Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

Upon seeing the changes in the sixth painting, Li Yelai and Chu He had a sudden realization.

In the scene, the legion fighting against the eerie black shadows emerging from the sea is generally dressed in silver-gray plate armor, with brown hooded cloaks covering their heavy helmets.

That was one of the elite legions of the Dead Sleep Palace civilization, the Masked Legion.

Sure enough, the anomaly that occurred on the eastern front of the lost territory was this sixth calamity!
Li Yelai was thrilled. This was amazing! This calamity had finally occurred in a place that wouldn't affect humanity.

In fact, of the four calamities that Li Yelai had personally experienced, two did not originally appear in human territory.

The No. 71 Disaster Fog initially landed in the Forbidden Zone, Doomsday Forest, with its target being the Golden Ancient Tree at the heart of the forest. After being thwarted, it turned its attention to Border City No. 3.

The No. 49 Disaster Fog was born directly in the abyss of the forbidden zone, Demon Abyss Mountain, and eventually cooperated with the forbidden zone, bringing great trouble to the giant city of Bashu.

Now, in this sixth calamity, the forces of the forbidden zone no longer have the opportunity to divert their calamity eastward and drag humanity into it!
The territories closest to the lost lands are those of other maritime restricted zones.

What means could they use to guide a calamity that has already directly befallen the physical world to a distant human metropolis?

Should it abandon its own territory, allow calamities to devour its foundations, and then sail across the ocean to attack other continents?
This time, they themselves will bear the brunt of the calamity!
At the same time, this massive upheaval in the heart of the restricted area will also create a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the pure-blooded humans struggling to survive in the lost lands to escape!

In the past, the powers of the forbidden zones always stood high above, ignoring and even mocking humanity's painful struggles through repeated calamities. Now, it's finally their turn to taste this despair!
"Awesome! Awesome!" Li Yelai cheered wildly in his heart, his face, hidden beneath the bronze mask, almost bursting into laughter.

But as the strongest undercover agent, Li Yelai did not reveal his emotions.

After all, the person behind the alias 'Copper Mask' is the Chosen One of Chaos, 'Emperor Fallen,' and shouldn't know detailed information about the Lost Land.

So, after glancing indifferently at the mural, Li Yelai returned to his seat.

Chu He stared at the mural for a long time, then chuckled softly.

He had no need to hide the fact that he was in a lost territory; it wasn't a secret inside the Ark.

As the number of Ark voters increased, Li Yelai saw Camellia (Jing Lin), Dawn (Yun Yue), and others, as well as many new faces.

The number of Ark voters is still increasing.

Of course, Li Yelai also noticed that several voters had disappeared, and he didn't know whether they had died or had their representatives appear.

Or perhaps, it's among those overlords who surrounded and killed Li Yelai but were killed in return?
As the Ark voters gradually arrived, an invisible focus began to converge in the hall, with many eyes glancing intentionally or unintentionally toward the second ring of seats, where the book holder was located.

Recently, the Celestial Walker and the Book of Destiny have been stirring up trouble and making frequent moves. In particular, their operation to suppress the 'Variable' suffered a crushing defeat, resulting in the loss of more than twenty overlords and three supreme beings.

This devastating loss has left more than 80% of voters wondering, with a mixture of curiosity, schadenfreude, and somber mood, how the mysterious book-bearer will react today.

At the same time, many gazes, filled with scrutiny, inquiry, and a hint of hostility, fell upon Li Yelai, or rather, his disguised 'bronze mask'.

After all, the book's owner had previously revealed some clues, intentionally or unintentionally, leading many voters to speculate.

The bronze mask is very likely the Chosen One of Chaos, Emperor's Fall.

He was most likely also involved in this operation to eliminate the 'variable'.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of grumpy face the Book Holder will make today. Although I can’t see his expression under the light and shadow at all…” a voter whispered, with undisguised schadenfreude: “The sixth mural has appeared, a new calamity is coming, or it may have already appeared in some corner. The Book Holder will definitely come this time.”

"Is this the sixth painting? We have no problem with those inland."

"Don't be careless. Calamities are all dangerous. If you leave them unattended, you'll die even if you stay inland!"

"Speaking of which, the losses suffered by the Heavenly Evolution Walker this time are too terrifying. They must have suffered serious damage, right?"

"But this also proves the depth of their foundation. The twelve earthly branches... could they correspond to twelve supreme beings? How many monarch-level beings do they have?"

"Instead of speculating here, why don't you just ask someone who might know the truth? Copperface, you were involved in this operation, right? What were the specifics?" A voter shrouded in the phantom of flames threw the question directly at Li Yelai.

