Legion Enters the Realm
"He succeeded."
On the desolate muddy road, the numerous Dusk Society members looked somewhat surprised when they saw the Embroidery Diagram Realm descending from the sky. And Eight of Clubs, feeling the increased Spiritual Power in his body, had reverence and joy surface in his eyes.
"To think that this time, we actually witnessed the birth of a Demigod with our own eyes."
"...Yeah, this really isn't common."
"If he fights the Lord of Wuji, who will win?"
"In my impression, battles of Demigods are extremely rare, not to mention a battle between a Nine Monarchs and a Divine Path Demigod." Bai Ye was thoughtful. "In theory, these two are of the same tier, and their Combat Power is also about the same."
"But the current Lord of Wuji shouldn't be in his complete form, right?"
"Mhm, but the current Chief probably also..." Bai Ye pondered for a moment and didn't continue. "Anyway, it's really hard to say who will win or lose between these two."
"Before in the Aurora Domain, wasn't there King of Clubs to hold the fort? This time it can't be that they're just relying on the few of us to complete the Nine Monarchs retrieval, right?"
Everyone exchanged a glance, indeed feeling it was strange as well.
"Perhaps, the higher-ups have other preparations?"
"Let the higher-ups have a headache over these things... Let's find a place to settle down first."
"Chen Ling, Chen Ling?"
Chu Muyun's call made Chen Ling suddenly wake up.
At this time, Chen Ling hadn't detached from Yao Qing's perspective yet. Just now, he had personally experienced the entire process of ascending the steps and obtaining the path, and also felt that earth-shattering great battle between Yao Qing and the Lord of Wuji... But perhaps because of The Fourth Wall, he didn't substitute himself into it and didn't feel Yao Qing's emotional changes.
From beginning to end, he was just an observing "Audience".
But even so, personally experiencing the shock brought by ascending the steps and proving the path still made it hard for him to calm down for a long time.
"...I'm fine, let's go." Chen Ling tried his best to make himself ignore that chaotic battle of gods, following the crowd and continuing forward.
Not long after everyone walked along the muddy road, the earth began to tremble slightly!
Buzz buzz buzz——!
Chen Ling's expression changed. He subconsciously looked in a certain direction. Judging from the amplitude of the earth's tremors, a large group of something was approaching here.
"Hide first."
Jack of Clubs immediately took off his Magic Hat. With a light wave, everyone disappeared into mid-air, leaving only a lone hat fluttering to the ground.
Buzz buzz buzz——!!!
The earth's tremors grew increasingly intense, and dust flew up in the distance.
A bizarre army of humanoid Silver Phantoms crushed the withered mountains, forests, and villages, sweeping across the earth like an unstoppable silver tide.
Following their movement, a massive amount of bloody footprints remained on the earth. Most of their bodies hung with crimson bloodstains, or mutilated intestines and blood clots. Naturally, these things were not theirs... but traces left by their frantic slaughter on their way here.
The moment they appeared, a rich bloody stench spread in the air. Who knows exactly how many people were killed to achieve such an effect.
These Silver Phantoms had no eyes, yet seemed to be able to see the surrounding environment clearly. Their slender and smooth "heads" swept over the surroundings. After not discovering any signs of life, they scattered with a roar, continuing to search in all directions.
The black Magic Hat was buckled upside down on the ground. Amidst the chaos of flying dust, it was stepped on four or five times by several Silver Phantoms, becoming wrinkled and crumpled.
The silver legion gradually went far away. After an unknown amount of time, the black Magic Hat trembled slightly.
Chen Ling, Chu Muyun, Nine of Hearts, and the others jumped out of it one after another. Finally, Jack of Clubs returned, picking up that tattered and bloodstained hat from the ground, his face so gloomy it could drip water.
"...This is my favorite hat." He gritted his teeth and said.
"It's fine, it can still be used after a wash." Jian Changsheng patted his shoulder and comforted him.
"Looking at it now, the Lord of Wuji indeed isn't confident he can win against the Chief... so he left a backup plan." 10 of Diamonds said thoughtfully. "He wants to gather enough souls as quickly as possible to refine more Philosopher's Stones?"
"That should be it. Without the Philosopher's Stones, he could never unleash his full Combat Power. On the surface, the Chief is stalling the Lord of Wuji, but the Lord of Wuji is also delaying the Chief..."
"Although these Silver Phantoms don't correspond to a high tier, they are extremely numerous and fast. They truly are the best harvesting machines."
While everyone was conversing, Chen Ling saw that only Eight of Clubs didn't participate.
He frowned as he looked at the bloody footprints left all over the ground by the silver legion, his gaze slowly looking along the direction the silver legion attacked from...
There, was the silhouette of a devastated village.
Eight of Clubs subconsciously swung his legs and walked over there.
Ink-like clouds churned in the sky, and continuous drizzle scratched across the human world. Chen Ling watched Eight of Clubs' gradually distancing figure. After hesitating for a moment, he still followed.
Heading forward along the muddy road, the bloody traces became increasingly dense. Densely packed footsteps were like a chaotic spiderweb, spreading all over the earth.
As the two of them advanced, some things gradually appeared in their vision.
Mutilated bodies were inserted randomly in the mud. More than a dozen heads retaining horror and despair were scattered in pools of blood everywhere. Bloodstained hair clumped together, swaying stiffly with the fluttering of the drizzle. The rich, bloody stench was like a poisonous snake, abruptly drilling into the two's noses!
The people on the ground were mostly dressed in the attire of town residents, wearing coarse cloth and hemp garments. Some also carried bundles on their backs, like refugees fleeing from a distant village... There were old and young, and also infants still in swaddling clothes. It was just that now the infant's body was also cut in two, like a section of bloody silkworm chrysalis snapped on the ground.
Chen Ling's brows furrowed tightly.
His gaze swept over the messy bloody footprints on the ground. Judging from the traces, this group of refugees should have encountered the silver legion attacking from the border during their flight. The entire family, young and old, relatives and friends, about twelve people in total, were slaughtered without the slightest strength to resist, not even able to flee a few steps.
Looking further ahead, a charred village stood on the wasteland, as if it had just experienced a great fire that ruthlessly swallowed everything.
Eight of Clubs stared blankly at this scene, his face gradually turning pale. As if recalling some bad memories, his body uncontrollably began to tremble...
"...Eight of Clubs?" Chen Ling noticed his abnormality and called softly.
Eight of Clubs seemingly didn't hear his voice, just standing there like a sculpture. A few withered yellow leaves spun in the gentle breeze, guiding his gaze to lightly look towards the edge of the charred village.
As if discovering something, Eight of Clubs' Adam's apple unconsciously rolled. He stiffly took a step and walked over there...
That seemed like the ruins of a collapsed Courtyard.
In the ruins, almost no complete items could be seen. Everything was burned to a crisp in the fire. Eight of Clubs came to a patch of messy broken walls, and his hands moved the crushed stones away piece by piece...
In the misty drizzle, the dried and burned body of a girl appeared before his eyes.