward Wanjiacheng. At this moment, it was in an uproar — some were despairingly watching their bodies lose control, some were ceaselessly praying for the descent of that "merciful" black robe that had long protected them, some were trying to flee this city that had become the eye of the storm, and some had despairingly given up resistance.

Unfortunately, they had no idea that it was precisely the black-robed accomplished cultivator they regarded as merciful and protective who had caused all of this.

Baichuan withdrew his gaze, paying no heed to those players and cultivators he had long since cultivated into human-shaped self-detonation machines, and looked toward the BaiHaoYaoWang, who was fleeing farther and farther away. In the next instant, he extended his Dragon Claw into the void.

The expression in his eyes turned to utter indifference — neither sorrow nor joy. This continent that had been coveted for so long — it was time to end!

To shatter this world, to contain all the souls of the entire world, and achieve his breakthrough to the Immortal realm!

And then to face the Immortal in Xingkong whom the Demon King had called "Jie"!

At this moment, the towering dragon figure slowly raised both claws, like a deity from the primordial age who had split heaven and earth and held up the sky and the earth. From the ground, faint yet inextinguishable purple lights abruptly erupted, spreading outward like patterns, extending continuously until they pierced through the entire earth.

This was something only he — whose true body was extraordinarily special, occupying the most crucial junction of the planet's ley lines in this world, the Spirit of Shishan — could accomplish so stealthily!

……

(End of this chapter)