Li Yelai glanced at the other person indifferently: "I don't know. I'm just an ordinary person. How could I possibly get involved in such a big event?"

"Alright, Emperor's Fall! Stop pretending!" A sneer came from another direction: "Your disguise has already been exposed by the Book Holder, and you're still putting on an act?"

"Your Excellency Emperor, is that human champion really that powerful? How could he turn the tables on such a force?" Someone asked with a tone of inquiry, wanting to get more information from this eyewitness.

"Fuck your mother's hammer! You damned chosen ones, traitors to humanity!" Some voters who deeply loathe Chaos directly cursed.

"Emperor Fall, you've been beaten senseless by the champion, haven't you? How could a human champion like you, who has sided with Chaos and become its lackey, possibly compare to you?" Taunts and curses followed one after another.

"I #&……@#……&……&￥!" A barrage of vulgarities came rushing in.

Faced with this sudden barrage of criticism, Li Yelai remained completely unfazed and even felt a little amused.

He knew that those who were most vehemently criticizing Emperor Yun at this moment were at least those who harbored strong malice towards Chaos. In a sense, they were his own people.

As for being angry? He himself is the human champion who is discussed and praised, what is there to be angry about?
However, as the 'Fallen Emperor,' he must display the appropriate arrogance and irritability.

Li Yelai sneered and cursed, "You sons of bitches! Come out and fight me one-on-one if you dare! I'll beat you to death even without my divine favor!"

"Damn it, they're not even going to act anymore! They're just admitting it like that?"

"Emperor's Fall, you're lucky you weren't killed by the champion this time!"

Inside the hall, the outcry against the 'Emperor's Fall' was at its peak.

Meanwhile, those chosen ones or their representatives hidden among the voters mostly remained silent, and even had to echo and curse in order not to reveal their identities.

After all, once the Chosen One's identity is exposed, transactions and intelligence sharing within the Ark will become extremely troublesome.

Emperor's current predicament is the best example. It's all the fault of the book holder; why did you have to be so sarcastic?
As for Chu He, Jing Lin, and Yun Yue, they smiled secretly with mixed feelings.

Until the figure of the book holder appeared, the sounds in the Ark Hall were forcibly suppressed.

"Alright, everyone, this gathering is now open." The captain's voice echoed from the depths of the ark.

All eyes turned to the book holder, who seemed unconcerned by the stares. He glanced around, paused at a few empty spaces, and finally focused on Li Yelai.

"Lord Copperface, it's a pleasure to see you again." The book-holder's voice was calm, as if none of the losses and failures had occurred. "Later, I need some details from you." "Of course, you almost had to wait for my return," Li Yelai replied casually. After being banished, the Chosen of Chaos could return to the physical world in the form of a Chaos Demon. He was hinting at the danger of this mission.
In that instant, all the voters felt the king's wrath. The quiet old man in white robes seemed unable to suppress his malice any longer. It was as if stars were falling and gods were roaring.

Even Jin Shan, the supreme ruler of the forbidden zone and always arrogant, suddenly changed color at this moment, instinctively adopting a defensive stance, silently on guard, not daring to make a sound.

Many more voters, under the sudden oppressive power of the monarch, felt their consciousness freeze and shatter, unable to think, let alone speak. The entire Ark Hall fell into a suffocating silence.

Even the captain of the Ark whispered, "Calm down, old friend, don't force me to suppress you."

The captain of the Ark is invincible within the Ark, even against the wielder of the Book of Destiny!
That devastating rage came quickly and went quickly.

"...I apologize." The chilling aura emanating from the book-holder vanished instantly, but his figure, bathed in light and shadow, seemed to hunch over, revealing an undeniable weariness and age: "It was I... who lost my composure."

The utter failure of the "variable" operation and the incalculable losses clearly caused unprecedented emotional turmoil in this usually unfathomable book-holder. However, he ultimately managed to control himself through sheer willpower.

"Then, let's begin this gathering."

The deals agreed upon among the voters began, but Li Yelai had no counterparties to make those deals.

After all, he has already been exposed, and many forces will not openly trade with the Chosen One of Chaos.

It's a bit of a shame, because the Mimicry Celestial Soldiers are excellent trading items; you could make a lot of money with each trade.

Fortunately, in order to continue obtaining intelligence from the outside world, the city cooperated with several voters who had allied with it during the No. 49 Disaster Fog.

There's no need to worry too much about intelligence. When the opportunity arises later, we can have them bring out the simulated heavenly soldiers from the giant city's official forces, which might be more popular with the voters.

