Eve of Chaos
"As expected of the Red King, he really left in style."
Jian Changsheng looked at the curtain disappearing in the void and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
After Master left, only Chen Ling and Jian Changsheng were left under the lead-gray clouds. They stood at the end of the broken track, the Great Crimson Theatrical Robe and black hem fluttering in the wind.
"Sometimes, I really envy you." Jian Changsheng turned to look at Chen Ling.
"Envy what?"
"You have a backer! We are both from the '6' series, but I'm still running around bitterly everywhere, while you directly infiltrated the internal higher-ups and became the Red King's direct Disciple... That's someone invincible in the current era! In the entire Dusk Society, who else has this treatment?"
Chen Ling was silent for a long time before speaking, "... But I myself also don't know why they chose me."
"The result is already here, is the reason still important?" Jian Changsheng clicked his tongue. "But it's true..."
"I'm just a passerby~ A~, how could I dare to compare with you, this Protagonist~"
Jian Changsheng rolled his eyes and spoke eccentrically.
Chen Ling: ...
"I just have a cheap life~ I was meant to be your stepping stone~~~"
"... That wasn't said by me."
"It came out of your mouth!"
"You can't count the people the [Mockery] Calamity scolded on my head. I have never thought this way."
"... Hmph."
Jian Changsheng glanced at his clenched fist. "Not gonna lie, the feeling of smashing that broken face of yours with my fist was really quite nice... It's a pity I only got to smash it once."
Chen Ling couldn't be bothered to argue with him. He turned his head and walked towards the end of the earth along the black train track.
Seeing Chen Ling leave, Jian Changsheng, who was still intoxicated by the satisfying feeling of that punch, immediately sobered up and jogged along the other side of the track to catch up... One red and one black, the two figures walked shoulder to shoulder along the two sides of the track.
In this Gray World, only staying by Chen Ling's side was the safest.
... "Speaking of which, when is that dog bastard Lord of Wuji going to die." Jian Changsheng turned back to look behind him, at that rotten wooden track extending in another direction.
"... I don't know."
Chen Ling paused for a moment. "But it shouldn't be now."
"But hasn't the Judgment Delegation already gone?" Jian Changsheng pondered for a moment. "Right now, the Lord of Wuji is just a ball, with no consciousness and unable to attack. What variables could there still be?"
Chen Ling didn't answer.
He didn't have Foreknowledge, so naturally he couldn't know in advance where the variables would come from. He only knew that he had met Ying Fu in the Timeline Save File, and Ying Fu had said that the USB Drive he entered the Timeline Save File with was duplicated by the Lord of Wuji, Lou Yu...
In the Lord of Wuji's current state, he definitely couldn't duplicate the USB Drive. So that event most likely happens in the future, which means the Lord of Wuji probably won't die in the short term, at least surviving this trial by the Judgment Delegation.
And Master not letting them go directly to the Wuji Domain was mostly because Master also sensed something and felt that there would be variables in the Wuji Domain, so he let them go to the Tianshu Domain first to avoid being affected.
"The Wuji Domain... is probably going to fall into great chaos."
Chen Ling spoke slowly.
...
Wuji Domain.
Under the smog-gray sky, dozens of figures stepped on the uneven stone brick road, traveling through the deserted streets.
It was only evening right now, but under the cover of clouds, not a trace of light could be seen. The street lamps on both sides of the road were not lit, as if the power supply had been lost for a long time... Fortunately, the Judgment Delegation came well-prepared. Basically everyone had a Kerosene Lamp. Looking from afar, it was like a stream of light flowing through this dim city.
Their gazes vigilantly swept over the surroundings, but the streets were empty and desolate. There were no enemies, no passersby, no sounds at all, like a dead city.
"It seems the power supply system is also broken."
An acting judgment representative at the very front of the queue spoke in a deep voice. "No wonder messages couldn't be transmitted... No, whether the department responsible for transmitting messages is still there is hard to say."
"But at least, people are still alive."
Hong Xiu looked at those silent buildings in the darkness. She could feel numerous gazes projecting from all directions, vigilantly and curiously sizing up this team from outside.
"What exactly happened here to make these residents so afraid?"
"Moreover, living under such an oppressive atmosphere, won't they have mental problems..."
"There are quite a few possessors of the Path of the Witch God mixed among this group of people, but they don't seem to have any malice. They shouldn't be members of the Witchcraft Association from Brand's faction."
"Didn't they say Brand washed Wuji in blood and had almost killed off the other factions?"
"There are as many paths of the Path of the Witch God as stars in the sky, and even countless large and small factions. How could they be completely killed in just a few days? Most likely, they just killed off those high-ranking ones with threatening existences, preventing them from forming a climate."
"No wonder the Rank of these people isn't high..."
Just as everyone was discussing, Hong Xiu, walking at the very front, slowly came to a halt.
"Let's stop here." Hong Xiu spoke calmly. "Further ahead should be the Lord of Wuji's Church... We should separate here.
All acting judgment representatives follow me. The others, according to the division of labor before we came, rapidly disperse to various areas to pacify the emotions of the Wuji Domain civilians, provide logistical support, and initiate the construction of the 'Bridge' as soon as possible... just in case of any accidents."
"Yes."
The next moment, the crowd rapidly dispersed from the street. The originally gathered stream of light scattered like a sky full of starlight, separating towards every corner of the city...
In the end, only five figures remained standing in place.
They came from different domains, but were all the top Combat Power of each domain. Besides Hong Xiu, everyone else carried various strange items on their backs. Those were the foundations accumulated by each domain over more than three hundred years.
Although they were all Rank 8, with the help of these foundations, they could all briefly resist the Demigod Tier. The five of them joining forces could suppress even a Demigod at their peak. If this weren't the case, the other major domains wouldn't have dispatched them as acting judgment representatives to kill the Lord of Wuji.
"Let's go..." Wearing a black Enforcer trench coat, Hong Xiu walked straight towards that towering Church, her red hair fluttering like fire in the darkness.
From this moment on, Hong Xiu no longer hid her aura.
A Rank 8 Oppressive Aura erupted from the hem of the trench coat. The ferocity and sharpness of the [Asura] Pathway Chief was like a hurricane, instantly sweeping across the city. And the other four acting judgment representatives closely followed behind, simultaneously releasing their Oppressive Auras!
In this dim and dead city, the aura of the five people was like a blazing sun, forcefully tearing open the smog shrouding the sky, pointing straight at the center of the Wuji Domain like a Holy Sword from the light!
There, a heavily clouded Church stood silently.