Invincibility starts when I see the BOSS health bar.

Chapter 1038 Return
Upon seeing Fang Yu return, both of their eyes immediately focused on him.

"How about it?"

Ding Hui put down her pen, her eyes filled with anticipation.

"It's settled." Fang Yu said succinctly, a smile on his face. "Lulu promised that all the materials will be delivered within two days."

Ding Hui breathed a sigh of relief: "Great! As long as the materials are complete, everything will be fine!"

Her confidence inspired everyone present.

"However, we encountered some trouble on the way." Fang Yu changed the subject, his expression becoming serious. "Two new elders have arrived at the Absolute Sect, named Jielu and Yingding. They don't know yet that Elder Huxin died at my hands, but if they do, I'm afraid there will be trouble."

Upon hearing this, Hei Ao's brows immediately furrowed.

He wanted to stand up for Fang Yu, but his strength didn't allow it.

He knew perfectly well what kind of strength the elders of the Absolute Sect possessed; these two elders were no ordinary people.

"Diao Deyi, be careful. Elder Discipline and Elder Shadow Cauldron are at least at the Sixth Soul Realm..."

"Don't worry, I'll avoid them."

Upon hearing this, Hei Ao said no more.

Ding Hui was quite at ease with Fang Yu.

Fang Yu rubbed his temples, a perfectly timed look of weariness appearing on his face. He said to Ding Hui, who was still deep in thought about some key points and whose fingers were unconsciously gesturing in the air, "I'm a little tired. I'll go back and rest for a bit."

Upon hearing this, Ding Hui snapped out of her reverie and looked up at him.

She had been with Fang Yu for a long time, going through life and death together, and had long understood some of his habits and subtle expressions.

Without pointing it out, Ding Hui simply nodded slightly, her tone calm and understanding: "Yes, go ahead. I still have some points to consider to ensure everything goes perfectly, so I'll probably be busy for a while."

Her voice was gentle, but Fang Yu could hear the focus and unwavering determination within it.

"Thank you for your hard work." Fang Yu didn't say much, but just looked at her deeply, keeping his gratitude and promise to himself.

Some feelings don't need to be spoken aloud.

Ding Hui gave him a reassuring smile, then lowered her head again, immersing herself in her incredibly complex calculations and deductions.

Fang Yu stopped disturbing them and turned to leave the room.

Hei Ao remained standing like an iron tower, seemingly casual, but actually vigilantly observing his surroundings.

Fang Yu nodded slightly and walked straight towards the courtyard where he was temporarily staying in the Ouyang residence.

Back in his room, Fang Yu closed the door behind him, shutting out all outside noise.

Then, he went to the bedside, lay down fully clothed, relaxed his body, and closed his eyes.

……

real world.

Countless pieces of flesh and blood appeared out of thin air, just like in the example, and then coalesced into a shape.

Fang Yu's consciousness returned.

He opened his eyes and was greeted by the ceiling of the hotel bedroom, the air filled with the atmosphere unique to modern cities.

The room was dimly lit, with only the emergency light emitting a soft glow; an unsuspecting person might think the person inside was asleep.

I habitually reached for my phone on the table, unlocked it with my fingerprint, and the moment the screen lit up, a barrage of unread message notifications flooded the screen like bombs, almost all of them emergency calls from "Brother Qi".

Fang Yu's brows furrowed instantly.

The messages started being sent several hours ago, with the frequency increasing. The last few messages were sent almost every few minutes. The content changed from the initial "Mr. Fang, there is an emergency!" to later messages like "Mr. Fang, are you still there? It's extremely urgent!" and "Something terrible has happened! The safe zone has failed!" The panic and despair conveyed between the lines were almost overflowing from the screen.

An ominous premonition gripped Fang Yu's heart.

He immediately threw off the covers, swiftly rolled out of bed, and without even changing out of his casual clothes, strode straight to the door.

"Click."

The door was opened.

Fang Yu paused slightly the moment he stepped out the door.

The sight before him startled him slightly.

The corridor, which should have been quiet, was now packed with people, some sitting and some standing.

These people were dressed smartly; most of the men were in suits and ties, while the women had exquisite makeup and wore valuable jewelry, making it clear at a glance that they were all wealthy and noble.

