Chapter 176: Black Moon City

The Ancestor's words left the crowd of Long Clan Gu Cultivators with looks of shock on their faces.

A Gu Formula requiring tens of millions of portions of materials is simply terrifying; does such an exaggerated formula truly exist? It is hard to imagine how powerful a Gu Formula with such a quantity of materials could be, and everyone was stunned.

Long Yuanshan sighed and said, "For matters like this, we must prepare for the worst; regardless of whether Shi Haojun has refined a Forbidden Gu, we must treat him as if he has, and make thorough preparations in advance."

"Judging from the current situation, Shi Haojun clearly harbors ill intentions toward Black Stone City, but his conspiracy was uncovered by us ahead of time; with no one in the entire city having been infected by Gu, can we defeat Shi Haojun?"

Long Yuanshan looked at the Ancestor with serious eyes and spoke with great solemnity.

Long Yuan wore a bitter smile and said, "When has a person who refines a Forbidden Gu ever slaughtered a city without facing a crowd of peers at the same stage? And what was the result? They still slaughtered the city while fighting one against many."

"Have you forgotten the story I just told you? At its peak, the Demon Sky Sect was an existence that fought against the entire world with the strength of a single sect; if the tactic of overwhelming numbers were effective, the Demon Sky Sect would have been annihilated by the whole world long ago."

"A Gu Worm requiring materials in the tens of millions far exceeds your imagination; it is an existence that is severely beyond standard, so overwhelmingly powerful that it defies all reason, and it is no longer something where a numerical advantage alone can grind down the gap; once that Mutation Domain opens, how many people would actually be useful?"

"We have already missed the best opportunity to deal with Shi Haojun."

"If I am not mistaken, when he first arrived in Black Stone City to auction off Living Wood, his Plague Demon Gu had not yet completed its Third Stage Transformation, and he urgently needed a large amount of blood food."

"Although he was very strong at that time, he was far from possessing the exaggerated combat power to fight an entire city alone."

"Therefore, he needed to lure the Tiger away from the Mountain, drawing most of Black Moon City's Gu Kings away before taking the opportunity to slaughter the city."

"Because of our selfishness, he succeeded in slaughtering the city, obtained a large amount of blood food, and caused the Plague Demon Gu to successfully transform into a Mutated Gu."

"At this point, he no longer fears a vast number of Gu Kings and dares to make a move against Black Stone City."

"Do not harbor any illusions of luck; if he lacked confidence in his own strength, he would not have made a move against Black Stone City, and since he chose to act, he must have the certainty to destroy Black Stone City, for no one fights a battle without certainty."

"Next, there will definitely be a tough battle to fight, and it is unknown whether Black Stone City can survive this calamity, but even if we manage to endure this Crisis, I fear our losses will be severe."

Long Yuan let out a heavy sigh, then suddenly looked at Long Wanli and said, "Black Stone City is about to undergo a great change; you must inform the City Lord of this matter as soon as possible, and tell everyone in the city not to drink the water from the Black River."

"It is already late at night, so there should not be many people using water; if rescue efforts are timely, not many people will die, and we need their strength to jointly deal with Shi Haojun, so do not harbor any thought of letting them suffer unnecessary losses."

"Also! Immediately go and prepare water; the water source can be directly transferred from the Extreme West Long Clan, transfer as much as possible, for the city will definitely face a water shortage Crisis next."

Long Wanli nodded and immediately ordered his men to make arrangements.

……

……

The night was ink-black, silent and still.

Within a courtyard, a beautiful woman stood before the gate looking out eagerly, as if waiting for her husband's return.

When a handsome figure walked through the courtyard gate, she immediately broke into a joyful smile and ran happily toward him, but her steps were weak and floating, and she stumbled a few times before nearly falling; that figure hurriedly rushed forward to support her, revealing a look of heartache.

"You are already in this condition yet still trying to be strong; do not go to that place anymore, for you are not a savior and cannot save everyone."

Shi Haojun rolled up her sleeve and, seeing her arm covered with dense needle marks, immediately revealed a look of anger, with a flash of killing intent disappearing in his eyes.

Shi Rui hurriedly lowered her sleeve.

"Let us save as many as we can; we simply cannot stand by and watch people die without helping; by the way, how did your investigation go? Have you found the source of the Plague?" Shi Rui hurriedly changed the subject, looking up at him as she spoke.

Hearing this, Shi Haojun was indeed distracted and said with a proud smile, "Who am I? With me personally taking action, what case could I not solve?"

"Things that others could not investigate at all, I merely swept with my Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart and quickly identified the perpetrator of this incident."

"The source of this Plague stems from several Grave Robbers who robbed a great Tomb; although they emerged alive, they became contaminated with something terribly dangerous."

"This thing has a fatality rate even for Gu Kings and is contagious, spreading from one to ten and ten to a hundred, capable of covering the entire city within an extremely short time, with no Medicine to cure it."

"By the time I found them, they were already critically ill and near death, so I did not capture any live prisoners."

"However, I searched their Storage Rings and discovered a terrifying Gu Formula; this Gu Formula was brought out from that great Tomb, and learning it would be sufficient for me to obtain power unrivaled under heaven, leaving me very conflicted about whether or not I should refine this Gu."

