Starting as a prodigy wanting milk? A world-destroying deception in the opposite direction.

Shen Zhen instructed Hu Laoda and two Temple Guards to stay on the perimeter to provide support.

He then led Ye Zhi Qiu, Qiu Zheng Nan, Zhao Huai Jin, Li Qing Yan, Feng Yu, Yan Feng, and other core members, using the sand dunes as cover, to carefully approach the abandoned city.

The closer they got, the more pronounced the bluish-green mist became.

The fog wasn't thick, but it gave people a sense of smog, and inhaling it made them feel slightly uncomfortable.

The abandoned city was larger than I had imagined; most of the city walls had collapsed, revealing the low, earthen houses inside.

There was an eerie silence in the city; even the sound of the wind and sand seemed to be sucked away here.

Shen Zhen made a hand gesture, and the group dispersed, using the broken wall as cover to stealthily investigate.

Qi Xuejian and Chen Xi took out the energy detection compass. The pointer spun wildly and eventually pointed to the center of the abandoned city, emitting a faint hum.

"There is an extremely strong abnormal energy source in the central area," Chen Xi whispered.

Ye Zhi Qiu squatted in a corner, wiped a stain on the wall with his finger, sniffed it, and frowned:

"It smells bloody, and it's very fresh."

Just then, Zhao Huaijin heard a faint bird chirping sound, a signal that something had happened.

The group quietly gathered and went over.

Several mutilated corpses lay scattered beside a dried-up waterway.

Judging from their attire, they were members of the patrol team that went missing in Great Moon City.

Their deaths were extremely gruesome, as if they had been torn apart by a tremendous force, and the blood at the wounds had congealed and turned black.

Strangely, the body was not severely decomposed; the skin was an abnormal grayish-white color and covered with a layer of very fine, mold-like bluish spots.

"Was it done by the Sand King Scorpion?" Li Qingyan asked in a deep voice.

"It doesn't seem like it," Shen Zhen shook her head, squatted down to examine it carefully:

"The attacks of the Sand King Scorpion tend to be more focused on its tail hook and corrosive body fluids."

These wounds... have burn marks on the edges, as if they were instantly torn apart by some kind of energy.

Moreover, these bluish spots...

He tried to touch a spot with his telekinesis, and the spot actually moved slightly, as if it were alive!

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

"Be careful, don't make direct contact!" Shen Zhen immediately withdrew her telekinetic power.

They continued their advance towards the city center.

Along the way, several more signs of battle and scattered corpses were found, including those of patrol teams and others dressed strangely, who appeared to be bandits or heretics.

The closer you get to the center, the thicker the dark blue mist becomes, and the stronger the heart-pounding energy fluctuations become.

at last.

They arrived at the square in the center of the abandoned city.

In the center of the square is a circular altar made of black stones and covered with strange runes.

This altar may have been used by heretics in the past to worship their ancestors or to perform some kind of ritual.

Scattered around the altar were more corpses, as well as some banners with distorted patterns.

Above the altar, a dark cyan sphere of light floated, constantly rolling and expanding, like a beating heart, and was the source of that powerful energy fluctuation.

A figure was kneeling directly in front of the altar.

He stood with his back to the crowd, dressed in tattered temple robes, head bowed, motionless.

"He was an officer sent by our branch hall to investigate." Wei Qingxu had shown the delegation the portrait of the missing person, and Qiu Zhengnan recognized the clothes at a glance.

Is he still alive?

Shen Zhen signaled everyone to be on guard, and then slowly stepped forward.

"Senior?" he called out tentatively.

The figure did not react.

When Shen Zhen was a few steps behind him, the figure suddenly raised his head and turned around.

What a face it was!

Its facial features were distorted, its eyes were gone, leaving only two empty holes, inside which blue flames flickered.

He opened his mouth and emitted a sharp, chaotic hissing and whispering noise!

"Invade...invade...the...realm of the...God Ancestor...die!"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly pounced on Shen Zhen with incredible speed, his fingernails flashing with a bluish light.

Shen Zhen was prepared and retreated quickly. At the same time, he had the Mind Ruler in his hand. A flash of white light appeared on the ruler and a solid blade of psychic power was slashed out!

"clang!"

The telekinetic blade struck the "person's" arm, producing a metallic clang, leaving only a faint mark.

The opponent's offensive continued unabated, with sharp claws wreathed in blue light aiming straight for Shen Zhen's face.

"Be careful!"

Shen Zhen shouted and unleashed the Shadow Strike again. His figure swayed as he dodged the attack, while his Mind Ruler delivered a critical strike, instantly severing the opponent's arm.

Through constant practice, Shen Zhen has mastered this Mind-Soothing Incantation to perfection.

The aura emanating from the other party is of the same origin as that of the Sand Scorpion Lizard, but it is much stronger and more insane. It has completely lost its self-awareness and has become some kind of puppet.

Even with its arm severed, the "person" felt no pain. With its remaining arm, it suddenly swung out, and a blue light swept out like a bolt of lightning, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound.

Shen Zhen moved with lightning speed, her entire body flying backward.

At the same time, he swung the Mind Ruler in his hand again, and a barrage of Mind Power Blades shot out like raindrops, blocking all the blue light.

Upon seeing this, Ye Zhi Qiu, Zhao Huai Jin, Feng Yu, and others immediately stepped in to help.

Several attacks landed on the puppet deacon, but they were unable to cause fatal damage. His body was incredibly tough, and the severed arm injury inflicted by Shen Zhen was the most significant.

"Attack the orb of light on the altar!"

Shen Zhen observed that the puppet deacon's actions seemed to be closely related to the blue orb on the altar.

With each pulsation of the light sphere, his attack became even more ferocious.

Upon hearing this, everyone gathered all their mental energy once again and simultaneously launched a punch at the blue orb above the altar.

A violent gust of wind from the punch swept away.

However, when the fist wind approached within a ten-foot radius of the light sphere, it vanished without a trace, as if it had disappeared into the sea, by an invisible force field.

"it's useless......"

The puppet deacon let out a twisted, maniacal laugh.

"The ceremony... is about to begin... The wrath of the Divine Ancestor... will wash everything away... You... will all become... nourishment!"

Just then, the entire ruined city suddenly trembled!

The blue orb on the altar suddenly expanded, its light intensifying and illuminating the entire square in a vibrant green.

Immediately, a thick blue mist emanated from the sphere of light.

The bluish mist in the air instantly intensified several times, carrying a strong corrosive power that rushed straight into everyone's consciousness.

"Retreat immediately!!!"

Shen Zhen shouted sharply, and with a frenzy of chanting, he slashed at the incoming blue mist.

The blue mist did not dissipate; instead, it enveloped everyone like a persistent, insidious infection, constantly eroding their mental defenses.

Ye Zhi Qiu waved his folding fan, creating a rotating light shield around himself that repelled the approaching blue mist, but the light shield was also rapidly dimming.

Zhao Huaijin's longsword was like a dragon, its blade flashing densely, completely protecting the area in front of him.

Li Qingyan's fists were powerful and heavy, each punch capable of shattering large swathes of green mist, yet the green mist seemed endless.

Qiu Zhengnan, Qi Xuejian, Chen Xi, Zhou Shi, Wu Xian and others also struggled to hold off the enemy, while Feng Yu barely managed to protect himself under Yan Feng's desperate protection.

The most troublesome one is that puppet butler.

With the blessing of the green mist, his strength surged, and he was unafraid of pain, enduring the attacks of the crowd, while keeping his main target on Shen Zhen.

They seem to have identified him as the biggest threat.