Among them were several people with a composed demeanor, wearing administrative jackets, who were clearly from the official system.

Without exception, they had lost their usual composure and demeanor, their faces filled with bewilderment, fear, and deep exhaustion, like prisoners awaiting final judgment.

They sat on makeshift chairs along the corridor, paced anxiously back and forth, or covered their faces with their hands and sobbed softly; a suffocating sense of despair permeated the air.

The moment Fang Yu opened his door and appeared in the doorway, it was as if a switch had been flipped.

All eyes were fixed on him, like drowning people seeing the only piece of driftwood.

The once deathly silent corridor instantly came to life, and the crowd surged forward like a tide, surrounding Fang Yu in an instant.

The cacophony of cries for help, screams, and questions exploded in his ears like noise bombs:

"Mr. Fang! You're finally out! Oh no! We, our safe zone has been hit too!" A bald, middle-aged tycoon's voice was choked with sobs, his face deathly pale.

"Mr. Fang, save me!! I'm willing to give half of my... no, all of my wealth! Just please save my life!!"

A bejeweled noblewoman tried to grab Fang Yu's arm, but he calmly avoided it.

"Mr. Fang! You've finally come out! Look at me! Look at me! I only have three hours left! Three hours! Help! Help me!!"

A young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, who should have been quite refined, was now acting like a madman, pointing to the top of his head as if there was something there.

Countdown?
Fang Yu's heart sank.

His sharp gaze quickly swept over the heads of the people in front of him, but in his field of vision, apart from well-groomed hairstyles, expensive hair accessories, or sparse hair, there was nothing there, and he could not see any so-called countdown numbers at all.

This did not make him feel relieved; on the contrary, it made him feel even heavier.

This means that he genuinely cannot see these markings; only when he is actually affected can he see them. This mechanism leaves him somewhat at a loss.

The crowd was chattering excitedly, their messages a jumbled mess. Some were lamenting how much time they had left on their countdown, others were describing how effective the "safe zone" had been, and still others were simply venting their fear. Fang Yu couldn't quite make sense of it all, and his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

"Quiet! Everyone be quiet!!"

A slightly hoarse but authoritative voice came from the periphery of the crowd.

The crowd stirred slightly and parted to make way for a gap.

Qi Ge came running over, panting heavily. His hair was disheveled, his eyes were sunken, his face was much paler than usual, and his lips were even a little purple. He was obviously extremely anxious and exhausted.

He first waved his arms forcefully and raised his voice, barely managing to quell the noise: "Everyone! Everyone! Calm down! Let Mr. Fang understand the situation! What's the point of all this arguing?!"

Seeing Qi Ge appear and clearly be acquainted with Fang Yu, the crowd restrained themselves slightly, but the urgency and pleading in their eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

Qi Ge squeezed next to Fang Yu and quickly apologized in a low voice: "Mr. Fang, I'm so sorry to have disturbed your rest."

Then, his face showed an unprecedented solemnity, even... a hint of despair, and he said in a dry voice, "Mr. Fang, we... we're in trouble, huge trouble."

He took a deep breath, as if it took immense courage to speak: "Originally, this area we're in, along with several other similar places, was a 'safe oasis' that they painstakingly identified after expending a great deal of resources and analyzing data from all past cases. It was indeed effective before; those who hid there remained safe and sound. They even thought they had found a way to combat that strange phenomenon... But this time, it's different."

Qi Ge's voice trembled slightly. He pointed to the top of his head and said with a wry smile, "The curse of the death countdown has spread without warning. About six hours ago, everyone in these 'safe zones,' including... including me, suddenly had a countdown appear above their heads."

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing, and with difficulty uttered a number, "I... only have twelve hours left."

Fang Yu's face instantly darkened, as if covered with a layer of frost.

He might be able to remain calm about how others behave, since they don't have a deep connection.

But Qi Ge is different.

Brother Qi was someone Fang Yu knew, and he was also a capable assistant sent by Uncle Qi Sheng. He had handled a lot of trivial matters for him, provided a lot of information and convenience, and more importantly, Fang Yu could tell from their time together that Brother Qi was a good person and someone who could be trusted.

