190: Chapter 190 City Lord

"Deacon Wang!" Xiang Tian suddenly stopped.

The group paused and stopped as well.

Deacon Wang turned around and asked with a puzzled look, "Hmm? What is it?"

Xiang Tian rubbed his chin, his gaze heavy as he looked at the city below.

He said slowly, "Since there is a city here, it means people live here."

"Indeed, there are signs of human activity. Why, did you discover some clues?" Deacon Wang's heart stirred, and he pressed for an answer.

"I was thinking, could that mass of black Qi formed from negative emotions be something these people did on purpose?" Xiang Tian looked up at Deacon Wang.

Actually, the several deacons of the Heavenly Sword Sect had not failed to consider this speculation.

It could only be considered a possibility.

Deacon Wang's expression tightened.

He asked in a deep voice, "What do you want to say? Feel free to speak your mind."

"I want to say that the most urgent thing for us right now is to clear out these people in the city first," Xiang Tian said with a firm tone.

"Otherwise, when you all join forces to cast spells and disperse the Devilish Qi later, if you are ambushed by them, you will be caught off guard and suffer losses."

Xiang Tian's words were by no means alarmist; on the contrary, it was highly likely to happen.

Deacon Wang nodded repeatedly, "Hmm! You are right, we did indeed overlook this point! Since you can think of this layer, you must already have a way to deal with these people, right?"

"That is natural." Xiang Tian's lips curled slightly.

He said, "This Small World is filled with negative emotions everywhere. If I'm not mistaken, there must be a source of these negative emotions here, which is the core location. To completely solve the problem of these people in the city, removing the firewood from under the cauldron is the best strategy—shouldn't we destroy that key core object first?"

Upon hearing this, Deacon Wang and the other deacons suddenly saw the light, and their faces showed expressions of approval.

This Move of removing the firewood from under the cauldron was far more brilliant than a head-on confrontation.

It couldn't help but make people's eyes light up.

"Xiang Tian, you are truly extraordinary. To have such insight at such a young age!" Deacon Wang said with a face full of smiles.

"Perhaps as long as that core object is destroyed, these people in the city will collapse without us attacking, and we won't need to spend any effort dealing with them."

Deacon Wang suddenly raised his voice and shouted, "Everyone, listen to my orders! Cast spells with me to investigate the core location!"

The other Heavenly Sword Sect deacons immediately took action.

They gathered around Deacon Wang, their fingers quickly forming incantations.

Streams of Spiritual Qi light screens were cast one after another, all falling upon Deacon Wang to strengthen him.

Deacon Wang took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and his Spiritual Qi surged violently.

His Divine Sense spread out like a tide, enveloping the entire city, carefully investigating every abnormal energy fluctuation.

A cup of tea's time passed, and Deacon Wang slowly opened his eyes.

"Found it! There are two unusually dense energy fluctuations in the city."

"One of them, I can confirm, is the black Qi blocking the exit; the other one, if I am not mistaken, should be the core object we are looking for."

After saying this, he flipped his hand. A jade talisman appeared in his palm, and he moved his fingertips with a hint of Spiritual Qi.

He recorded all the information he had gathered into the jade talisman.

Then he raised his hand to copy a dozen more, distributing them to the deacons around him.

Xiang Tian also stepped forward to take one.

He injected a trace of Spiritual Qi into his fingertips and opened the jade talisman.

A pale blue light screen instantly appeared.

On the light screen, the terrain map of the entire city was clearly visible.

Two pitch-black dots were marked on it.

One was at the City Lord's Mansion.

The other was also at the City Lord's Mansion.

The group did not delay any further, their figures moved as they entered the city.

But the moment they stepped into the street, everyone was stunned.

The street was empty and deserted, with no signs of anyone.

Only a light breeze swept over the eaves, making a faint sound.

"Where are the people? How come there isn't even a single shadow?" Xiang Tian frowned deeply, his inner confusion growing even more.

Deacon Wang shook his head with a solemn expression.

He said in a deep voice, "They are all hiding in the houses on both sides. I just used my Divine Sense to investigate; everyone in the city is hiding indoors."

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of rapid footsteps suddenly came.

"Da da da!"

Countless figures rushed out from the houses on both sides.

They swarmed toward them, densely packed.

Without exception, every single person was shrouded in dense black Qi.

Their eyes were blood-red, their expressions dull, and they radiated a chilling, eerie Aura.

Xiang Liu subconsciously grabbed Xiang Tian's arm, her delicate brows knitted together.

"Xiang Tian, the Aura on them is so weird, I feel so uncomfortable..."

Xiang Tian raised an eyebrow, but secretly injected a trace of Spiritual Qi into Xiang Liu's body to help her resist those eerie Auras.

