Zhang Chen discovered he was trapped, unable to escape!
"This is going to be a spectacle!" Zhang Chen stood in front of the barrier, silently observing for a while before turning around to head back.
Although the Demon Race had cast a Heaven and Earth Net to seal off a corner, with his current cultivation level, as long as he found the right opportunity, escaping wouldn't be difficult.
Meanwhile, the people inside Jinling City seemed unaware of the changes outside and continued to prepare intensively for the battle.
After all, the Jiangnan region outside had already been surrounded by the Demon Race, and everyone was rushing into Jinling City, let alone thinking of leaving!
Moreover, to counter the Demon Race army, Jinling City was under strict lockdown, allowing entry but not exit; anyone entering Jinling City would be conscripted to fight against the Demon Race.
Thus, even though the outside had been surrounded by the Demon Race army, no one inside the city had any idea.
Zhang Chen returned all the way to the academy, as Zhou Qiucheng had also asked him to stay within the academy to avoid being schemed against by the Yellow Heaven Dao. In Zhou Qiucheng's eyes, Zhang Chen was still that young boy without the strength to even truss a chicken.
When Zhang Chen returned to his room, he saw Zhou Qiucheng standing in the courtyard, looking up at the sky, pondering something unknown.
"Sir!" Zhang Chen stepped forward and respectfully saluted.
"You're back. Didn't I tell you, the Yellow Heaven Dao is planning to make a comeback, and you must not go down the mountain unless necessary? If the Yellow Heaven Dao catches you, you'll be in big trouble." Zhou Qiucheng looked at Zhang Chen with a hint of concern in his eyes.
"Thank you for your concern, sir." Zhang Chen replied with a smile, appreciative of Zhou Qiucheng's kindness.
"Pack your belongings. I will help you leave Jinling City and Jiangnan discreetly. Head to Kyoto quietly." Zhou Qiucheng instructed Zhang Chen:
"I will come to find you at midnight, and we will set off at that hour."
Hearing this, Zhang Chen looked at Zhou Qiucheng in surprise. Detecting Zhang Chen's astonishment, Zhou Qiucheng lowered his voice and said, "Jinling City cannot be defended! You're still young and must leave early to avoid the fate of death and obliteration."
"When is Sir leaving?" Zhang Chen asked.
Hearing this, Zhou Qiucheng's eyes showed a touch of sentiment: "I have been decreed by the Human King to guard Jiangnan. It is my duty to guard Jiangnan. I will not leave unless my ashes do. If I stay, the families and common folk in Jinling City can still organize themselves and have the strength to fight. If I leave, the entire Jinling City will be turned to dust."
Hearing this, Zhang Chen looked at Zhou Qiucheng in surprise, finding him a very complex person.
"Prepare your belongings; I'll send you off tonight." After Zhou Qiucheng finished speaking, he turned to leave.
"It's no longer possible to leave." Zhang Chen watched Zhou Qiucheng's departing figure and spoke up.
Zhou Qiucheng paused, turned to look at Zhang Chen, his eyes filled with astonishment: "Why?"
"Because the Demon Race has already set up a Heaven and Earth Net, covering the entire Jinling City. Even the Twelfth Tier cannot hope to escape." Zhang Chen did not hide the truth from Zhou Qiucheng.
Hearing this, Zhou Qiucheng's expression changed: "Is this true?"
Zhang Chen nodded.
Zhou Qiucheng's eyes were filled with unease: "I will verify this."
With hurried steps, Zhou Qiucheng left, leaving Zhang Chen standing in the courtyard, looking at the bright moon in the sky, pondering unknown thoughts.
In the late night, Zhou Qiucheng returned with a heavy expression to Zhang Chen's courtyard: "Jinling City is indeed covered by a peculiar force, even I cannot break it. Now the entire Jinling City has become a turtle in a jar. Remember to stay in the academy; when the Demon Race attacks, stay by my side and don't get separated from me."
Faced with Zhou Qiucheng's concern, Zhang Chen could only nod.
Time swiftly passed; by morning, Fox Fairy Nannan emerged from the void, her eyes serious: "Zhang Chen, I have discovered that the Demon Race seems to be planning to use Jinling City and Zhou Qiucheng's blood as a blood sacrifice for a Forbidden Artifact."
"Forbidden Artifact?" Zhang Chen's expression became serious.
Anything labeled as a Forbidden Artifact certainly wasn't something simple.
The Demon Race army was sensed, moving three hundred miles a day. In three days, the Demon Race army would gather around Jinling City.
The atmosphere in Jinling City grew increasingly restless, the entire city like a powder keg, the faces of the citizens tinged with a trace of panicked fear.
The second day
Zhang Chen carried a jug of wine and entered the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency. To him, the most important thing was the Tree of Life Coffin. If not for the Tree of Life Coffin, he wouldn't have been trapped in Jinling City. Thus, before chaos erupted in Jinling City, he needed to make some arrangements, at the very least ensuring Chen Ping didn't perish in this catastrophe.
Zhang Chen reported his name, and Chen Ping personally received Zhang Chen.
