Chapter 306: The World That Can Never Be Returned To

Seeing the Justice Alliance Army step onto the Magpie Bridge once again, Patriarch Yuan Qing asked the 【Eagle of Foresight】: "What has happened over at the Blood Sect?"

The 【Eagle of Foresight】 looked dejected: "Lin Bai left behind a mouth, used a sonic attack, blew away a hundred miles of the Blood Sea in one fell swoop, destroyed the Blood Sect's mountain gate, and wiped out all cultivators below the Spirit Transformation stage."

After a brief black screen, the Blood Sect players respawned and logged back in; the news coming through the barrage of comments left him shocked and horrified.

The content of the barrage left the 【Eagle of Foresight】's mind in chaos; his thoughts were no longer on the present. Lin Bai's sonic attack was powerful and overbearing, with a destructive force greater than a nuclear bomb. Even if all modern technological weapons were brought over, could they really deal with Lin Bai?

The destruction of the Blood Sect meant that Lin Bai now had the strength to confront the Seven Righteous Sects head-on.

Given Lin Bai's temperament, was suppressing the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects simply inevitable?

If Lin Bai stood alone at the top, how should the Group conduct itself?

Even the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects knew to restrict players, yet Lin Bai kept calling players a catastrophe; betting that he wouldn't take action against players was nothing but wishful thinking...

With such a powerful NPC, how were players supposed to play the game?

Looking toward the position of Lin Bai's support group, the 【Eagle of Foresight】 frowned slightly. Were players supposed to just honestly shrink back into the game world and act as dogs for an NPC?

What about competitiveness and balance?

The game's plot had developed to this point, and it was becoming increasingly unreasonable...

Were the NPCs too intelligent, and had the game's plot spiraled out of control?

Was this actually a real world or not?

How on earth could the Group extract any profit from this?

Various questions scrolled across the barrage. The 【Eagle of Foresight】's mind was a tangled mess. He had once led the Xinlong Group to carve out a world for himself in the global marketplace, but the current situation still filled him with deep anxiety and a sense of powerlessness...

At this moment, he could fully empathize with the feeling of helplessness the Seven Righteous Sects felt when facing Lin Bai's laws; the two sides were simply not playing the same game.

"A sonic attack destroyed the Blood Sect's mountain gate?" Old Ancestor Yuan Qing trembled, his eyes widening as he repeated the words in a daze.

Lin Bai had been active for so many days; although he habitually used his laws to annoy people, he had never been bloodthirsty. Hearing the news that everyone below the Spirit Transformation stage had been wiped out, he found it hard to believe.

He knew the power of the Blood Sea, and he knew how many Great Vehicle Realm and Tribulation Transcendence stage experts the Blood Sect had left behind.

In such a short time, across the Blood Sea, under the watch of numerous Great Vehicle Realm experts, he had killed tens of thousands of Golden Core cultivators in a single blow—was this still that same Lin Bai?

"This time, we can label Lin Bai as a demon!" Yi Wuji looked at the Magpie Bridge spanning between Zhen City and the Blood Sect, his face deathly pale, and muttered, "We were thinking of clipping Lin Bai's wings, but we didn't expect him to strike first..."

"Who would care?" The 【Eagle of Foresight】 glanced at him and steadied himself. "You have no foundation of prestige among the common people; in the eyes of most, you are no different from strangers. Through the propaganda of *Justice Weekly*, your image as selfish, greedy for resources, and obstacles to the development of civilization has already taken deep root in people's hearts."

He shook his head, ignoring the changing expressions of the two sect masters, and continued, "First impressions are hard to change; some things cannot be reversed just by arguing a few points in a publication. Just a few days ago, you even obstructed the Magpie Bridge, which benefits the people's livelihood."

Not only that, but Taihao, Taichu, Taiyi, and all other nations are constantly thinking of resisting you. Under these circumstances, do you think labeling Lin Bai as a demon is useful?

