103: Chapter 103 The City of Cries Destroyed!
【Soul Control +1】
Beneath his feet, Princess Murong Waner's corpse suddenly began to glow with an eerie blue light, reminiscent of the spectral luminescence found in the deep sea.
Then, this light slowly drifted out, rising like wisps of ethereal smoke, before solidifying into a clear, humanoid phantom.
Princess Murong Waner's soul entity turned toward Qin Xiaogan, her face full of reverence as she spoke.
"Master!"
Qin Xiaogan nodded slightly and asked.
"How many cities does the Great Xia Empire have?"
"108."
Hearing this, Qin Xiaogan frowned slightly.
This was a bit troublesome; he couldn't destroy them all in time.
Princess Murong Waner cast a cautious glance at Qin Xiaogan before continuing.
"The Great Xia Empire is vast and boundless, home to 108 cities, each guarded personally by a King-level powerhouse."
"And the Emperor Xia of the Great Xia Empire, Murong Tianba, possesses Emperor-level strength."
"Emperor-level?" Qin Xiaogan murmured.
For a massive empire with a territory several times larger than the Great Zhou, its greatest power was only at the Emperor-level?
There could only be one reason for this.
He asked Princess Murong Waner.
"What stage of the revival are you currently in?"
Princess Murong Waner was stunned: "Master, isn't there only one revival?"
As expected.
A glint of light flashed in Qin Xiaogan's eyes.
This world was becoming more and more interesting.
Just then.
A middle-aged man wearing a scholar's robe slowly pushed open the door to the private room.
He looked at the room filled with minced flesh and scarlet blood, paused for a moment, and then smiled gently at Qin Xiaogan.
"I believe that killing people at will is a very impolite act."
Upon hearing this, Qin Xiaogan returned the man's smile with a brilliant one of his own.
Princess Murong Waner, standing to the side, saw this person and quickly explained to Qin Xiaogan.
"He is the guardian of Ti City—the Smiling Buddha."
"Princess, if I recall correctly, you should be standing on my side."
As soon as the Smiling Buddha finished speaking, the smile on his face vanished instantly, and he struck out violently. A green vine, like an arrow shot from a bow, rapidly streaked toward Qin Xiaogan.
Seeing this, Qin Xiaogan remained calm. He reached out his hand nonchalantly and easily gripped the vine.
The Smiling Buddha grinned, his expression appearing exceptionally ferocious at that moment.
【Poisonous Vine】
In an instant, tiny sharp thorns began to grow on the vine at a visible speed, like a swarm of frenzied ants, rapidly piercing into Qin Xiaogan's body.
Seeing this, the Smiling Buddha shook his head and said disdainfully.
"I thought you were something impressive; what a waste of anticipation."
However, Qin Xiaogan's face remained expressionless.
He let out a cold snort, and a powerful energy burst forth from his body, instantly shattering the thorns that had pierced his skin.
The Smiling Buddha was startled, an expression of disbelief appearing on his face.
Following that, a black shadow, swift as lightning, suddenly flashed across the room.
"Puchi!"
A hair-raising sound echoed.
The Smiling Buddha turned his head to look behind him in terror.
A pair of long, powerful hands with distinct knuckles, like sharp blades, had pierced straight through his chest.
The fingers were clearly defined, with strong and elegant lines, yet at this moment, they had become a lethal weapon.
Qin Xiaogan offered him a faint smile: "Do you think I am... polite?"
The Smiling Buddha spat out a thick mouthful of blood, his eyes widening in despair and unwillingness before he collapsed heavily to the ground.
Qin Xiaogan produced a white cloth from somewhere, wiping the blood from his hands with focused and earnest attention.
Seeing this.
Princess Murong Waner swallowed with difficulty.
The Master seemed to treat slaughter as a form of enjoyment.
After Qin Xiaogan finished wiping the blood from his hands.
With a hint of unconcealable excitement, he let out a heavy breath and looked out at Ti City.
"I like this brief moment of calm before the storm."
With that said.
Above Ti City, a terrifying furnace suddenly appeared. The furnace was unimaginably massive, as if an ancient beast had opened its maw, ready to swallow the entire city whole.
The furnace radiated scorching light, illuminating the previously dim sky as if it were broad daylight.
Gale-force winds howled, whipping up sand and stones from the ground into small tornadoes, which appeared exceptionally ferocious under the glow of the light.
The people in the city gazed at the sky in terror.
"What is this!!"
"Such... such a huge furnace?"
"Could it be that the Smiling Buddha has made a breakthrough?"
The furnace slowly descended, its searing temperature causing the air to distort.
Houses began to burn, flames shot into the sky, and thick smoke billowed.
The stone slabs on the streets cracked under the intense heat, emitting crackling sounds.
"Run!"
"It's so hot, save me, save me!"
Miserable cries for help rose one after another; people were fleeing in all directions like ants on a hot pan.
Some were struck by falling stones and rolled on the ground in agony; some were choked by the thick smoke, coughing desperately; others were lost in the chaos, crying helplessly in confusion.
Qin Xiaogan watched this scene of hell before him with indifferent eyes.
Behind him, Princess Murong Waner's eyes were vacant, and her entire soul seemed to be flickering in and out of existence.
She understood that from this moment on, the Great Xia Empire...
...would be doomed forever.
...
It was unknown how much time had passed, but when the furnace's light gradually faded, Ti City fell into a deathly silence.
Corpses filled the city, blood pooled like lakes, flames burned unceasingly, and thick smoke filled the sky.
These scenes would play out one by one in every city of the Great Xia Empire.
Qin Xiaogan stood quietly atop the ruins, with broken bricks and scorched earth beneath his feet.
His posture was upright, yet he exuded a chill that seeped into the marrow.
Following this, Qin Xiaogan slowly opened his mouth.
"Refine."
In an instant, a terrifying suction force emanated from Qin Xiaogan's mouth.
All the corpses on the ruins began to emit a pale blue glimmer; the light was dreamlike and illusory, yet it carried an endless sense of eeriness.
Then, these lights rushed toward Qin Xiaogan at an extremely high speed, like moths to a flame.
The pale blue glimmer grew stronger and stronger, completely enveloping Qin Xiaogan's figure.
His face appeared blurred within the light, with only his eyes flickering with an inexplicable radiance.
As the souls continued to pour in, the light around Qin Xiaogan began to fluctuate violently.
Just then, a bolt of lightning suddenly streaked across the sky, followed immediately by a deafening clap of thunder.
Gale-force winds howled, causing Qin Xiaogan's clothes to flap violently.
However, Qin Xiaogan was completely unaffected, continuing to absorb those pale blue lights.
Gradually, the light began to contract, and Qin Xiaogan's figure reappeared.
【Absorbed 1.6 million souls】
【Attribute Points +100,000】
Qin Xiaogan opened his eyes abruptly, two beams of sharp light shooting from them straight ahead.
Instantly, a collapsed house in front of him evaporated under the impact of this fierce gaze, turning into nothingness.
Before the flying dust could settle, a female corpse was revealed in that spot.
Her body was incomplete, yet she was tightly clutching something, as if it were the final sustenance of her life.
The knuckles of the female corpse's hands were white, showing no signs of relaxing even in death.
Her face was frozen in an expression of extreme protection and reluctance, evoking a sense of pity in anyone who saw it.
Qin Xiaogan frowned and slowly walked toward that corpse.