Chapter 164

With the self-detonation of the Skeleton King, this battle, which was a heavy loss for everyone involved, finally came to an end.

Although Li Ren's strength had proven to be exceptionally formidable during this conflict, he was overwhelmed by the Skeleton King's desperate final moments. The shattering of his natal soul lattice and the explosion of his remaining half-soul fire dealt devastating blows to him.

At least for now, his strength was a far cry from its former peak.

The only silver lining was that everyone, including Lania, had miraculously survived. Peace returned to Skeleton Mountain once more; the original Skeleton King had completely vanished. However, under the system's interference, a new Skeleton King was spawned in its place.

Yet, this newly emerged Skeleton King was no different from the ordinary lords roaming the surrounding lands—it was merely a standard lord-tier boss endowed with some basic behavioral programming by the system.

Players who had the fortune of witnessing the entire event published their recordings on the forums.

Before long, the entire player community learned of the peerless might wielded by both the Lord of Falling Cloud City and the Skeleton King. The spectacle was so breathtaking it bordered on shocking.

Players rewatched the combat footage over and over, slowing it down countless times to carefully analyze every detail. Their conclusion was that such formidable attacks were likely something only achievable once they reached the absolute highest apex of the game.

Still, methods to replicate such feats always existed. After numerous tactical analysts decoded the information, the players' enthusiasm surged to unprecedented heights.

In their eyes, this was undoubtedly a supreme-tier duel staged by the system to deepen their understanding of the Land of the Gods.

Consequently, the leveling difficulties that had previously seemed insurmountably steep finally made sense, and they were imbued with a renewed drive to grind and elevate their levels.

Such a ripple effect was something Li Ren and his companions could never have anticipated beforehand.

Back in Falling Cloud City, escorted by the remnants of the Falling Cloud Legion, the group finally made their tortuous journey back via Yuxiao City. Along the way, Li Ren remained perpetually on edge.

The reason lay in the shadowy presence of Sauron and his cohorts, who were still lurking in the dark.

Although those fellows appeared to be mere ordinary players, they operated under the shadow of the Heavenly Evil, granting them vastly fewer restrictions than typical players faced.

Moreover, looking at the current state of the system, it was glaringly obvious that something had malfunctioned. Otherwise, there was no way those people could have caught up to Li Ren's level in such a short span of time, even faintly surpassing him.

Following the Battle of Skeleton Mountain, their faction had suffered heavily: Landis, Lania, and Shadow had fallen into deep comas; Fanyun Shan and Moran were severely injured. While still conscious, their combat capabilities were practically reduced to zero. Only Li Ren remained barely capable of battle, though he had suffered the most catastrophic losses of all. He had once possessed the power to shatter this very world, only to be beaten down into dispersion during the Skeleton King's dying struggle.

His current strength was less than ten percent of its peak. Furthermore, the baby Vermilion Bird that had recently displayed such might had retreated back into his depths once more, and it was anyone's guess whether that creature would ever prove useful again.

Fortunately, this time he could genuinely sense the existence of the little Vermilion Bird.

Deep within his mind floated a fiery red pearl, emanating gentle energy pulses. At the same time, wisps of energy continually converged toward the pearl from all directions. If one were to accelerate this process by a thousandfold, one could clearly see the fiery red hue of the pearl gradually shifting and deepening, evolving toward a profound shade of purple.

Fortunately, Sauron and the Heavenly Evil faction did not make a move along the journey. Li Ren refused to believe they were unaware of the events here or lacked the means to arrive in time; such an excuse would be laughable.

Sauron's intense hatred and obsession were palpable; he would never pass up the supreme opportunity to eradicate Li Ren.

Even now, sitting securely within the lord's castle of Falling Cloud City, Li Ren could find no peace of mind.

Fanyun Shan and Moran had already departed, as their injuries were indeed severe. Unlike players, their existence was absolute—an injury sustained was a genuine wound, with no system to magically reset their condition back to default.

