Chapter 165

"The Underworld King has returned. Proceed to Tianbo City immediately."

Shortly after this message was broadcast from Tianbo City—while the Land of Gods had already forced players to log off—various city lords and territory-level bosses of dangerous zones such as the Phantom Forest stepped out of their domains against all precedent. They shared a single destination: Tianbo City. They also shared a common identity: Envoys of the Underworld.

Only Fan Yunshan and Moran realized something was amiss, and thus they chose not to depart.

Fan Yunshan and Moran immediately utilized every communication channel at their disposal, trying their utmost to reach out to those they knew well.

In the end, they managed to contact only three people.

Messages sent to everyone else sank into the sea without a trace, leaving not a single echo.

Those three individuals had been mere steps away from entering the teleportation array when they received Fan Yunshan's contact at the very last second, consisting of just a few short words: "The situation has changed. Come to Luoyun immediately."

Almost everyone who successfully received the message shared a fairly good relationship with Fan Yunshan, and furthermore, these individuals were entirely trustworthy.

It was precisely because of their trust in Fan Yunshan that they halted their steps, even though the message seemed to align with their ultimate goal.

They were well aware of Fan Yunshan's current presence in Luoyun City.

After all, as the first city to be conquered, the movements of Yuxiao's City Lord, Fan Yunshan, were monitored not only by players but also by those Underworld Envoys.

Naturally, there was no shortage of private mockery either; losing a city could genuinely be considered a humiliation of no small scale.

"What is happening?" the three asked, yet their paces did not hesitate as they altered their course directly from the teleportation arrays toward Luoyun City.

"You will understand once you arrive." Fan Yunshan did not offer a detailed explanation. Faced with this bizarre situation, he had little interest in explaining things one by one; it would be better to wait until they all arrived and then carefully assess the situation together.

Following the incident with the Skeleton King and this peculiar atmosphere, Fan Yunshan no longer dared to trust anyone easily. Even though these three arriving now had once been comrades-in-arms to whom he could entrust his life on the battlefield, personal relations truly paled into utter insignificance when compared to the future of the entire Underworld.

The three arrived in Luoyun City almost simultaneously, one right after another. They harbored deep doubts as to why Fan Yunshan had suddenly summoned them here.

The fact that Li Ren was very likely the former Underworld King was a secret known to only a handful of people, such as Fan Yunshan and Moran. Yet previously, it had remained merely a speculation. As for the Skeleton King, that creature had stumbled upon the truth while attempting to devour Li Ren, ultimately perishing on Skeleton Mountain due to its uncontrollable greed. Consequently, rumors of the Underworld King's return were even less likely to spread.

And the players who had witnessed it with their own eyes? They could not possibly possess any information regarding the Underworld King. Even if they had seen it, what of it?

Meanwhile, Li Ren's heart calmed slightly.

He had felt extremely uneasy on the way back to Luoyun City after sustaining severe injuries, as Solon and the others had never appeared to intercept them. No matter how one looked at it, that group would never simply surrender such an exceptional opportunity.

Now, with such developments unfolding, the puzzle pieces could finally be resolved.

Compared to their current frail strength, what that group plotted targeted every single Underworld Envoy across the entire Land of Gods!

If they succeeded in controlling those Underworld Envoys, the resulting consequences would be nothing short of subversive.

Once those forces were all converted into their own power, a faction possessing countless armies could then turn around to deal with Li Ren—which could only be described as effortless.

If Li Ren could deduce this, Fan Yunshan naturally could as well. Truth be told, his reaction had not been sluggish; the moment the message appeared, he had dispatched their unique communication signal. Under normal circumstances, at least twenty-odd city lords would have responded, but now only three had answered. This showed that the other faction's operation must have begun long ago. As for the message broadcasted just now, it was likely merely a ploy to round up the final remnants in one fell swoop.

One had to admit that Tianxie had undoubtedly executed their plan to perfection this time.

Fan Yunshan wore a dark expression.

Those three were the city lords of Yeqing City, Chengjiang Prefecture, and Hanyue City.

Among them, the City Lord of Chengjiang Prefecture was a woman. Light pink gauze embroidered with golden threads set off her exposed arms, which were as tender and alluring as lotus roots. Beneath her long eyelashes, her clever eyes lacked no majesty. Her graceful and winding body seemed like the most perfect masterpiece of the heavens, truly possessing peerless beauty.

The City Lord of Yeqing City appeared to be a frail scholar. A light cyan robe and a scholar's scarf heightened his scholarly aura. A gentle smile hung upon his lean face, making him the very model of a man of letters.

