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

In front of a refuge, dozens of torchbearers dressed in black trench coats formed an arc-shaped defensive line, desperately blocking a group of zombies.

Behind them were the last group of residents who hadn't yet entered the shelter.

But their highest level is only a third-tier torchbearer, and their opponents are multiple third-tier corpses and one fourth-tier corpse!

"One squad to hold off the enemy, two squads to attack, and three squads to defend! Hurry up and get the last batch of residents inside!"

The vast difference in strength caused this team of dozens of torchbearers to be decimated at an extremely rapid pace! They fell one after another, but not a single one deserted.

Among the last group of refugees behind them, a thin man who looked to be only in his early twenties pulled a middle-aged woman wearing a floral short-sleeved shirt and ran quickly toward the shelter.

He ran forward with his head down, trembling all over, not daring to look behind him at the black defensive line built with lives. Just then, something flew over and landed beside him, rolling twice.

He glanced at it out of the corner of his eye, and then his whole body trembled even more violently.

It was a severed limb! A fragment of a black trench coat, mangled and bloody, with white bone showing at the break.

His pupils contracted sharply, his chest heaved violently, and his steps gradually slowed, as if he had made some kind of decision.

Seeing this, the middle-aged woman slowed down, grabbed his hand, and said anxiously, "What's wrong, Kai? Hang in there, the refuge point is just ahead."

The man called Akai stopped completely in his tracks.

Then he knelt down.

He slammed his knees on the rough cement floor and kowtowed three times to his mother.

"Mom." His voice trembled, but every word was clear, "Your son is unfilial. You must take good care of yourself from now on."

A pale red energy rose from his body, revealing him to be a second-tier civilian ability user!

He didn't dare to look up at his mother, and with his head down, he stood up and rushed towards the crowd.

Seeing the man rushing towards the monster, the middle-aged woman in the floral short-sleeved shirt understood what was happening. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't speak or try to stop her child. Having been a mother for over twenty years, how could she not understand her child?

Upon seeing this scene, some of the refugees stopped in their tracks.

"Damn it, I can't take this anymore!"

"Ancestors above! Bless me!"

"Long live humanity!!!"

Several first and second-tier ability users and several advanced martial artists stopped fleeing and turned to rush towards the corpse seed!

The hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage!

-

In the city center, on a patch of ruins covering an area of ​​several tens of meters in diameter.

Two silver-badged torchbearers, blood still clinging to the corners of their mouths, stood in the center of the ruins, their expressions grave as they gazed at the black mass of energy emanating a high-level aura.

One of them was Wang Qi, an old acquaintance of Wu You.

His trench coat was tattered, his face was covered in dust and blood, and dried blood clung to the corner of his mouth.

The other one is Gu Lun, another deputy director of the Lanhe Investigation Bureau, a sixth-tier ability user and a Silver Emblem Torchbearer.

That black mass of energy was a lustful corpse that had just broken through to the seventh rank after absorbing a great deal of negative emotion from Lanhe City.

The next moment, the black cloud suddenly contracted and then exploded like a bomb, with countless black tentacles shooting out from the center of the cloud and surging towards Wang Qi and Gu Lun.

"Gu Ju!" Wang Qi shouted, his energy surging wildly within him.

Guren did not retreat. He took a deep breath, pushed forward with his left hand, and a pale golden light barrier unfolded in front of him, blocking all the black tentacles.

The light barrier trembled violently, cracks spreading like a spider web, but he gritted his teeth and held on desperately.

"I'll hold it off!" His voice was hoarse but steady. "You take charge of the attack! We can't let this thing leave this area!"

Without any hesitation, Wang Qi raised his hands, palms facing each other, and blue flames gathered between them.

"The two elements will be consumed by fire!"

More blood seeped from the corner of Wang Qi's mouth. He had already activated the Yin-Yang Incineration technique once before, and his body was already at its limit.

Forcing it to start again will inevitably damage the body.

. . .

And above the Bureau of Investigation building.

The sixteen-sided magic circle, which took shape brilliantly in the black flames, rapidly expanded outwards from the black-cloaked priest, almost covering most of the Lanhe city area.

Even Hu Lie's illusory body, which was hundreds of meters long, seemed insignificant in front of this magic array.

Hu Lie abandoned attacking the other corpse types and swung all his fists at the priest corpse type in the center of the magic circle.

Each punch carried the power to shatter mountains and split rocks, each punch was imbued with the illusory power he had gained by burning his life.

