Chapter 166

“It really is the Soul Necromancy!” The three of them exchanged glances, their eyes filled with an irrepressible shock.

Indeed, Soul Necromancy was an art exclusive to the Underworld King alone. It placed excessively high demands on the caster, especially regarding the strength of one’s own soul, combined with certain ethereal factors. Consequently, even in the Underworld, a realm that dealt with souls day in and day out, only the Underworld King himself could directly apply magic to the spiritual plane.

“However, even with Necromancy as proof, it still doesn’t answer the practical questions,” the Lord of Yeqing City shook his head, as if deep in thought.

“So be it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe it for now, but you must ensure that you do not go to Tianbo City. If my deductions are correct, that place has already been occupied by the Heavenly Fiends.” Fan Yunshan offered no retort to the doubts of Yeqing City’s lord. If he had been in their position, he probably would have been even more meticulous regarding the verification of Lord Underworld’s identity.

Especially given the current circumstances, when someone had publicly announced the return of Lord Underworld, making such a claim made it all the more difficult to accept.

Fundamentally, they simply could not believe that fellow emissaries who had entered this world from the Underworld could ever betray it.

Yet the reality was right before them, leaving the three city lords completely at a loss for a decision.

“Very well, let me make the introductions. This is Ye Qing, the Lord of Yeqing City.” Fan Yunshan introduced them one by one to Li Ren. When facing Li Ren, Ye Qing clearly exhibited a subtle sense of restraint.

In his heart, he had already accepted Li Ren’s identity, yet in reality, he could not help but remain cautious. One could well imagine the turbulent emotions in Ye Qing’s heart as he stood before the former Underworld King and truly felt that their long-awaited wish might be fulfilled.

Fan Yunshan smiled and turned to the exquisitely beautiful woman. “This is Hua Yue'er, the Lord of Chengjiang Prefecture, renowned for her devastating beauty. Don’t let her delicate appearance fool you; when she takes action, even I might not be her match.” Li Ren was somewhat surprised. Although the appearances of Landis and Rania were hardly inferior to the woman before him, both of them carried a faint air of martial prowess in their brows that enhanced their charm even further. Yet looking at Hua Yue'er, who maintained a delicate and fragile demeanor throughout, and hearing such a high evaluation from Fan Yunshan, this was truly a remarkable anomaly.

“Brother Fan is still as fond of jokes as ever. How could a frail woman like me be so violent?” Hua Yue'er giggled softly and bowed slightly toward Li Ren, her posture indescribably captivating. Fan Yunshan, however, did not dare to pursue the conversation further; it seemed he had only dared to make that remark under the shelter of Li Ren’s presence, and in daily life, he truly wouldn't dare say such things.

“This is City Lord Cang Wenthen of Hanyue. With a long spear in hand, he has slain countless Heavenly Fiends—he is a formidable figure of great renown.” Cang Wenthen cupped his fists across his chest without speaking. Li Ren returned the gesture, and the three of them were considered acquainted.

After some conventional pleasantries, the group seated themselves in the grand hall. It was Ye Qing who spoke first once again, asking, “Brother Fan, what on earth has happened this time? How did things come to...”

As he spoke, he glanced in Li Ren’s direction, and everyone understood tacitly. Two figures claiming to be the former Underworld King had appeared in rapid succession. The three of them were inclined to believe Li Ren was the genuine one, but many others had rushed to Tianbo City, and no anomalous news had come back from there yet—meaning it was entirely possible that the situation there was the same.

At the mention of Tianbo City, a surge of murderous intent welled up in Fan Yunshan’s heart. It was highly likely that those Underworld emissaries who had gone to Tianbo City first were already facing grim peril.

“The so-called Underworld King in Tianbo City is likely a fake, or perhaps, he never existed at all.” After a brief silence, Fan Yunshan spoke.

“Tianbo City, if I’m not mistaken, has been occupied by the Heavenly Fiends.”

“What! The Heavenly Fiends?!” The three of them were profoundly shocked upon suddenly hearing this name.

No matter what, the appearance of beings that should absolute never exist in this world naturally provoked profound astonishment.

The Heavenly Fiends had always been renowned for their stealth capabilities. Had one not come into direct contact with them on the front lines, one would never have suspected their existence.

This was precisely the reason why, when the Heavenly Fiends had attacked the Underworld in the past, rebellions had broken out everywhere, ultimately leading to widespread collapse.

Those Heavenly Fiends had long since infiltrated the interior of the Underworld, acting as an advance force to lay the absolute advantageous groundwork for a subsequent massive invasion.

“That’s right, the Heavenly Fiends,” Fan Yunshan affirmed firmly.

“Impossible! If the Heavenly Fiends attacked, how could this world still exist, and how could we possibly still be within it?” Hua Yue'er found it extremely difficult to believe this nearly impossible reality.

“I also don’t know why this world continues to exist, but haven't you noticed that we can no longer contact the Lord who embodies the System? Moreover, when my Yuxiao City was breached, it was precisely the appearance of a spell seal belonging to the Heavenly Fiend clan that temporarily sealed me,” Fan Yunshan stated. “As for why this world still exists and how the Heavenly Fiends managed to enter it, I do not yet know.”

Hua Yue'er and the other two exchanged glances. They believed well over half of what Fan Yunshan had said, for they too had attempted to contact their close friends who had already gone to Tianbo City, only to receive not a single trace of a reply. Combined with Fan Yunshan’s testimony, this only further corroborated these events.

