The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

As the melodious chanting drifted across the battlefield, the edges of the dark clouds suddenly expanded outwards, like bursts of ink splashed onto the sky.

The color of the sky over the entire battlefield and the area near the stronghold quickly changed from dark red to bright red, then to deep purple, and finally settled into a near-solidified black.

Then, the enormous black cloud began to press down, its boundary resembling a giant hand slowly closing, enveloping everything within its range.

The domain is complete!!

Just as the boundary completely closed, some kind of grayish-white dust of unknown material fell softly from the bottom of the black clouds, like the next silent snow of ashes!

But the snow was cold, while the ashes felt hot and dry on the skin, as if each grain of ash were a small, burnt ember that had solidified.

They swirled in mid-air, colliding and bouncing off each other, slowly and densely filling the space within the entire area.

Wu You raised his head, and the silver giant followed suit.

He remained calm and did not rush to make a move. He quietly watched the black curtain that had been spread out and felt the air that was beginning to deteriorate after being tainted by the power of the domain.

Then, the silver giant raised his left hand, opened his palm, and a grayish-white dust fell onto his palm.

The moment it touched the silver giant's body, the dust melted away silently, like snow touching red-hot iron, leaving not a trace of moisture behind.

Inside the illusory realm, Wu You's brow twitched slightly.

In the instant the gray-white dust melted away, a dense layer of ripples suddenly appeared on the surface of his heart.

Those distracting thoughts and voices that had been mostly eliminated by the Clear-Minded Sword Heart resurfaced, even more densely and chaotically than before!

Anger, anxiety, fear, doubt, and so on—fragments of various emotions rose and fell on the lake of his heart. Although they were not enough to shake him, the viscous, penetrating feeling was much more obvious than before!

Wu You raised his head, his gaze passing through the silver-white giant's brow and locking onto the enormous black cloud that stretched for thousands of meters in the sky.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the outline of the face formed by black smoke, then he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"The attack just now was definitely its doing!"

The light of the Clear Sword Heart shone again on the lake of his heart, shedding another layer of those surfacing distracting thoughts.

"However, the domain..."

"This is indeed a bit tricky..."

. . .

Meanwhile, on the city wall of the stronghold, chaos erupted.

The torchbearers who were just cheering for the silver giant's rampage were now looking up at the sky, their expressions increasingly stiff.

The sky was dark red, then deep purple, and finally solidified into a thick, almost solid black—

It all happened so fast that before they could even catch their breath, the overwhelming darkness had already descended.

"Holy crap, what the hell is that?"

"Hiss—this looks a bit scary. Can the garrison commander handle it?"

"What's up? What kind of ability is this?! Such a big commotion!"

The group of eighth-rank torchbearers might not know what the black light curtain hanging from the dark cloud was, but Zhu Yuanzhi, Zhao Xuan and others who had already taken turns guarding the edge of the restricted area knew it all too well!

Seeing the countless specks of dust swirling in mid-air, Zhu Yuanzhi's pupils suddenly contracted: "This is a domain!!!"

He immediately shouted into his headset, "Activate all three layers of psionic barriers above the base!!! Power at least 80%!!!"

The moment the command left his mouth, a few brief "received" sounds came through the earpiece. Then, the light membrane above the stronghold began to light up layer by layer, from the light blue at the bottom, to the silver in the middle, to the almost transparent amber on the outermost layer. The three barriers unfolded in sequence, and the light at the edge circled around the outline of the stronghold, keeping the black domain wall outside.

Normally, the base is protected by specially made city walls on the ground, while the airspace above the base is protected by a psionic barrier.

The combination of the two can essentially isolate the stronghold from the dark fog and other forms of energy erosion in the deep dark domain, and also provide a certain degree of physical defense.

However, under normal circumstances, it is enough to open only one layer of the psionic barrier above the stronghold, which is sufficient to deal with most situations. But now, Zhu Yuanzhi directly ordered that all three layers of psionic barriers be opened!

