221: Chapter 221 The Disappearance of Tang Zheng in the Future

Puchi!

A blade pierced through the chest.

Xinyue Fox, originally named Xu Wei, who had been stirring up trouble behind the scenes under Azure Dragon's orders, couldn't help but widen her eyes in terror.

"No! Don't kill me, I... am useful... to you, I must be... useful..." Xinyue Fox's lips trembled as she pleaded bitterly.

Chu Xuan said nothing, only slowly twisting the blade as it drew closer to her heart.

"Don't..."

Xinyue Fox's exquisite face, stripped of its charm and left only with misery, was covered in tears.

In the next second, her face turned hideous, her body suddenly shot up and became slender, and her skin turned multicolored. Several fluffy tails, like sharp spears, lunged forward in a flash.

Chu Xuan, already experienced, backed away instantly.

Similarly, Tang Zheng, who had already been briefed by Chu Xuan, activated his Fighting God State at that moment, rushing forward to cripple her in two seconds and pinning her firmly under his foot.

"Ah——!!"

A sharp, shrill screech echoed out.

Chu Xuan stepped forward and swung his blade, severing her head.

The screeching stopped abruptly.

[You have slain Specter · Xinyue Fox. Your spirituality value +120.]

When he saw this System prompt, Chu Xuan's expression suddenly changed.

This isn't right!

The amount of spirituality value is wrong!

Chu Xuan clearly remembered that after killing Xinyue Fox multiple times in the dream, he received 180 points each time, yet this time it was 60 points short.

In an instant, Chu Xuan thought of a possibility, and his face darkened.

"What's wrong?" Tang Zheng asked in confusion.

"Something's not quite right..."

Chu Xuan took his blade to several other holding cells, forcing the Specters out of the remaining twenty-three people and killing them one by one, gaining 296 spirituality value.

Just as I thought!

Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Previously in the dream, outside the Bafang Shop, he would get 420 spirituality value every time he killed Xinyue Fox and the others.

However, this time, even though there were more of them and their quality had improved slightly, the spirituality value he gained didn't increase; instead, it decreased, totaling only 416 points.

Especially for Xinyue Fox, it was a full third less.

"Is it because the rules have changed...?"

Chu Xuan's eyes flickered.

Large-scale anomalies were appearing everywhere, suspected to be connected to the Dark Place.

To Chu Xuan, it seemed as if parts of the world were being invaded, and perhaps because of this, the rules were being suppressed more intensely.

The decrease in spirituality value obtained from killing Specters might just be one manifestation of this.

Chu Xuan immediately opened his phone.

However, [Future Tang Zheng] still hadn't sent any messages.

[Chu Xuan: ???]

He sent another message, but after waiting a while, there was still no reply.

Chu Xuan frowned deeply.

He had a faint, ominous feeling.

Could it be that he died too slowly in the last dream, causing the future world to be sacrificed?

If so, according to [Future Tang Zheng]'s description.

This was intervention from an external world; once the sacrifice was complete, the world might lose its future.

With the outcome already decided, even if he killed Azure Dragon, the future world might still be sacrificed to an Evil God three years from now.

Chu Xuan didn't dare to imagine how horrific that scene would be.

"Hehe! My friend, you needn't be troubled by this."

A familiar, gentle laugh reached his ears as the Phantom Demon said softly:

"The so-called sacrifice of a world is merely embracing a god. This is a blessing for your entire world; you should feel honored, not hesitant or worried."

Chu Xuan gave a cold laugh and ignored it.

Just then, messages popped up one after another on his phone, all from [Future Tang Zheng].

[Tang Zheng: Chu Xuan, watch out for *****]

[Tang Zheng: Dammit! It failed again. I've sent hundreds of messages to you, but they never go through! I'm no longer in the future and can't give you any more valuable information about it!]

[Tang Zheng: My body is dissipating! In my new memories, I died long ago, three years ago in the past...]

[Tang Zheng: You must be careful, hurry and *****]

Seeing these four messages, Chu Xuan's heart skipped a beat. He was about to type a question, but in the next second, the chat box for [Future Tang Zheng] vanished from his screen.

Chu Xuan searched his phone repeatedly but found nothing.

All traces of [Future Tang Zheng] seemed to have vanished into thin air, as if everything had returned to the moment he woke up from the dream.

"Future Tang Zheng is gone..." Chu Xuan stared blankly at his phone.

"Because he died three years ago in the past, he no longer exists in the future three years from now to establish contact with me? He told me to be careful—careful of what? And what do I need to do quickly? Is it because of the restrictions of the rules that he couldn't send it...?"

Chu Xuan slowly closed his eyes, his mind racing with thoughts.

"The good news is that the future world wasn't sacrificed to an Evil God. Because I killed Azure Dragon, it successfully impacted the future, effectively saving the world once. But the bad news is that Future Tang Zheng is dead..."

"So, how did he die?"

"Tang Zheng's Talent is strong, but he's very fragile when it's not activated—that's his biggest weakness! Was it because of He Jun? Or the other inspectors from the capital?"

"No! In the original dream, Tang Zheng was a member of the Seed Project. On the way back to the capital with the inspectors, an incident occurred, and they entered a Mysterious Land. There seemed to be an Opportunity there that was very important to Tang Zheng, and they stayed inside for quite a while."

"So... compared to the previous dreams, what changed in this one?"

"There are two major differences! First, Azure Dragon is dead, and second, I survived... Did the butterfly effect trigger a different chain reaction?"

"Be careful... Is it to be careful of the Resurrection Society? I was suspected because I swindled a lot of spirit money from them, and Azure Dragon attacked me early because he received 1,000 spirit money as a bribe... So, did Tang Zheng die because of the Resurrection Society?"

"Hurry... Is it for me to hurry and report this so we can prepare?"

"Or maybe, it's to be careful of the Phantom Demon and hurry to become a Purifier? Did Tang Zheng die because of the Phantom Demon inside me?"

Chu Xuan snapped his eyes open, having made a decision.

Guessing is useless; increasing strength is the only way. Since he couldn't get any useful tips from [Future Tang Zheng], he would stick to the original plan. Hesitation would only lead to a standstill.

Since he had enough spirituality value, he would start right here in this dream!

"Hey, what are you thinking about? Why so serious? I didn't see anything special on your phone. Why were you just spacing out?" Tang Zheng leaned in and asked.

"It's nothing. Keep a lookout for me."

Chu Xuan sat down right there in the blood-scented cell. Since it was just a dream, he didn't have much to worry about.

Tang Zheng gave Chu Xuan a suspicious look but didn't ask further. He walked out as requested, closing the door behind him.

Bang!

The metal door shut tight with a dull thud.

Chu Xuan calmed his mind and checked his current spirituality value again. It had accumulated to 2,030 points.

Next, he took out all the spirit money he currently possessed.

Including the 325 spirit money seized last night, plus the 48 he originally had, it totaled 373 spirit money.

Without the slightest hesitation, he absorbed it all.

[Absorbing for you... Absorption complete!]

[Your spirituality value +373]

[Current spirituality value: 2403]

Then, before the System could prompt him about exceeding the spirituality value limit, Chu Xuan had already spent 400 spirituality value to convert them into attribute points.

"My friend, with such a serious posture, what are you planning to do?" the Phantom Demon suddenly asked.