The City Lord of Hanyue City, on the other hand, was an absolute warrior. Dark silver armor covered his entire body, with supple leather armor fitted at the joints and other areas requiring flexibility. He held a long spear in his hand, its tip radiating piercing coldness—frost had even formed upon the spearhead. Behind the tip, a crimson tassel hung heavy like blood, bearing witness to the countless enemy lives it had taken!

Upon arriving in Luoyun City, the three proceeded straight to the city lord's fortress. Li Ren naturally raised no objections; he opened the access permissions, allowing the three to enter the grand hall.

One had to admit that upon receiving that message, even the usually stern Hanyue City Lord wore a trace of faint joy on his face.

Although summoned urgently by Fan Yunshan and bearing puzzled wrinkles on his brow, he still could not conceal his inner excitement.

If even the Hanyue City Lord reacted thus, the City Lords of Yeqing City and Chengjiang Prefecture went without saying.

Seeing the three city lords before him for the first time, Li Ren quietly appraised them while they likewise scrutinized him.

As for Fan Yunshan and Moran, while ordinary people might not know them, to these three they were crystal clear, so they merely offered a nod. However, they were completely unfamiliar with Li Ren, who appeared in the shape of a skeleton. Given Fan Yunshan's temperament, summoning them in such a rush meant the core of the matter likely lay with the figure standing before them.

"Brother Fan, what pressing matter has caused you to call us here? The Underworld King has appeared; shouldn't we hasten to pay our respects to Lord Underworld?" The City Lord of Yeqing City cupped his fists, breaking the silence first.

"Sigh. If you wish to pay respects to Lord Underworld, that is simple enough, but if you intend to go to that damned Tianbo City, forget it." Fan Yunshan's words were filled with a deep, potent murderous intent toward Tianbo City—an intent so fierce that even the Hanyue City Lord could not help casting a few extra glances at him.

The expressions of the three arriving city lords shifted slightly. One had to recall that the Underworld King had supposedly appeared in Tianbo City, yet Fan Yunshan not only refused to go there but had summoned them here instead. This already carried an inherent strangeness, and his overwhelming murderous intent toward Tianbo City gave the three ample food for thought.

Fan Yunshan naturally sensed their reaction immediately. He waved his hand and sighed helplessly, "What if I told you that Underworld King is a fake?"

"Fake? How is that possible!" the City Lord of Chengjiang Prefecture—the breathtakingly beautiful woman—interjected, "That kind of message was transmitted through our own internal channels. Who would dare to easily joke about such a matter!"

Immediately, a hint of intangible hostility flickered in the eyes of the three. Fan Yunshan let out a bitter laugh and recounted everything that had transpired within Skeleton Mountain to the trio, including their initial observation of Li Ren and so forth. Naturally, Moran added a few details as well.

The expressions of the three gradually shifted, the gazes they cast toward Li Ren turning increasingly peculiar.

"Does that mean the Luoyun City Lord before us is actually our former Lord Underworld?" The Hanyue City Lord fixed his gaze on Li Ren, asking as if in casual conversation.

"Correct." Fan Yunshan nodded.

"Yet how can you prove he is the original Underworld King? Relying merely on your guesses proves nothing at all."

"The Underworld Arts will not lie!" Fan Yunshan turned to look at Li Ren, a slight plea in his eyes.

Li Ren thought for a moment and released a trace of the unique fluctuations characteristic of the Underworld Arts. However, rather than unleashing the full extent of the arts, he merely revealed a wisp of its aura.

The Underworld Arts were not easily displayed; a misstep, given his current physical condition, would only cause his injuries to worsen.

At such a sensitive time, injuring himself once more would indeed be exceedingly unwise.

The unique properties of the Underworld Arts were such that anyone who had witnessed them even once would have that aura deeply etched into their soul. Furthermore, the soul-based Underworld Arts utilized by Li Ren belonged exclusively to the former Underworld King, carrying an exceptionally potent stimulating effect upon the soul. Though merely a wisp, it was more than enough for the three before him to confirm what kind of art this truly was.

Li Ren quickly retracted that wisp of aura. Even this brief display left him feeling somewhat uncomfortable; after all, the Skeleton King had first shattered his natal soul-grid, destroying a strand of his soul, and then detonated its soul-flame, the backlash missing a full half of his own soul-flame and leaving him critically weak.

Now, in order to recover that half of his soul-flame as quickly as possible, he was forced to divert a portion of his remaining intact soul-flame to nourish the shattered fragments until they could slowly fuse back together.

During the nourishment process, these soul-flames could not be deployed at all. Should he employ them, those hard-gathered, fragmented halves of his soul-flame might shatter entirely, leaving zero possibility of ever reclaiming them.