228: Chapter 228 Breaking Through the Limit

"No! This is impossible... How can I not do it..."

The Phantom Demon's screams grew more intense, mixed with an indescribable terror, as if it were suffering unparalleled agony.

"No... stop burning..."

"I... I was wrong... I shouldn't have tried to seize your body... Let me go, and I'll leave your body immediately. As long as you find me a vessel, anyone's will do, I can leave right now!"

"Please, let me go..."

"My friend! We are the sincerest of friends, you can't do this to me!"

Chu Xuan remained unmoved by the Phantom Demon's pleas for mercy. Even if he could stop the baptism of fire now, he wouldn't.

Along with the continuous feedback of spirituality value, the black flames surrounding him burned even more vigorously, and the pain became more intense.

At the same time, the remaining duration of the baptism was also decreasing. For every 1 point of spirituality value feedback received, the progress accelerated by about 86 seconds.

At this moment, Chu Xuan finally understood why the requirements for spirituality value and Rank in the five prerequisites given by [Future Tang Zheng] to become a Purifier included the words "at least."

1,000 spirituality value was just the baseline. The more resources one had, the more intense the tempering of the Fire of Nirvana would be. Although it was more painful, the benefits upon completion would surely be greater.

The requirement to reach at least Rank 5 and have all four attributes maxed out was also a basic requirement.

Chu Xuan felt that if he hadn't met these basic conditions, his body would have been burned to death before it could recover, and his mental consciousness probably wouldn't have survived the intense pain.

Time passed slowly.

After burning through about 200 points of spirituality value feedback from the Phantom Demon, the speed slowed down significantly, from receiving feedback every two to three seconds initially to once every five or six seconds, and it continued to slow down.

Yet, it continued nonetheless.

Screams, pleas, curses, manic laughter...

The Phantom Demon seemed to possess emotions even richer than those of humans.

These sounds, along with the successive System prompts of "spirituality value +1," became the beautiful background music for Chu Xuan as he suffered in the Fire of Nirvana.

Adding a few different colors to this dull and unbearable pain.

During this process of continuous destruction and rebirth, Chu Xuan clearly felt his physique strengthening.

It wasn't just a feeling; it was reflected in the numerical values of his various attributes.

[Your stamina +1]

[Your spirit +1]

[...+1]

[...+1]

To Chu Xuan's surprise, his personal Rank was still 5, but his four attributes—stamina, strength, agility, and spirit—were slowly increasing, all breaking through the Rank limit.

Meanwhile.

Accompanied by air-raid sirens that sounded repeatedly in 15-cycle periods with only a six-second interval, the entire Haicheng was shrouded in an atmosphere of panic.

Whether it was the large screens in the squares, televisions at home, or every person's mobile phone screen, the same emergency warning message popped up simultaneously.

It explicitly required all citizens to immediately head to the nearest civil defense works for shelter. For those who couldn't, they were to find a safe hiding place nearby and remain absolutely silent.

This sudden alarm ignited the city's panic. Generally speaking, although people were mostly following instructions, small-scale riots still broke out in many places.

Although a large number of military vehicles appeared on the main roads to deter the chaos.

At every exit of the city, cars were already jammed together. In less than half an hour, traffic in some areas had fallen into paralysis.

"Haicheng is a complete mess right now!"

In the meeting room, He Jun slapped the table and said in a deep voice, "But after all this time, no S-rank Specter has appeared. I'm worried the information was incorrect, or maybe something went wrong on Chu Xuan's end!"

"Chu Xuan's Talent is Heavenly Secret, and he's never been wrong. Even Azure Dragon, who was hidden so deeply, was dragged out. This can't be a mistake!"

Zhang Qiang frowned and said, "In a matter this big, we'd rather believe it exists than risk it being true!"

After a pause, Zhang Qiang added, "Director He, you saw the message from headquarters. natural anomalies are appearing, and Specter incidents are breaking out all over the country. An S-rank Specter incident, which used to be rare, might very well happen in Haicheng!"

He Jun frowned, "The Specter incidents in Haicheng have stabilized. Where would an S-rank Specter come from? I think Chu Xuan might be alarmist."

At this point, He Jun suddenly looked around and asked, "Where did Chu Xuan go? I haven't seen him since he left the meeting room just now..."

Just then, someone suddenly came to report.

"Captain Zhang, Chu Xuan and Tang Zheng just went to the detention room. They forced out and killed all the Specters inside the Resurrection Society members like Xinyue Fox, and..."

The person hesitated for a moment and continued, "Chu Xuan has been staying in the detention room. The surveillance cameras were destroyed, but I heard low growls coming from inside, as if he's in a lot of pain."

Hearing this, everyone in the meeting room changed expression, except for He Jun, who suddenly froze, his eyes looking a bit dazed and vacant.

Even when the others asked for details, He Jun didn't react.

It wasn't until five or six seconds had passed that He Jun suddenly stood up. The daze in his expression vanished, replaced by a flash of ruthlessness deep in his eyes.

"Something must have happened!"

He Jun stood up abruptly and shouted that something was wrong. "There's a high-level Specter inside him. This is a diversion; he's probably lost control and is being manipulated by the Specter!"

Hearing this, everyone present was shocked.

Immediately after, the group rushed to the underground detention room. Sure enough, they saw Tang Zheng guarding the door. He Jun immediately quickened his pace and charged over.

"Stop!"

Tang Zheng took a sudden step forward and said with a cold face, "No one is allowed within ten meters, or don't blame me for being impolite!"

He Jun's pace halted, but then he strode forward again, shouting, "Brat, what are you doing guarding the door? Something happened to Chu Xuan, don't you even want to take a look?"