They could only heal slowly on their own. Of course, rare herbs possessing immense healing properties native to this world could also aid their recovery.

Naturally, the Eastern Clan members proved invaluable at this juncture. Upon his return, Li Ren immediately summoned the Eastern Chieftain. Upon assessing everyone's injuries, the chieftain did not hesitate, immediately gathering a contingent of clansmen to ensure the wounded received the utmost care.

Realizing he was utterly clueless about such matters and unable to help after observing for a while, Li Ren departed.

With the Eastern Clan tending to everyone, he felt considerably more at ease. His immediate priority was to restore his own strength as much as possible.

Without a doubt, this was Falling Cloud City's most vulnerable hour. If any crisis were to strike now, it would truly be more than they could bear.

Li Ren sat solemnly in the lord's grand hall, where the happenings in every corner of Falling Cloud City were laid out before him.

From all appearances, everything proceeded with no abnormal deviations from the routine.

To prevent Falling Cloud City from falling victim to a surprise assault by Sauron and his faction, Shadow had advised capping the teleportation array's maximum level requirement at Level 80 back when their leveling speeds had spiked madly.

As a result, ordinary players fell short of that threshold, yet the array remained fully accessible to them. Anyone who could now bypass the barrier and reach Level 80 and above could only mean one thing: they were part of the clique in league with Sauron and the Heavenly Evil.

Level 80 was a critically perilous threshold. A single individual of that caliber posed little threat, but once they gathered in numbers and dispersed across Falling Cloud City, ordinary guards would genuinely be powerless to stop them.

Even if they were eventually expelled from the city, the collateral damage inflicted upon Falling Cloud City would be devastating.

As long as they could disrupt the faction and accumulated strength that had been so painstakingly built, Sauron and his cohorts would undoubtedly revel in the outcome.

After all, given the current competitive landscape among player-controlled cities, any loss of personnel in Falling Cloud City would merely be absorbed by rival municipalities.

Player guilds were being established in ever-greater numbers, and their development accelerated rapidly as greater investments poured in.

Any disruption at this moment would undoubtedly deal a severe blow, a scenario that simply could not be tolerated.

Just as Li Ren remained plagued by suspicions regarding Sauron's movements, an even more baffling event occurred.

A system update, identical in every way to the deployment of the mount system in the past, manifested abruptly.

Without a single prior warning or prompt, all players were forcefully disconnected. Gazing out at the suddenly desolate streets of Falling Cloud City, a profound sense of unease gripped Li Ren's heart.

Fanyun Shan and Moran, who had just departed, suddenly reappeared inside the lord's grand hall.

The moment this anomaly occurred within the Land of the Gods, they had sensed that something was amiss.

By the established rules, the system lacked the administrative authority to execute such forced mass disconnections, nor did the world events involve any sudden expansion of the leveling system or the triggering of a major world quest.

For such an occurrence to unfold so abruptly could mean only one thing to them.

The supreme entity they spoke of—the one who governed this realm and had transformed into the system itself—seemed to have run into trouble.

Compounded by the multiplying traces of the Heavenly Evil surfacing of late, the root of all anomalies continuously pointed toward that faction, plunging Fanyun Shan, who was already stripped of his powers, into a state of heavy gloom.

Just as they had finally located their ultimate hope, it had been nearly ruined by their own people from the Netherworld. Before they could even recover their strength, they encountered a formidable menace like the Heavenly Evil race, which had stealthily infiltrated this world.

It felt as though an invisible, colossal hand was orchestrating all of this behind the scenes. Fate seemed to mock them relentlessly, constantly pushing them deeper toward a bewildered abyss.

Developments were growing increasingly murky and inscrutable.

The supreme entity, with whom they had once maintained regular contact, had fallen completely silent. They now felt like prisoners trapped within this isolated world, forced to rely solely on their own meager strength to accomplish anything.

"It seems we need to contact certain individuals," Fanyun Shan said, his brow furrowing tightly as his foreboding sense of dread intensified.