However, each attack was blocked by the red light emanating from the magic circle before it could hit its target.

The red light resembled a thin film of blood, seemingly fragile yet incredibly resilient. When the illusory fist struck it, it only stirred up ripples, failing to harm the priest's corpse at the center of the magic array.

The black-cloaked figure in the center of the formation looked up at the sky, then at Hu Lie between the illusory eyebrows. Its voice remained completely flat.

"It's no use. The ritual has already been initiated, and the star orbit is in the correct position. You can no longer stop the descent of the Great Thousand-Faced God."

Hu Lie didn't say anything; he simply increased the frequency of his attacks, throwing punch after punch, each one faster than the last.

His anxiety even overshadowed the excruciating physical pain.

If the divine descent ritual is truly completed and the deity of the Corpse Race descends, even if it's just a wisp of His power, not only will all the humans of the Lan River die, but the subsequent situation will be far more serious.

If the power of the Corpse Gods truly takes root in Lanhe, then Lanhe will be completely integrated with the Dark Domain, and Lanhe City will become a real stronghold for the Corpse World to invade the human world!

Lin Zhili, who was standing to the side, also understood this.

But he can't even control his own body now, and can only watch helplessly as the descent array completes.

A drop of bright red liquid welled up in his eye and slid down his cheek.

"I am a sinner against all humanity..."

As the massive magic array continued to operate, the corpses and remains of the dead people in Lanhe City began to float up involuntarily, surging towards the huge magic array in mid-air.

As flesh and blood filled in, the lines of the magic circle became increasingly solid, transforming from indistinct to real, from dim to crimson.

Seeing this, Hu Lie, who was struggling to maintain his illusory form, sighed. He knew that the priest of the Faceless Cult was right; he could no longer stop the completion of the descent array.

Dispersing his illusory form, Hu Lie, his body soaked in his own blood, spoke into his earpiece in an extremely hoarse voice: "Activate the Fire Seed registration."

Inside the Investigation Bureau building, Ye Yi's pupils constricted sharply upon hearing these four words: "Filing for the Fire Seed..."

This means that Lanhe City is very likely to be lost.

But he completely trusted Hu Lie's judgment and did not hesitate at all: "He operated his black watch a few times and sent out several messages."

drip-

Wu You, engrossed in the killing spree, glanced at his watch. A brief message appeared on the screen: "Cease all ongoing missions and immediately assemble at the Investigation Bureau building."

On the other side, Didi—

Wang Qi also received that message.

"Ancient scheme..."

Wang Qi truthfully told Gu Lun the contents of the information.

After hearing the new information, Guren remained silent for a moment before speaking calmly: "Go to the station quickly, I'll stay here."

"But--"

"No buts!" Guren's voice trembled slightly. "This is an order! Go now!"

Wang Qi gritted his teeth, his eyes reddening, and turned to rush towards the Investigation Bureau building.

. . .

Wu You swept his sword horizontally, the silver-gray sword light spreading out in a fan shape, annihilating all the zombies that surged in from the vicinity. Then he immediately turned around and stepped into the air towards the Investigation Bureau building.

He opened the Sword Codex panel as he ran.

Star Pivot Seven Luminaries Sword (Minor Success) (19811/20000) → (Major Success) (3011/40000)!

Rank: 6 → 7!

An even greater power erupted from Wu You's body, which made him kill the zombie species even faster!

Allocable experience points: +2000, +100, +1000, +2000...

The Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Treasury increases by 20%, 15%, 40%, and 25%...

The numbers on the panel were jumping wildly, but Wu You didn't stop to look. He killed and ran at the same time, his sword light and figure intertwining into a black lightning bolt that ripped through the city that was heading towards death.

His gaze swept across the sky, where the strange magic circle covering most of the Lan River was spinning.

But he didn't stop and kept rushing towards the Bureau of Investigation building.

. . .

The magic array became increasingly solid, and the emanating aura grew heavier and heavier.

The black-cloaked priest at the center of the magic circle frowned; this subtle change in expression was the first time it had shown any emotion.

"Time is running out..." it murmured to itself.

Then, it looked at Hu Lie, who was covered in blood in mid-air, and pointed its pale finger at the humans below who were struggling, fighting, and dying.

"Look at you humans, so weak, yet possessing such high intelligence and talent. Even your strength grows so quickly."

Its sound remained flat.

"That's so unfair."

It shook its head to itself.

"But it doesn't matter. Although you humans are extremely intelligent and highly talented, unfortunately—you don't have time."