Perhaps once this news spreads, the common people will even applaud Lin Bai and wish for more of you to die. Labeling Lin Bai as a demon is nothing more than your own self-amusement, just like the previous Righteous-Evil Extermination Order."

"Wasn't it you who set the strategy of using rules to hinder the development of the Justice Alliance?" Old Ancestor Yuan Qing said with a dark face.

"If it weren't for the work we did, your image among the common people would be even worse," the 【Eagle of Foresight】 retorted. "I truly don't know what you've managed to cultivate over these tens of thousands of years."

Old Ancestor Yuan Qing snorted: "Cultivation has nothing to do with ordinary people to begin with; Lin Bai is simply hypocritically buying people's hearts..."

"But he is much more successful than you are," the 【Eagle of Foresight】 said.

"Things have reached this point; arguing about this is meaningless," Yi Wuji said. "The top priority should be considering how to deal with Lin Bai. His sonic attack is enough to sever the foundation of the Cultivation World; I fear all previous strategies for dealing with him will fail. Even if we clip all his wings, once Lin Bai is gone, no sect will be able to withstand his harassment."

The 【Eagle of Foresight】 looked at the two of them, pondered for a moment, and said: "Let's see the result of the battle between the Blood Sect and Lin Bai. If Lin Bai loses, we can take advantage of the situation to kill him. If Lin Bai wins, the best method is to merge the entire sect into the Justice Alliance, win Lin Bai's trust, and then wait for an opportunity to act..."

Before he could finish speaking.

Patriarch Yuan Qing had already interrupted him: "Impossible."

The 【Eagle of Foresight】 swept a glance at him and continued: "Then only the second method remains: mobilize every means to fight Lin Bai to the death, regardless of dragging the entire world into the flames of war. Or, have the sect break into smaller units, hide among the common people, and use the Justice Alliance's current methods to stall Lin Bai until we find a way to defeat him, or until Lin Bai compromises and both sides agree on a boundary of non-aggression..."

Even at the most difficult moment, he still hadn't given up on creating opportunities and conditions for players to make a comeback.

Patriarch Yuan Qing's brow furrowed repeatedly; neither method was what he wanted to see.

Finally, he sighed: "Let's wait and see the result of the Blood Sect battle! Lin Bai may not be as powerful as you say. By the way, what is Lin Bai doing now?"

"Luring monsters," the 【Eagle of Foresight】 glanced at the barrage, speaking concisely.

"..." Patriarch Yuan Qing.

"..." Yi Wuji.

When the Justice Alliance Army arrived at this end of the Magpie Bridge, the scene of devastation stunned everyone.

Soil that had been blasted high into the air was still drifting down from the sky. Everyone stared blankly at what was before them; no one could have imagined that in just a short moment, Lin Bai had ravaged the lush mountain forest into this ghostly state, as if dozens of Great Vehicle Realm experts had fought a great battle here.

"Master, did you use that sonic attack again?" Ye Song asked blankly.

Xiao Yu and the others felt their throats go dry. They stole glances at Lin Bai, feeling incredibly fortunate in their hearts that Lin Bai had indeed shown them mercy back then.

"Just shouted a bit." Lin Bai's vision gradually cleared. Looking at the space filled with surging blood energy, he ignored everyone's mood. "Everyone, prepare for battle."

As he spoke, he took a deep breath and shouted toward the churning Blood Sea, "Fellow Daoists of the Blood Sect, what kind of skill is hiding your heads and showing your tails? Why not fight a decisive battle outside the Blood Sea in an upright manner? You have the guts to harbor war criminals, but no ability to come out? I know you are all cowering inside the Blood Sea..."

The sonic waves forced the Blood Sea apart, and Lin Bai pinpointed the positions where the Blood Sect cultivators were standing.

He turned his taunting to the max, luring the monsters out.

"... I don't know if you are stupid or foolish. You should have activated the Blood Sea after the Justice Alliance people entered; at that time, none of us would have been able to escape. You stubborn fools activated the Blood Sea first—did you really think we were as stupid as you? How great this is now; you still have to come out obediently and fight us to the death outside. None of you will escape. The Blood Sea has become completely useless; you are simply stupid to the core..."