Shi Haojun displayed a hesitant look, his expression uncertain and conflicted.

Seeing his indecisive expression, Shi Rui showed a gentle smile and said softly, "A Gu Formula that causes you conflict must be one with severe negative effects; since it has bad aspects, then do not refine it."

Shi Haojun paused, looked at the beauty in his arms as if a knot in his heart had been untied, and suddenly burst into loud laughter, saying, "Good, I will listen to you, so I will not refine this Gu Formula."

"Even for the sake of this cute little thing inside here, I should not touch such a dangerous Gu Formula."

Shi Haojun pressed his ear close to the woman's abdomen, revealing a gaze full of affection.

Shi Rui gently stroked her slightly swollen lower abdomen, showing a smile of happiness, and said softly, "People say it is a girl; why don't you give her a name now?"

"A daughter? A daughter is good; daughters are even cuter, being the caring little cotton jacket; then I shall give her a cute name, let's call her Stoneshadow's Daughter, do you think this name is cute enough!"

"Good! Then our daughter shall be called Stoneshadow's Daughter; this name is indeed quite cute," Shi Rui said with a happy smile.

Shi Haojun suddenly set the woman in his arms down, looked in the distance, put away his smile, and said seriously, "Those few Grave Robbers only stole a small part of that great Tomb; I plan to go and take another look."

"Listening to the thoughts of those Grave Robbers, I learned that there is a Heaven Grade Spirit Medicine in the Sleeping Hall of that great Tomb, but the Sleeping Hall is extremely perilous; those Grave Robbers suffered heavy losses and did not take the Tomb-Suppressing Treasure from within the Sleeping Hall."

"Since we already know there is a Heaven Grade Spirit Medicine in the Sleeping Hall of the great Tomb, it would be a pity not to take it."

"I plan to personally make a trip to that Tomb; the resources within that great Tomb exceed your imagination, and once I succeed, the two of us will never have to worry about cultivation resources for the rest of our lives."

"I am afraid it will take no short amount of time before I return; you wait for me at home, rest peacefully to nurture the fetus, and do not go anywhere."

Shi Haojun's eyes burned with fervor as he looked ambitiously toward the west.

Hearing this, Shi Rui felt not joy but worry.

How could a great Tomb be so easy to rob? Just looking at that unstoppable great Plague tells us that this Tomb must be filled with dangers, and anyone who enters will face nine deaths and one life.

She did not like Shi Haojun taking risks, not one bit; she feared losing him, and if he went, she would spend every day in fear and anxiety, unable to sleep well.

Shi Rui did not want resources that would last a lifetime; she only hoped for his one hundred percent safety.

Her lips moved again and again, but in the end, she did not speak the words of dissuasion: "Then be careful; I will wait for you at home."

"Mm!" Shi Haojun nodded solemnly to her, kissed her worried face, and said confidently, "Rest assured, I will face no danger on this journey; who am I? I am Shi Haojun, and I am invincible!"

"A mere small Tomb cannot do anything to me; I will definitely return alive, for I still need to come back and see my little cotton jacket, so how could I throw my Fate away inside it? I am departing now, so wait for my good news."

After kissing the woman before him once more, Shi Haojun turned and walked out of the courtyard gate.

"Haojun..."

Shi Rui watched his retreating figure with worry, took a few steps forward, then stopped.

Shi Haojun stopped, turned back to look at her, and said with a smile, "Wait for my return..."

With those words, Shi Haojun finally hardened his heart and left.

……

Two months later.

"Shi Rui, I'm back, hahaha… We'll never have to worry about resources again, hahaha… Look at what I've brought you…"

Shi Haojun stepped once more into the courtyard gate, but his laughter suddenly cut off, his smile freezing stiff on his face.

The beautiful, virtuous woman no longer waited as she always had, gazing eagerly for his return.

Instead, the courtyard was hung with White Silk; in the center of the house stood a prominent Coffin, bearing a large character: "Mourning."

His vision went black, and he nearly fainted.

"Where is Shi Rui? Where is Shi Rui?"

He dared not imagine the thought in his heart, still clinging to a final flicker of hope, he grabbed someone and shouted demandingly.

"Brother!"

The man suddenly pointed to a large box on the table. Shi Haojun turned toward it, his hand trembling as he reached out and slowly lifted the lid.

When his gaze fell upon the box's contents, his eyes nearly burst from their sockets…

……

"No!!"

Shi Haojun suddenly sat upright on the bed, gasping for breath, his face twisted in horrific rage, eyes bloodshot, radiating terrifying killing intent.

After a long while, he caught his breath, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had finally calmed down. Slowly, he rose from the bed, pushed open the door, and walked outside.

But when the door opened, what entered was not fresh air—it was the overwhelming stench of blood, thick and suffocating.

He walked onto the street, stepping over one corpse after another. The entire street was littered with bodies, so many they could not be counted; the ground was flooded with blood, dyed a deep crimson.

Corpses covered the entire street, every face twisted in horrific agony, as if they had suffered unbearable torment before death.

Thus, he stepped over countless corpses, one slow step at a time, heading toward the city gate.

Above the city gate were carved three large characters: "Black Moon City," strikingly visible.

At this moment, those three characters were drenched in blood, making them appear terrifyingly grotesque.

……

(End of Chapter)