“I wonder what plans Brother Fan has at present?” Ye Qing furrowed his brow. Everyone was still completely in the dark regarding current events; let alone formulating a plan, they couldn't even grasp the full sequence of the situation. Especially for the three newly arrived individuals who knew nothing of the situation, they naturally needed to consult Fan Yunshan, the person who had spent the most time in contact with the Heavenly Fiends.

“What plans could I possibly have? I was completely dazed by their sudden move. Being able to notify you all can already be considered a great stroke of luck; if I couldn't reach a single person, that truly would have been the most tragic outcome.” Fan Yunshan shook his head bitterly. Indeed, their current knowledge was far too scarce, leaving them utterly incapable of devising any strategies.

“Let us simply wait and see how things develop.”

Inside Tianbo City.

“My lord, preparations are nearly complete. What is our next step?” A low voice echoed softly within a dimly lit room.

“Very well, proceed according to the plan. Take them to that place; it is time for us to go and properly enjoy ourselves as well.”

The speaker rose from his original chair. Utilizing the dim light, a faint sword gleam reflected off his person, casting an icy, frigid chill.

Those heroic sword-like brows, slightly gloomy eyes, and a malevolent smile playing at the corners of his lips—who could it be if not Sauron!

Yet his appearance at this moment was exceptionally incongruous.

As a player, the fact that he could still manifest within the Land of the Gods even after the system had forced all players offline indicated something of profound significance!

The reasons why they could continue to exist within this world were truly worthy of deep consideration.

If Li Ren could see Sauron’s appearance right now, he would surely have been able to deduce something. Unfortunately, he was not here, nor would he ever have imagined that Sauron and his faction could continue to exist within this world.

Their gazes at this moment were entirely captivated by the unknown Heavenly Fiends.

The Lord’s Mansion of Tianbo City.

From the exterior, this lord’s mansion appeared no different from any other. The same architecture, the same aura—an imposing and domineering presence that, viewed from afar, would indeed imprint itself directly upon a person’s mind.

Yet if one were to step inside the mansion personally, that majestic and overbearing aura would be instantly replaced by a bone-chilling coldness that pierced straight to the marrow.

Outsiders would never know how vastly different the grand lord’s mansion looked from the outside compared to the inside.

Unlike other lord’s mansions where major quests were occasionally issued personally by the city lord, Tianbo City, being an inconspicuous and minor city, perhaps due to an unfavorable geographical location, had never managed to attract a large player base—or perhaps, it was never intended to have many players from the very beginning.

In short, the Lord’s Mansion in Tianbo City had never been open to the public, and not a single quest had ever originated from within its walls.

Representational, conclusive quests of the kind found in other cities simply did not exist here.

Over time, players grew accustomed to this state of affairs. Naturally, a missing questline wasn't enough to draw much of their attention, especially since they likely assumed internally that they simply hadn't met the standards to accept quests here.

At this moment, the Lord’s Mansion of Tianbo City still appeared desolate.

Not even a single guard was present. The massive gates of the lord’s mansion remained tightly shut as a single figure walked out from within.

Warm sunlight filtered down through the gaps in the architecture, casting its light upon a small garden. Before the season of withering had even arrived, the flowers had already withered prematurely, some even beginning to decay, appearing all the more ghastly under the sunlight.

The figure looked up, his pale face bearing red lips that looked as though they had just partaken of fresh blood.

He pressed his palm against a nearby pillar, and by some unknown mechanism, a subterranean passage large enough for a person to enter appeared in the small garden.

Stone steps spiraled downward level by level, and a chilling wind billowed continuously out from the passage, whipping the withered flower petals outside into a chaotic dance before crushing them mercilessly in mid-air into a pile of gray dust that integrated into the soil.

The figure’s silhouette quickly vanished into the passage, which closed right after his disappearance as if it had never existed at all.

Deadly silence once again reclaimed the garden.

Thick chains of black iron densely covered the entire subterranean space, obscuring the bottom from view. The young man leisurely walked down a row of stone steps along the edge, bypassed the heavy iron chains, and a vast, spacious hall came into view.

Neatly arranged within the hall were over forty chairs, the foremost of which remained vacant, with no one seated upon it.

The entire hall possessed the ambiance of an imperial court from bygone dynasties, the foremost chair resembling a dragon throne—loftily elevated, ordinary in its own right, yet rendered indescribably majestic through the convergence of various atmospheric factors.

The young man was undoubtedly Sauron.

Upon seeing the leading chair, a trace of disdain flashed briefly in Sauron’s eyes, though it vanished so swiftly that no one else could have detected it.

Naturally, a chair was reserved for him as well. It was positioned at the very front of the lower rows, and directly behind him stood the forty elite experts brought out from his original guild.

At a time when all players had been forcibly logged off, the fact that these forty individuals could still manifest within the game alongside Sauron was truly a remarkably bizarre occurrence.

Sauron swept his gaze across them briefly, a flash of satisfaction crossing his heart before he seated himself.

The vacant chair remained unoccupied, and no one dared to approach it, as if an absolute monarch had been seated there from the very beginning.

As soon as Sauron sat down, a dark green tube abruptly burst forth from beneath his chair, plunging directly into the back of his neck.

Instantly, Sauron’s back began to swell, bursting his upper garments to reveal a muscular physique. Concurrently with the expansion of his body, he appeared to endure immense agony; beads of sweat rolled down his face, yet before they could hit the ground, they froze into tiny ice crystals, shattering onto the floor with a crisp chime and turning into fine fragments.

The forty elite players behind him were undergoing the exact same ordeal, every single one of them writhing in comparable torment.

Some even cried out in voice.

Without an indomitable willpower to resist such agony, one could hardly expect any enhancement in their personal levels—that was only natural.