86: Chapter 86: Scared to tears!

The very center of the battlefield had completely become the domain of high-tier martial artists.

Xia Yunchi and the man in black fought all the way from the ground into mid-air, the roar of Source Power never ceasing, shockwaves exploding outward in ripples. Any Polluted Exotic Beasts within dozens of meters that rushed in were instantly shattered into minced meat.

Black mist, blood, and bone fragments were mixed together, splattered everywhere.

That place was not somewhere he could intervene.

If he rushed over now, he would be redundant even as cannon fodder.

"Damn it... you really think highly of me."

Lu Cheng spat out a breath of blood-stained air, backhanded a punch to smash the head of a charging Pollution Beast wolf, pivoted on his feet, and charged straight toward the military formation on the flank that was on the verge of being scattered.

There was only one thing he could do now.

Help the army clear the monsters!

"Gap on the left! Fill it!"

"Don't stop the firepower!"

"Rear casualties, retreat!"

Roars, gunfire, and beast cries churned into a chaotic mess. The ground was covered in black blood and severed limbs, and the air held a strange stench of burning mixed with rot, making one's head throb.

As Lu Cheng charged into the horde, the Dragon Scale Holy Armor had already covered his body again, its golden-white holy radiance flickering in the night, and the wound on his chest was still throbbing with pain!

A Pollution Beast dog with a back full of bone spurs lunged at a soldier.

Lu Cheng stepped in between them, raised his hand to grab the creature's neck, and exerted force with his five fingers.

Snap!

The neck bone broke on the spot.

Following that, he twisted his waist and flung it, smashing the corpse into two monsters behind, sending that area into a tumble.

"Thanks!" the soldier shouted, panting heavily.

"Don't mention it, just stay alive!"

Lu Cheng replied, but his feet didn't stop. With Wandering Step fully activated, he flashed through the monster horde several times, unleashing continuous strikes with his fists, elbows, and knees, forcefully clearing a small open space on the flank.

His current state was very strange... It was somewhat similar to the Berserk Blood state he had obtained last time, only this time there were no system prompts.

With a single punch, black-red flames exploded along his fist.

The Polluted Exotic Beasts struck rolled and wailed on the spot, their internal pollution aura and flesh ignited simultaneously, burning into charred, rotten meat within seconds.

Several soldiers nearby watched with twitching eyelids.

"What exactly is up with this student?"

"He just crawled out of the ruins and he's like this?"

"Don't ask, just assume he's a monster!"

...

The commotion at the center of the battlefield grew even louder!

Boom!

An explosive sound burst in mid-air. Xia Yunchi struck down with a palm, his Source Power making the air tremble. The man in black crossed his arms to block, but he was forcefully smashed from mid-air back to the ground, his feet dragging long furrows as he slid back over a dozen meters.

The next second, Xia Yunchi flashed, already chasing down in front of him.

A blade of light swept past!

The man in black hurriedly tilted his head, but he was still a half-beat too slow.

Clack!

The black mask on his face was smashed to pieces by this strike.

As the fragments flew off, Lu Cheng instinctively looked up.

With just that one look, the expressions of several people nearby changed completely.

Xia Yunchi stood in front of the man, his gaze locked onto the revealed face, his voice sinking.

"It really is you..."

"Chen Ye."

As soon as this name was uttered, the breathing of several Hua Hai Realm powerhouses from the military nearby faltered!

Chen Ye?

The former mayor of Rong City?!

The person who was transferred away from Rong City many years ago and was rumored to have been promoted all the way up to join the Southern District 1 Council?

The wind, beast roars, and explosions on the battlefield were still sounding, but in this small area, the atmosphere suddenly became extremely heavy.

Xia Yunchi stared at Chen Ye, his eyes suppressing anger.

"The former mayor of Rong City, later transferred to the higher-ups to become a councilor for Southern District 1."

"I really didn't expect to see you in a place like this eventually."

"To think you would act as a dog for the Black Seed."

Chen Ye's mask was broken, his face looked terrible, and blood hung from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were cold and sinister.

"Xia Yunchi, you know too much."

"Know too much?" Xia Yunchi sneered. "No wonder someone from above has always been protecting the Zhou Family; it turns out you were the one pulling the strings behind the scenes."

"That messy business with the Zhou Family—I really couldn't figure it out before. How could they possibly be worthy of reaching their hands out so far?"

"Now I understand."

"With you, a Southern District 1 councilor, suppressing things from behind, many matters could naturally be covered up."

Chen Ye stared at him without answering, but his right hand quietly tightened, black mist surging in his palm.

Xia Yunchi saw it clearly, and the coldness on his face deepened.

"Let me guess..."

"Besides the Zhou Family, who else are you connected with?"

"The Guan Family of South Central?"

When these words fell, Chen Ye's eyes tightened sharply. Seeing his reaction, Xia Yunchi laughed, but there was no warmth in that laughter.

"It seems I guessed right."

"You people, your reach really is long enough."

The color drained from Chen Ye's face bit by bit. His Adam's apple bobbed as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only managed to squeeze out:

"You think you've won?"

"Won?" Xia Yunchi shook his head, his eyes even showing a hint of pity. "But unfortunately..."

He looked at Chen Ye and said slowly:

"It has nothing to do with you anymore."

Chen Ye was stunned.

The next second.

The light across the entire battlefield suddenly changed.

An extremely terrifying, scorching aura pressed in from the distance.

Lu Cheng was in the middle of punching a Pollution Beast bear away. As he pulled his fist back, he froze, then looked up sharply.

Behind Xia Yunchi, a great sun rose. Half the night sky was illuminated, and red-gold light spread out, directly overpowering the firelight, searchlights, and the residual flames of explosions on the battlefield.