If something were to happen to him, it would not only cause numerous inconveniences, but it would also be an outcome that Fang Yu absolutely could not accept.

"Did you find anything?"

Fang Yu's voice was deep and imposing, carrying a sense of impending doom, and his gaze was fixed on Brother Qi.

He knew that since Brother Qi had come to him, it couldn't have been just to deliver the news of his death.

Qi Ge was clearly prepared. He immediately took out an ultra-thin folding tablet from his briefcase, quickly unfolded it, turned it on, and brought up a detailed electronic map of the city.

On the map, several locations are marked with striking red circles.

“Mr. Fang, look.” Brother Qi pointed to the red circles and spoke faster. “Previously, everyone, including myself, thought we were lucky enough to have discovered a ‘loophole’ in that rule phenomenon and found a ‘safe zone’ to avoid death.”

His finger traced across the map, "but after I found myself marked, I calmed down and thought about it carefully, and discovered something... that sent chills down my spine."

His fingertip traced the locations of the red circles in turn: "Look at these so-called 'safe zones,' their locations...aren't they quite subtle? Without exception, they are all located near the edge of the city, close to major highway entrances and exits, or near transportation hubs leading to neighboring cities! Ancient military strategy has a similar tactic called 'surrounding three sides and leaving one open,' or 'nine deaths and one life'!"

Qi Ge's voice carried an excitement and chilling tone, as if he had discovered a terrifying truth: "After sealing off all other seemingly possible paths to survival, they deliberately left one or a few obvious exits that appeared to be 'ways to live'! The purpose was to concentrate those 'shrewd people' and 'valuable targets' who still had the ability to struggle, the resources to find a way to live, and might even discover some clues, into these few predetermined points, like herding a flock of sheep!"

He looked up, his eyes filled with shock and lingering fear, at Fang Yu: "This isn't a loophole at all! It's a trap! A meticulously laid trap! To facilitate its subsequent concentrated cleanup or... harvesting! From this, we can infer that the 'thing' behind all this probably possesses an unimaginable level of intelligence! We... we were actually tricked from the very beginning! We thought we had found a way out, but in the end, we willingly jumped into the slaughterhouse it had prepared for us!"

“It is [spirit].

After listening to Brother Qi's analysis, Fang Yu remained silent for a moment before slowly uttering two words.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a boulder thrown into stagnant water, stirring up a storm in the hearts of everyone present who could still think.

spirit?
Qi Ge was suddenly stunned, and a clear look of confusion appeared on his face.

His understanding of the bizarre world of "Seeking the Demon" was indeed very limited, consisting only of snippets of information occasionally revealed by Fang Yu, and fragmented information of dubious authenticity that he had collected through some extremely secretive channels.

Fang Yu rarely mentioned the specific power system and level of existence of that world in his daily life. The word "spirit" was unfamiliar to him, yet it carried a strange and unsettling sense of weight.

It's not just him; in fact, most players in the world of "Seeking the Demon" feel extremely unfamiliar and distant from the concept of "spirit."

It is a creature that transcends ordinary demons, and ordinary players may not even have access to a single word about it.

The surrounding wealthy and officials, filled with anxiety, were even more confused. They couldn't understand the cryptic messages Fang Yu and Brother Qi were conveying, and could only shout more urgently:
"Spirit? What spirit? Mr. Fang, what are you talking about?"

"Forget about whether it works or not! Save me first!"

"Is there really no way?!"

Among the crowd, the middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses, who had previously questioned the reliability of the "safe zone," now looked extremely grim. He pushed up his glasses, his voice trembling with a hint of realization, and said in a deep voice.

"A spirit? Could it be... that what we're facing isn't a natural phenomenon at all, but... a supernatural being with extremely high intelligence? And we were actually tricked by it? We thought we'd discovered a loophole in the rules, and wanted to find a way to counter its killing methods by studying these loopholes, but... all our efforts, our self-righteous discoveries, were actually part of its plan from the very beginning? We're like mice in a jar, thinking we'd found the exit from a maze, only to have stumbled into another well-designed dead end?"

(End of this chapter)