Li Ren remained silent. He knew Fanyun Shan was not speaking to him. The suffocating sense of frustration in his own chest rendered him incapable of uttering even a single syllable.

"Can you still reach those people?" Moran's face wore a matching expression of gravity. Even he, the entity originally tasked with safeguarding the balance between worlds, had now unequivocally thrown his lot in with Li Ren.

"We must at least try," Fanyun Shan drew a deep breath. "My only fear is that those bastards won't allow us to forge an alliance so easily."

Fanyun Shan gazed worriedly into the distance, toward the territories controlled by the player factions.

As a rule, the cities belonging to player factions were typically governed by figures hailing from the Netherworld, who would quietly withdraw only during the advanced stages of the game.

Right now was the zenith of their influence, a calculated path chosen precisely to track down any lingering possibility of the Netherlord's existence.

After all, searching for a single individual in a boundless sea of people was an impossibly daunting task, and they refused to believe the former Netherlord would remain entirely obscure if he truly manifested among the player populace.

Presumably, serving as city lords—even if their duties were limited to issuing high-tier quests—would eventually bring them face-to-face with the Netherlord they awaited.

One had to admit this logic was sound; within this independent world where entry quotas were strictly enforced, relying on such methods was their only viable option.

In truth, their efforts extended far beyond what was visible on the surface.

Entities akin to the Skeleton King were planted across numerous hidden corners of the monster territories.

They possessed zero clues regarding the Netherlord's identity, lacking even an inkling of what form his true vessel might take upon manifestation.

It was precisely because of this ignorance that anomalies like the Skeleton King had been engineered.

Yet upon entering this realm, that greedy Skeleton King had coveted the formidable power wielded by Li Ren. If Li Ren had merely been an ordinary entity, it might have ended differently; but upon devouring half of the soul fire, the skeleton had clearly sensed that Li Ren might well be the very Netherlord they sought. Driven by greed, it escalated its ambitions, attempting to consume Li Ren entirely!

One had to marvel at the sheer irony of fate and the fickleness of human—or rather, mortal—hearts.

Power was indeed an intoxicating source of temptation.

Fanyun Shan wished to contact a few city lords who had maintained amicable ties with him back in the Netherworld and had also entered the Land of the Gods. However, in the wake of the Skeleton King incident, he no longer dared to place blind trust in everyone.

If possible, he would have preferred to keep this secret buried until Li Ren truly attained power that surpassed them all.

Yet that now seemed entirely unrealistic.

Since the Skeleton King had managed to deduce Li Ren's true identity, it was entirely plausible that those insidious Heavenly Evil entities might uncover the truth as well.

It was merely a matter of time. Furthermore, having lost contact with the custodian of this world, relying solely on their own strength left them dangerously thinly spread.

Just as he prepared to initiate contact, a telepathic message flashed directly into the minds of both Fanyun Shan and Moran.

"The Netherlord has returned. Proceed to Tianbo City immediately."

The two exchanged glances, their eyes filled with utter disbelief.

"How is this possible!" Fanyun Shan stared at the message in shock. Li Ren's potential as the Netherlord had been personally verified by them; could anything be more convincing than firsthand witness and experience?

Yet they were suddenly being notified that a Netherlord—originating from unknown quarters—had returned. Moreover, this broadcast appeared to have been sent to every single Netherworld denizen still lingering in this world.

In other words, all the powerhouses would soon converge upon Tianbo City.

A chill gradually seeped into Fanyun Shan's heart. If the intelligence was false—no, it had to be a fabrication—what was the sender's true objective?

Objective!

"The Heavenly Evil!" Fanyun Shan stared grimly at Moran, both of them spitting out the low, dark syllables simultaneously.

That damned race, one that should neither exist nor ever have manifested in this world!

If this falsehood successfully concentrated everyone in one place, the ultimate beneficiary would undeniably be a single faction!

Damned Heavenly Evil race!