At this time.

The position where they stood was still about a hundred miles away from the Blood Sect. It took about three minutes for the sound to travel there. The provocation could not stop; Lin Bai had to keep up his chatterbox mode, maintaining a super-high decibel volume.

It was as if a series of howitzers were constantly exploding by their ears. The people around them had their heads buzzing and had to use their cultivation to protect themselves.

Lin Bai went crazy at the drop of a hat; the people around him were no longer surprised by whatever he blurted out, and occasionally they would even take notes seriously.

After all.

Who knew when they might need it when practicing "Words Manifesting into Law."

Suddenly.

The blood energy in front of everyone surged, and thousands of cultivators wrapped in blood energy rushed out from the Blood Sea, charging toward Lin Bai.

Watching the Blood Sect cultivators rush out of the Blood Sea, the encounter outside Zhen City returned to the minds of Xiao Yu and the others. Their hearts were filled with sorrow, and they actually felt a bit of sympathy for the Blood Sect cultivators. Fighting Lin Bai—what "favorable timing, geographical advantage, and human support"? It was all complete bullshit!

"Fairy Cen, please hold on a little longer this time." Lin Bai stopped his Zhaofeng, shouted politely toward Cen Qing, and then, before the rushing Cultivators could react, he cast the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Skill in waves.

Phoenix Seeking Phoenix, designates males to display their talents to females.

Theoretically, Lin Bai could designate many people on both sides, but multi-target operation was too complex and difficult to control; Lin Bai could not manage such fine micro-manipulation, so after much thought, he could only trouble Fairy Cen Qing alone.

Charging at the very front were eight at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

The eight old men had not yet figured out why they had suddenly rushed out of the Xuehai, when the next instant, they had already turned around, shed the blood energy from their bodies, and ran in front of Cen Qing to perform their talents.

Ancestor Tuohai twisted his limbs and began to dance a shaman's blessing dance;

Ancestor Nan Rong spread his stance and began doing backflips in front of Cen Qing;

Ancestor Xin Gong opened his mouth and began singing opera in a babbling voice;

Ancestor Wei Ying performed ventriloquism, chirping and mimicking bird calls...

Following closely behind were more than thirty at the Great Vehicle Realm, including Tu Yan; there were men and women among them, the men either singing or dancing;

The seven or eight female Great Vehicle Realm Cultivators were left foolishly stunned on the spot, watching the Tribulation Transcendence Stage ancestors making fools of themselves, standing there dumbfounded, forgetting to attack and forgetting to defend;

Further behind were those at the Void Refinement Realm, and behind them were those at the Spirit Transformation Realm...

The crowd in front of Cen Qing grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in a short while, they filled the sky, a vast, swarming mass, a chaotic dance of demons;

There were those singing, those dancing, those doing somersaults, those doing handstands, those performing magic tricks... and others who had no talents to show, standing in the middle of the crowd barking like dogs, and so on and so forth, too many to list.

The Blood Sect Cultivators had just been ravaged by Lin Bai's sound waves, and many had their clothes torn; before they could change, they hung on their bodies in tatters, and without the cover of blood energy, they were exposed to the eye, a messy, unsightly sight...

Setting aside those singing, chanting, and performing ventriloquism, those dancing, doing somersaults, and doing handstands had already begun to voice various questions and curse loudly...

For a time, the sky was livelier than a vegetable market.

Watching the suddenly erupting barrage, 【Baiyin】 let out a breath of satisfaction: "Finally able to stream it, I've been stifled for these past few days, just waiting for this day!"

【Huangye Lang】 said: "Indeed, I just wonder what kind of expressions the old fogies of the Seven Righteous Sects will have when they learn of the Blood Sect's encounter?"

"Holy crap, what is this thing?"

"Is this Lin Bai's new Skill?"