"Your world will become the pasture of the great Thousand-Faced God. You will also become slaves of our race. At that time, we will naturally be able to thoroughly study the unique characteristics of your race."

"It's just a pity..."

It didn't say anything about what was a pity.

Hearing these words, Hu Lie felt a very bad premonition. Without any hesitation, he endured the excruciating pain and activated his illusory body once again.

A huge, pale golden humanoid figure reappeared in the sky, but this time, the color of the phantom was much dimmer, like a candle flame about to go out.

He burned his last remaining life force and launched another fierce attack on the black-cloaked priest at the center of the magic circle, punch after punch, each punch carrying his last and all his strength.

Red ripples appeared on the surface of the magic circle, blocking all of Hu Lie's attacks.

The black-cloaked priest looked at Hu Lie, whose life force was beginning to fluctuate violently, and said in a flat voice, "It's useless. Although we missed the information that you can manipulate illusions, all your other arrangements are under our control. From beginning to end, you've been nothing more than fish in a barrel."

It waved its hand gently.

The enormous hexagonal magic array suddenly accelerated its rotation.

Then, the black-cloaked priest's body began to disintegrate, its flesh falling off piece by piece, turning into streams of black light that merged into the magic circle.

No, it wasn't just that. The other black-cloaked priest, as well as all the Thousand-Faced Corpse Species in Lanhe City at this moment, also transformed into streams of blood and flesh, flying from every corner of the city toward the magic circle and merging into the rotating magic circle.

It not only used human sacrifices, but also sacrificed itself and all members of the Thousand-Faced Corpse Clan in Lanhe to accelerate the arrival of the Thousand-Faced God's power!

Seeing this, Hu Lie recklessly charged at the descent array, disregarding his own life. His illusory form crashed into the array again and again, only to be repelled by the red light each time. His body was disintegrating, his skin was cracking, and his bones were breaking, but he did not stop.

Useless.

The next moment, a vast and immense aura erupted from the center of the sixteen-sided magic array.

The aura was lofty and indifferent, as if it came from a higher dimension or a deeper abyss.

Hu Lie, who was directly confronted by this aura, was hit head-on. His illusory form shattered instantly, and he was smashed into the Investigation Bureau building like a cannonball.

"Cough cough..."

Hu Lie vomited out some fragments of internal organs, and bright red blood clots were scattered on the ground.

Ye Yi, who arrived at the scene, pulled him out of the rubble, helped him up and leaned him against the wall, took out several specially made treatment potions from his pocket, uncapped them and poured them into Hu Lie's mouth.

Hu Lie swallowed a few mouthfuls and then pushed the medicine away from his mouth. He looked at Ye Yi, his voice as weak as a candle flickering in the wind.

"Cough cough cough... Have the seeds... arrived yet...?"

Ye Yi gritted her teeth and glanced at the location on her watch.

The points of light representing the sparks were moving rapidly toward the building, and the closest ones had already reached the ground floor.

"Almost there, almost there."

"That's fine then."

The red light gradually dissipated in mid-air.

A huge, bright red head slowly took shape in the center of the magic circle.

The head had no hair, no facial features, and looked like a smooth, red braised egg soaked in blood.

It hovered in mid-air, slowly rotating.

Then, a slit appeared in the face of the skull.

A vertical pupil opened in the very center of his face.

The vertical pupil was golden, and the pupil itself was a thin black line surrounded by layers of golden halos. The moment it opened, a terrifying and majestic aura exploded out like a tangible shockwave, spreading in all directions.

Lanhe City, and all living beings in the surrounding area, simultaneously felt a heavy, suffocating sense of oppression.

That wasn't physical pressure, but rather an oppressive force arising from a vast difference in the level of life!

A wisp of the will of the Thousand-Faced God has descended!

Meanwhile, Yinhua City, Jianwan City, and Dahu City, which are adjacent to Lanhe River, are also affected.

Many people wearing black trench coats simultaneously looked up and gazed in the direction of the Lan River.

Yinhua City.

"Damn it, something's happened. I was wondering why the psionic protective field over at Lanhe hadn't been turned off for over an hour! Clearing out a large number of zombies shouldn't take this long!"

Establish a night market.

"This oppressive aura... All Torchbearers of rank 5 and above, without missions of P1 level or above, immediately proceed to Lanhe City!"

Great Lakes City.

"Damn it, Ye Yi, you cargo handler, please don't die like this! All Silver-Badged Torchbearers, follow me to the Lan River!"