"Pretentious, you can't even handle this little bit of Aura?"

"You actually called me pretentious!" Xiang Liu was so angry that her willow-leaf brows stood up.

She snorted coldly, "When we get out, I will definitely make you pay! This Young Miss will not hold it against you today!"

As the two were talking, more and more Men in black gathered around.

They surrounded their group, layer upon layer.

The eerie black Qi intertwined, almost enveloping the entire street.

Xiang Tian swept a glance at the surrounding Men in black, his lips curling into a cold sneer.

He turned to Deacon Wang and said, "Deacon Wang, these people don't look easy to deal with, and there are quite a few Half-step Saint Realm existences among them. I won't join in this excitement; I'll leave it to you all."

Deacon Wang had already had this intention in his heart. Although there were many of these Men in black, most of their cultivation levels were not top-tier.

It was just right to hand them over to the deacons to solve, and Xiang Tian just needed to stay aside and be at ease.

He immediately shouted, "Attack!"

As the words fell, the few Heavenly Sword Sect deacons moved, leaping up, their Spiritual Qi surging violently.

Sharp Moves were launched toward those Men in black.

For a time, the sounds of fighting and roaring echoed one after another.

"Bang!"

"Boom!"

Surprisingly, those Men in black looked fierce, but in reality, they were vulnerable.

As the Heavenly Sword Sect deacons' Moves landed, they fell to the ground one after another, with no power to fight back.

"So it turns out they are just a bunch of trash that can't withstand a single blow!" A look of disdain appeared on Deacon Wang's face.

He raised his hand and launched another blast of Spiritual Qi, sending the few Men in black in front of him flying.

But the next second, an eerie scene occurred.

Those Men in black who had been beaten to death or sent flying actually slowly crawled back up.

The wounds on their bodies healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and their blood-red eyes still lacked any luster.

They pounced toward them again.

"What?!" Deacon Wang's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in disbelief.

Not only him, but the other Heavenly Sword Sect deacons who were fighting also stopped their movements.

Shock appeared on their faces, and they exclaimed repeatedly, "Not good! They seem to be unkillable!"

"It's the same on my side; I just killed one, and it crawled back up!"

"Same here, the wounds are healing too fast!"

Amidst the continuous exclamations, everyone realized something was wrong.

These Men in black were actually truly unkillable.

No matter how ruthless their attacks were, the opponent could quickly revive and make a comeback.

Xiang Tian frowned tightly.

He pondered inwardly, "Hmm? This situation, how is it exactly the same as the Black Tiger that Wu Xian possessed in the dungeon? Could it be that these people also Cultivated the Fission Clone Technique?"

There was no time to delay; Xiang Tian did not hesitate anymore.

He grabbed Xiang Liu's hand and shouted to Deacon Wang and the others, "You all hold them off first! I'm going to the City Lord's Mansion to find that core object. Only by destroying it is it possible to completely solve these people!"

Xiang Liu, being pulled by Xiang Tian, still had her brows slightly knitted, "Xiang Tian, this scene is really familiar; it's too much like the Black Tiger we encountered before."

"I can guarantee that there is an essential difference between the two."

While pulling Xiang Liu and rushing toward the direction of the City Lord's Mansion, he said quickly.

"Although the black Qi on these people is dense, their actual combat power is very low, completely different from the Black Tiger's Fission Clone."

Along the way, the two passed through the densely packed Men in black.

Those Men in black stepped forward to block them.

But although the black Qi on them was eerie, their combat power was truly mediocre.

They couldn't stop Xiang Tian's footsteps at all.

Xiang Tian waved his hand casually, knocking the Men in black around him to the ground, his speed not decreasing in the slightest.

Suddenly, Xiang Tian stopped his footsteps, casually knocking over a Man in black who pounced on him.

He stepped forward quickly, stomped on it, and lightly touched the opponent's body with his fingertips.

A flash of realization crossed his eyes, "Hmm? There is no temperature on the body, and the blood is not flowing; this is not a living person at all!"

In an instant, Xiang Tian understood the key to it.

These people were actually already dead long ago.

They were just being controlled by the black Qi in the city, becoming Puppets without self-awareness.

And the reason why their Physical Bodies had not rotted was precisely because of the nourishment and protection of that eerie black Qi.

Thinking this through, Xiang Tian became more and more certain in his heart.

That core treasure hidden in the City Lord's Mansion was the key to controlling all of this.

As long as it was destroyed, these Puppets would collapse without attack.

"Go! Speed up!" Xiang Tian shouted in a low voice.

He grabbed Xiang Liu's hand again, his figure surging forward.

He sped toward the City Lord's Mansion, crossing more than half the street in an instant.