Meanwhile, certain covert plans were being orchestrated, with groups of voters entering secret spaces to discuss various schemes. Only the captain of the Ark knew these secrets.

About half an hour later, the transactions between voters concluded, and the bounty mission was completed. Resources and intelligence from all over the world were exchanged.

During this time, someone spoke up: "We're offering a bounty. Does anyone know the last whereabouts of the Ninth Human Champion? If you can provide us with the precise location and his/her life or death status, we are willing to offer a piece of Overlord-level mystical substance as a reward."

"What? The champion hasn't returned to the city?"

"Have they lost contact?"

"Who did it? Was it Chaos, or the Forbidden Zone?"

Voters were discussing it extensively.

The rally then moved on to the most anticipated part: intelligence sharing.

Almost all voters are most eager to know two things.

The inside story of the disastrous failure of the Celestial Walkers' operation against 'variables', and the calamity foreshadowed by the sixth mural that has already begun to manifest.

A great deal of attention once again focused on Li Yelai and the person holding the book.

"Emperor's Fall! Stop hiding it, tell me the details, how exactly did you get turned around and defeated by that champion like this?"

“Those who hold this book, now that things have come to this, you no longer need to hide anything, do you? So many overlords and supreme beings have died in one fell swoop!”

"He who holds the book, where exactly does the calamity in the sixth painting appear? Give us a clear answer!"

Faced with these chaotic mental inquiries, the book-holder spoke softly: "I have no interest in recounting the details of that failed operation here. As for the calamity foreshadowed in the sixth mural..."

"I will explain the specific location at the end of this meeting. For now, you can share other information on your own."

Therefore, attention focused on Li Yelai.

"Copperface, could you at least say something?" Chu He began to take over the role.

"Hmph." After a moment of 'recalling,' Li Yelai said, "The champion only killed one Supreme Being. The other two Supreme Beings were killed by the Azure Flame Arrow and sacrificed themselves. The champion isn't that strong!"

"Ha, you defeated opponent, do you even have the right to comment on the champion's strength?" A voter immediately sneered disdainfully.

Soon, another voter, whose figure was blurred and who was sitting in the third ring seat, spoke up: "What he said basically matches the intelligence I have gathered. According to reliable sources, the Blood Sea Supreme of the Throat of Guixu did indeed sacrifice himself, dragging the ninth champion into the deep 'Net Path' controlled by the Throat of Guixu. His whereabouts are still unknown, and his fate is uncertain."

He paused, then turned his gaze in a certain direction: "Are there any voters from the Throat of Return here? Could you tell me if that champion has been completely eliminated by you? After all, being dragged into the heart of the restricted area, the chances of survival are extremely slim, right?"

"Hmph!" A voter with prominent ear fins let out a disgruntled snort, but did not give any substantial response, seemingly acknowledging some of the facts, yet remaining evasive.

Another voter, covered in fine scales, grinned, a hint of schadenfreude in his voice: "The news from my scouts isn't good. There's quite a commotion inside the Throat of Ruins. It seems they not only failed to capture that champion, but also suffered heavy losses themselves. Several important resource points were destroyed from within, causing a significant drop in production."

"He managed to escape?! What about the King of the Forbidden Zone? What about the other Supreme Beings? Did they just stand by and watch?" a voter asked in shock.

"Wow, the eighth champion went out of control and went berserk, while the ninth champion is missing and his fate is unknown. Judging from the result, Tianyan Walker's plan can be considered... barely successful?"

"Can this be considered a lose-lose situation? The one who went mad is still terrifyingly powerful, while the one who went missing is still not confirmed dead and remains a 'variable'!"

"The one who holds the book!"

"You Heavenly Evolution Walkers went to great lengths to win over so many powerful individuals and forces, only to end up with this 'pyrrhic victory'?"

The dominant player in the third ring spoke up: "You've always touted yourselves as working for the survival of the world and the future of humanity. Yet this time, your actions are directly aimed at the human champion. Is this also a 'destiny' arranged for you by the 'Book of Destiny,' a destiny you must fulfill?"

He paused briefly, then asked an even more pointed question:

"If the predictions of that Book of Destiny show that all of you Celestial Walkers must die in order to achieve the so-called 'correct future,' would you do it without hesitation?"

The book-holder, who had remained silent like a stone statue, suddenly opened his eyes at this moment.

Without the slightest hesitation, his voice carried a martyr's fervor and resolve: "Of course!"

"If the Book of Destiny deduces things in this way, then it is the mission and responsibility that we, the Celestial Evolution Walkers, must undertake!"

"We are the drivers of destiny, while variables are the real cancer of the world!" (End of Chapter)