"The previous sound wave attack was still normal, how did such a huge pile of monsters and ghosts pop out in the blink of an eye?"

"No wonder Lin Bai dared to challenge the Blood Sect alone, this is freaking invincible in the mortal world!"

"Full crowd control, absolutely awesome."

"What a good game, but after Lin Bai appeared, it's becoming less and less watchable; it's been completely ruined."

"The balance has been destroyed to a mess, I've completely lost hope in this game..."

"Setting aside the game plot, have you noticed that the dances of the Blood Sect old men form their own school, and have great reference value for reality!"

"It must have been hard for the programmers to choreograph so many bizarre dances; big shots in the arts world, come out and learn from this quickly..."

"Damn, there's even one in the crowd performing sword swallowing..."

"Streamer, may I ask, what is the name of Shopkeeper Lin's new Law?"

Once Phoenix Seeking Phoenix was released, it was like detonating a deep-sea bomb inside and outside the game; it completely exploded, and no one could remain calm.

A gust of wind suddenly swirled in front of the Wanhun Valley Cultivators who had come to support, the wind blowing their clothes until they rustled, and a loud voice came mixed in the wind: "Fellow Daoists of the Blood Sect, distinguished guests have arrived, what is the reason for avoiding us?"

Ning Wenlin, the Vice Sect Master leading the Wanhun Valley team, changed his expression: "Is this the power of the sound wave attack? The sound can actually travel this far?"

The player 【Guidao Zongshi】, acting as a mouthpiece on the Soul Boat, looked suspiciously at the suddenly decreasing barrage on the live stream screen and the viewer count collapsing as quickly as a receding tide; he frowned, ignored Ning Wenlin's exclamation, and said hurriedly: "Ancestor, something major must have happened at the Blood Sect. Please wait a moment, allow me to go down and scout for information before reporting back to you."

Ning Wenlin was stunned and hurriedly asked: "What happened?"

"The entire Blood Sect might have been controlled by Lin Bai. I have too few people here and don't know the situation well; I have to go down to know what happened." 【Guidao Zongshi】 said hastily, "Ancestor, it would be better not to rush forward; something truly incredible might have happened..."

Ning Wenlin hesitated for a moment and waved his hand to stop the team. The next second, the Heavenly Descended in the team logged off one after another, leaving a group of Wanhun Valley Cultivators looking at each other in dismay, none of them knowing what had happened!

Such a situation wouldn't have mattered in the past, but having grown accustomed to the real-time reports of the Heavenly Descended, their sudden absence left the group of Cultivators feeling exceptionally lost; their hearts felt empty, they felt uneasy doing anything, and they dared not continue forward.

However, with all the Heavenly Descended leaving at once, it seems something truly major has happened over at the Blood Sect.

It was not just Wanhun Valley.

Online streaming players in countries like Zhen City, Qian City, Taichu, and Taihao logged off collectively once again to watch the spectacular live stream on the outskirts of the Blood Sect.

After all, such spectacular scenes were rare, and the fun would be halved if watched in a rebroadcast later; besides, their live stream rooms were already empty, and it wasn't convenient to act as mouthpieces, so why stay online?

Lin Bai had once again caused the game to become a ghost town, on a larger scale than last time, with nearly all players logging off to watch the live stream.

The local natives everywhere suddenly became deaf and blind, each one of them anxious and scratching their heads, worried and not knowing what had happened, unable to even contact their own sect members.

Ancestor Yuan Qing and Yi Wuji of Zhen City looked at each other, completely bewildered; they were closest to the Magpie Bridge and knew that the battlefield was on the other side, and that they would know what happened if they went over, but there was no one to guide them, and the Magpie Bridge was equivalent to a natural chasm for them...

Ancestor Yuan Qing looked up at the Magpie Bridge leading to various places, then looked at the City Guard walking onto the streets in a daze because the Heavenly Descended had disappeared, sighed dejectedly, and said sorrowfully: "Brother Yi, I fear we will never be able to return to our original world."

(End of chapter)