The entire battlefield was as bright as day. Everyone subconsciously squinted.

The Polluted Exotic Beasts that were frantically charging the military formation also showed obvious agitation at this moment. Many monsters even let out sharp screams on the spot, and their skin and flesh began to smoke.

Following that, an aged but resonant voice came from behind that great sun.

"I heard..."

"Someone is bullying my granddaughter?"

The voice was not loud.

But the entire battlefield heard it.

At the center of the battlefield, the moment Chen Ye saw that sun, his whole body began to tremble.

Truly tremble.

His shoulders were shaking, his lips were shaking, and his legs were shaking.

When that figure walked out of the great sun step by step, his eyes turned red, tears fell directly, and the bit of sinister ruthlessness he had been forcing onto his face completely crumbled.

He was genuinely, truly scared to tears.

"This... this..."

He opened his mouth, his voice cracking, and it took him a long time to tremblingly squeeze out a sentence.

"This is Patriarch Xia Renyi??!"

From behind the great sun walked out an old man with white hair and beard.

He was not particularly tall, his figure could not be called robust, and there was even a smile on his face, like an ordinary old man with a good temper.

But as he stood there, the entire battlefield seemed to be suppressed.

The air grew heavy, the beast tide turned chaotic. Even those high-tier polluted entities in the distance began to retreat instinctively.

The head of the Imperial Capital's Xia Family.

Patriarch Xia Renyi.

A peak War Emperor Realm existence! One step away from entering the Saint Realm!

Chen Ye's entire face was as white as paper, tears and snot were almost coming out together, and he was incoherent.

"You... how could you be here..."

Patriarch Xia Renyi should have been tied down by the alien races at the border... How could he possibly have made it over??

"How could you possibly have made it over?!"

After hearing this, the smile on Patriarch Xia Renyi's aged face grew a bit thicker.

"Tie me down?"

"Just by relying on those pathetic things of yours that can't be brought into the light?"

Chen Ye seemed to be grasping at the last straw of hope, suddenly shouting backward, his voice distorted.

"Lord... Lord Black Light!!"

"Save me! Save me!!"

But Patriarch Xia Renyi just smiled.

"Black Light?"

He raised his hand and casually flicked it to the side.

A human head, its face almost completely burned away, rolled to Chen Ye's feet. The flesh on the skull was mostly charred black, the features distorted, and the eyes still retained the terror from before death.

"Are you talking about..."

Patriarch Xia Renyi said in a flat tone.

"This thing?"

When Chen Ye looked down and saw that head, he was completely stunned.

"Lord... Lord Black Light??"

His lips trembled a few times, his eyes went completely vacant, and his whole body seemed to have its bones pulled out. His legs went weak, and he collapsed directly.

The next second, his eyes rolled back.

He passed out.

The surroundings were dead silent.

Even many soldiers and monsters currently fighting were shocked into a brief pause by the commotion here.

Xia Yunchi looked at his father, the cold stiffness on his face finally relaxing a little, only to be replaced by deep concern.

"Father, your health..."

"Are you alright?"

Patriarch Xia Renyi waved his hand, his tone very casual.

"What could possibly be wrong with me?"

After speaking, he glanced again at the beast tide below that was still charging the city defenses, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Though this time, I did arrive a bit late."

As soon as this sentence fell, the great sun behind him expanded again.

Red-gold radiance covered the earth.

The next second, fire ignited simultaneously on the bodies of all the Polluted Exotic Beasts on the battlefield. The fire burned with extreme precision!

Monster after monster rolled around wailing, the pollution aura within them instantly detonated, the black mist vaporized as soon as it emerged, and large swathes of the beast tide fell in rows.

What was even more outrageous was that the soldiers, who were only a few steps away from those monsters, didn't even have the corners of their clothes singed.

Lu Cheng stood in place, watching until his scalp went numb.

This is a War Emperor?

This is no longer a question of whether they are strong or not; this is purely a dimensionality reduction strike!

The beast tide that was just moments ago pressing the city defenses until they could barely breathe was, in the blink of an eye, burned away in a large area. Many soldiers were stunned at first, and then they all charged up with reddened eyes.

"Kill!"

"Clear the field!"

"Slaughter all these beasts!"

Su Wan was also cooperating with the military to quickly clear out the escaped polluted entities, cold air spreading out in sheets, freezing the few monsters that were charging the most fiercely in place, to be finished off by the soldiers in the rear.

The situation on the battlefield stabilized visibly.

And in the center of the battlefield, Patriarch Xia Renyi didn't even look at the unconscious Chen Ye again, just turned his head to say to Xia Yunchi:

"Take him back. Interrogate those who can be interrogated, and handle the rest according to the rules."

Xia Yunchi nodded, the killing intent in his eyes not yet dissipated.

"Understood."

Patriarch Xia Renyi scanned the surroundings again, his gaze quickly landing on Lu Cheng and Su Wan.

Lu Cheng had just punched and exploded a monster's head. After noticing that gaze, his back tensed up.

Patriarch Xia Renyi narrowed his eyes and suddenly smiled.

"That young man from the Northern Ruins, it's him, right?"

Xia Yunchi looked over and nodded.

"Yes, that's Lu Cheng."

Patriarch Xia Renyi gave a soft hum, then looked at Su Wan.

"And that young girl..."

After speaking, he raised his hand and pressed down.

The last group of Pollution Beasts still struggling was instantly swallowed by the firelight of the great sun and burned clean.

The entire battlefield was left with only the smell of charred remains, the stench of blood, and heavy panting.

Patriarch Xia Renyi withdrew his gaze, his tone very flat.

"Let's go."

"Back to the city."

"And by the way, call that young man from the Northern Ruins and that young girl from the Southern Ruins along as well."