"Zhang, why are you here?" Chen Ping invited Zhang Chen to the seat of honor, ordered tea to be served, and asked.
"I heard people say that Jinling City is about to fall into chaos, so I came to check on you in advance to avoid a situation where, in the midst of chaos, we might never have the chance to meet again." Zhang Chen said with a smile:
"Of course, I also wanted to ask if you'd like to take refuge with me at Chongzheng Academy."
"Now that the four gates of Jinling City are sealed, is it really going to descend into chaos?" Chen Ping asked.
With the gates of Jinling City sealed, cutting off communication with the outside, Chen Ping couldn't get any information about what was happening beyond.
"The demon army has already massacred the land of Jiangnan. Now, only the lone city of Jinling remains. Within two days, the demon army will be at our city gates, and by then, I'm afraid the entire Jinling City may be doomed." Zhang Chen explained to Chen Ping.
Hearing this, Chen Ping's expression changed, becoming very grim. He had traveled from the Northern Land and knew well what it meant for the demon army to lay siege to a city.
"Damn it, this is trouble!" Chen Ping's eyes turned serious.
"Do you want to take refuge with me at Chongzheng Academy?" Zhang Chen asked again.
Chen Ping hesitated slightly, then shook his head: "I can't abandon the escort agency my father left behind, and my family is here; how can I survive alone? Moreover, Chongzheng Academy will certainly become a main target for powerful demons. I think leading the brothers of the escort agency to hide among the civilians might increase our chances of survival."
Chen Ping declined Zhang Chen's offer.
Zhang Chen glanced at Chen Ping and chatted about trivial matters concerning the escort agency. Before parting, Zhang Chen patted Chen Ping's shoulder: "Take care!"
With Zhang Chen's pat, a drop of blood was silently drawn from Chen Ping's skin, taken into Zhang Chen's hand.
He took Chen Ping's blood merely to conveniently track Chen Ping's whereabouts.
As for Chen Ping's safety? With Gong Hei watching, Zhang Chen wasn't worried about anything happening to Chen Ping.
Zhang Chen returned to the academy and then to his room to meditate and cultivate. He had no interest in how others discussed confronting the demon race; he was waiting for the right moment to break through the demon army's encirclement. Then, he hoped to find the trail of Hu Li the Immortal and, together, free Chen Sanliang from the Innate Water God Array.
But before the demon army laid siege, a sudden change had already begun to unfold within Chongzheng Academy.
In the dead of night,
Zhang Chen sat cross-legged on his bed meditating, his spirit entering the Spiritual World. Observing the battle between the water bear and corpse beetles, a sudden premonition struck his heart, prompting Zhang Chen to realize something had changed in the Material Realm concerning his physical form. He quickly returned his Primordial Spirit to his body. As he opened his eyes, a blood-red scene greeted him.
The outside world had turned a blood-red hue, the whole house cast in crimson through the window paper.
Zhang Chen hurriedly pushed open the door and stepped outside, only to be stunned by what he saw.
The sky was a blood-red color, with a crimson moon suspended in the void, emitting immense radiance, which formed a blood-red energy barrier encapsulating the entire Chongzheng Academy.
"Blood Sea Array!" Zhang Chen exclaimed, a mysterious look in his eyes as he recognized the formidable array.
As the master of the Blood Dao, he was naturally aware of the Blood Sea Array's power. The array was now complete, twisting and tugging at the space around Chongzheng Academy. Overhead, endless blood-red clouds extended, as if a Sea of Blood hung inverted in the sky. The crimson moon continuously trickled streams of blood, merging into the blood clouds, adding to their strength.
"What vile creature dares to trespass my Chongzheng Academy?" Zhou Qiucheng, enveloped in golden divine light, raised his head to gaze at the blood-red clouds in the sky, angrily rebuking.
Amidst the rising divine light, constantly clashing with the Blood Sea Array, Chongzheng Academy below was sheltered under the divine glow.
Now, the sky was filled with blood-red clouds exuding an ominous aura that stirred inexplicable agitation and a fierce intent of slaughter.
"Zhou Qiucheng, we meet again!" The blood-red clouds in the void parted, revealing a familiar face, and Gu Mingyue appeared before everyone.
"It's the handiwork of the Yellow Heaven Dao!" Zhou Qiucheng's eyes flickered with a hint of killing intent upon seeing Gu Mingyue.
"This is a new array that we, the Yellow Heaven Dao, have acquired from the Northern Land, called the Blood Sea Array. It can summon an endless sea of blood to dissolve all things in Heaven and Earth, polluting the spirituality of everything. Once any living being falls into it, they become eternal puppets within the sea, with no chance for reincarnation. The demon race has harnessed this Blood Sea Array to perfection, and countless of our Human Race's cities have been destroyed by it due to negligence." Gu Mingyue calmly explained the origins of the Blood Sea Array to Zhou Qiucheng.
"So what? Your Blood Sea Array may be powerful, but Jinling City isn't like those other conquered cities. With me here, do you think you can disrupt Chongzheng Academy?" Zhou Qiucheng's voice was full of disdain.
Zhou Qiucheng was not an ordinary Eleventh Tier cultivator but had traveled far on this path.