In just a moment, Xiang Tian had rushed to the front of the City Lord's Mansion with Xiang Liu.

He kicked open the heavy mansion gate and rushed inside.

But the moment the two stepped into the City Lord's Mansion, an old and hoarse voice suddenly came.

"Kid, you have quite a lot of guts to dare to trespass into the City Lord's Mansion."

A withered and thin figure slowly walked out of the shadows, blocking their path.

Xiang Tian raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze locked tightly on the withered old man in front of him, secretly vigilant in his heart.

He couldn't feel a single trace of Aura from this old man.

It was as if he was just an ordinary person with no power to truss a chicken.

However, to be able to survive in this eerie city, he could never be an ordinary person.

"You, are you the City Lord of this city?" Xiang Tian's tone was flat.

He calmly protected Xiang Liu behind him, his Spiritual Qi quietly circulating, ready to attack at any time.

The withered old man nodded faintly, with no expression on his face.

"That's right, this old man is the City Lord of this Living Dead City."

"Since that's the case, then I won't be polite." A flash of sternness crossed Xiang Tian's eyes.

As his words fell, a flash of light appeared in his hand, and the Demon Blood Blade instantly emerged.

The blade was shrouded in faint Devilish Qi, radiating a chilling Aura.

"Oh?" A flash of surprise crossed the withered old man's eyes.

His expression finally changed slightly as he stared at the Demon Blood Blade in Xiang Tian's hand.

"This Demon Blood Blade is actually in your hands? This is something this old man forged with his own hands."

"You forged it?" Xiang Tian's heart stirred.

He pondered inwardly, "In that case, the core treasure in the City Lord's Mansion is very likely the real Demon Blood Blade?"

The withered old man revealed an eerie smile on his face.

He enticed, "Since you are holding the Demon Blood Blade forged by this old man, then take the initiative to become its nourishment! Only in this way can you break free from the shackles of life and death, live forever in the world, and merge with this Demon Blood Blade."

After saying this, the withered old man slowly raised his hand.

Black Qi moved slightly at his fingertips, and an eerie and powerful force suddenly enveloped Xiang Tian.

Xiang Tian's body floated up uncontrollably, his Spiritual Qi was suppressed, and he couldn't Move at all.

"Damn it!" Xiang Tian shouted.

His heart was burning with rage, and he desperately urged the Spiritual Qi in his body.

He wanted to break free from this eerie force, but no matter how hard he tried, it was to no avail.

The opponent's strength was far more powerful than he had imagined.

"Then where do you want to take Xiang Tian?" Although Xiang Liu was extremely scared in her heart, her body was trembling slightly, she still summoned the courage and took a step forward.

She shouted loudly, staring at the withered old man, refusing to back down.

"Noisy!" The withered old man frowned.

A trace of weak Aura escaped from his body.

"Bang!"

Xiang Liu's body was instantly sent flying by that black Qi, landing on the ground.

A mouthful of blood sprayed out, and she closed her eyes, losing consciousness.

"Xiang Liu!" Xiang Tian's eyes were splitting with rage.

The anger in his heart instantly exploded, and he struggled desperately, wanting to rush to Xiang Liu's side.

But his body was still tightly bound by the opponent's force, unable to Move.

The withered old man looked at Xiang Tian's furious appearance, and an eerie smile appeared on his face.

He asked slowly, "Is she your Dao Companion? If so, this old man can fulfill your wishes, let you both become the nourishment for the Demon Blood Blade together, and be together forever and ever—wouldn't that be wonderful?"

After saying this, he raised his hand and beckoned; a stream of Spiritual Qi wrapped around the unconscious Xiang Liu, and she slowly floated to Xiang Tian's side.

Then he took the two of them and walked step by step toward the depths of the City Lord's Mansion.

Xiang Tian forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and quietly reached his fingertips toward Xiang Liu's nose.

He felt her weak but steady breathing and heartbeat.

His hanging heart finally settled a little, "Fortunately, she is still breathing!"

Over these past few days, he and Xiang Liu had been together day and night.

Although it couldn't be counted as Dao Companions, at least they were friends who fought side by side.

As for being a Sword Servant, that was just an identity that allowed entry into the Heavenly Sword Sect.

No matter from which aspect, he could not let anything happen to Xiang Liu.

As the withered old man walked step by step, Xiang Tian could clearly feel that the negative emotions around them were becoming more and more intense.

That eerie black Qi was also becoming increasingly thick.

This meant that they were getting closer and closer to that core treasure.

The situation was becoming increasingly critical, and Xiang Tian's brows were tightly knitted.

He shouted anxiously in his heart, "System, hurry up and give me a draw!"