This also shows Zhu Yuanzhi's apprehension about the field!

Then, Zhu Yuanzhi turned his head and glanced at the only teleportation portal that was still open on the other side of the city wall. The portal's glow was still flowing and it hadn't been turned off yet.

A moment of inner conflict flashed across his face.

The next moment, his figure vanished from the spot.

On the other side, Zhao Xuan's expression also changed: "Damn it, a domain!!!"

Upon hearing Zhao Xuan's profanity, Hu Lie's previously calm expression vanished completely. He abruptly turned to look at Zhao Xuan, his voice urgent and heavy: "Is it that domain that requires at least the eleventh level to master?!"

Zhao Xuan and he exchanged a glance, their eyes meeting in the air: "That's right!"

"That Wu You is probably in danger!!!"

"And Old Wei, we need to get him back to the base quickly!"

"We don't have any eleventh-tier experts who have mastered their domains! We simply can't contend with it!"

"Within their territory, we are no different from lambs to the slaughter!"

"Now, we can only rely on the defensive rituals within the stronghold!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Lie leaned forward half a step: "What about Xiao You?!"

"Are we just supposed to watch him get killed by the zombies?!"

Zhao Xuan gasped for breath, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. He didn't answer Hu Lie's question directly, but instead fixed his gaze on the distant silver-white giant, saying each word slowly and deliberately, "I said it!"

"Without a powerful individual who has also mastered this field, we are simply no match for them!"

"Going out is just suicide!"

Hu Lie slammed his fist on the city wall's battlements, stone chips flying through his fingers: "No, I need to get out!!!"

His voice was strained to its limit.

"I can't just stand by and watch Xiaoyou die!"

Seeing Hu Lie trying to leave, Zhao Xuan grabbed his arm: "You're not allowed to go!"

"I am in charge of this formation at the outpost!"

"I order you, Hu Lie, not to go!!!"

Hu Lie whirled around, his eyes bloodshot: "Let go of Zhao Xuan!!!"

"If you still consider me a comrade-in-arms!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xuan tightened his grip: "The situation is dire; I can't let you go to your death!!!"

"We must prioritize the overall situation!!!"

"To hell with the bigger picture!!! Let go!!!" Hu Lie swung his arm to slap Zhao Xuan's hand, and the two arms became entangled, neither giving way.

But just as Hu Lie was about to swing his whip a second time, Zhao Xuan's movements suddenly froze for a beat.

Something seemed to be gently stirred in his mind—he realized something was wrong.

Both he and Hu Lie are experienced torchbearers, not impulsive and reckless people. Why are they so emotional now?

He took a deep breath, then released Hu Lie's arm and quickly reached into the inside pocket of his black trench coat to pull out a palm-sized bottle of silver spray.

He pressed the nozzle twice, one in his own direction and the other in Hu Lie's, and a fine mist of water fell on their faces, carrying a strangely refreshing scent.

Hu Lie stopped moving as the fresh scent entered his nostrils, and the red light in his eyes faded considerably.

He took a couple of deep breaths, looked down at his still-clenched fist, then relaxed it and turned to Zhao Xuan: "Thanks."

But even after calming down, the anxiety in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

Zhao Xuan nodded, said nothing more, and pressed his earpiece: "Attention all colleagues, the enemy possesses some kind of ability to influence emotions!!! It can even have an effect through the psionic barrier of the stronghold!!!"

"Please have your sanity spray ready, use it anytime!"

Wang Qi, who was standing to the side, also took out a bottle of rationality spray and sprayed it on himself twice.

When the fresh scent entered his nose, the jumbled thoughts in his mind did indeed subside considerably.

He turned his gaze back to the enormous black cloud outside the battlefield and the silver-white giant shrouded in it, where the grayish-white dust was still falling like endless snow.

He pursed his lips and muttered, "If you can't beat them, run! Old Wu!!!"

"You absolutely mustn't be reckless!"