234: Chapter 233 is hereby commissioned.

"Hubby, this is already the fourth night. Assimilate me."

"..."

In the pitch-black night where one couldn't see their own hand in front of them, the man fell into a long silence.

The woman tightly clutched the man's sleeve: "This is your last chance. If you can't assimilate a human into a werewolf this time, you'll explode when daylight comes."

The man said in a low voice: "Maybe... that voice is deceiving us. Even if a werewolf doesn't assimilate a human, they might not explode..."

The woman sobbed: "In this situation, let's stop lying to ourselves! If you die, what will happen to me and Nannan?"

The man's voice was hoarse: "I'll go find someone else to assimilate..."

"But there are already many werewolves in this building. One comes by almost every few minutes. If you weren't guarding this place, werewolves would have broken in long ago."

The woman hurriedly said: "Hurry up and assimilate me. After I become a werewolf, we can guard this place together to protect Nannan. That way, we can hold on for a few more nights, and new hope will surely appear!"

Listening to the roars and clamor outside, the man fell into silence once more. After a long time, he sighed deeply and pulled the woman into his arms.

On this night, many werewolves had already banded together into small groups, conquering households one by one; some even directly set buildings on fire.

Not only that, but strange roars and cunning cackles rang out from various places from time to time.

Humans could not see any of this; they only felt an incomparable terror.

However, the werewolves, who possessed night vision, discovered that subtle cracks would occasionally flash across the horizon.

And at the moment the cracks opened and closed, vigorous mist would always surge out from within. Monsters would leap out of the mist, and once they landed, they killed everyone they saw and ate everyone they met.

"Hahahaha! Finally able to come to this world, it's truly delicious!"

"This warm blood is the taste of my homeland!"

Whether they were werewolves or humans, all were but food.

Wails echoed everywhere.

Also on this night, Zhang Qiang and the others returned together to the detention level beneath the base.

Faint flames burned, lighting up the group.

Hearing the words of Zhang Qiang and the others, a trace of struggle flashed across Tang Zheng's face, but he finally said: "I want to wait for Chu Xuan to come out."

"Fine, I respect your choice." With a soft sigh, Zhang Qiang nodded slightly and said nothing more.

The others also had complicated gazes but stopped speaking. The entire group had come this time specifically to state their positions to Tang Zheng; everyone was prepared to challenge the Night Demon, and no one would back down.

But since Tang Zheng was so firm, the crowd stopped trying to persuade him.

Tan Ziming couldn't help but say at this moment: "But as official Night Watchers, we enjoy the power and various conveniences bestowed by the state, and we have the responsibility to protect. Now that everyone has decided to challenge the Night Demon together, how can you back down at a time like this? The twenty million people of Haicheng need us!"

Tang Zheng said in a deep voice: "Even if the sky falls, I will stay here."

"How can you..."

Tan Ziming was slightly angry, but at that moment, his shoulder was pressed down by Xu Shuya, and the rest of his words were immediately swallowed back into his stomach.

Xu Shuya looked at Tang Zheng with a solemn expression: "Tang Zheng, many Specters from the Dark World have already appeared outside through the Night Demon's Domain. Although they are also suppressed by the rules and are only equivalent to D-rank Specters, their ferocity is far beyond what those werewolves transformed from humans can compare to.

Given the current state of Confusion outside, hunting werewolves is actually not a very good choice because time might already be running out. The rules of this night have greatly hindered our operational efficiency.

And the number of werewolves is increasing exponentially with every passing night. If we don't kill the Night Demon in time to stop all this, when the number of werewolves exceeds that of humans, everyone still in Haicheng will be completely lost.

This is the power of rules; no one can be spared, and that includes you and Chu Xuan!"

Taking a deep breath, Xu Shuya continued: "According to known information, the closer one gets to the core of an S-rank Specter's Domain, the more severe the suppression becomes. Ordinary people won't even have the ability to move, and physical qualities with attributes below 25 points will also be greatly restricted.

Therefore, human wave tactics cannot work. The only ones who can deal with the Night Demon are us, but it's still not enough. We need your help. Your Fighting God Talent is a major asset to us. With your joining, we will have more confidence."

Xu Shuya said in a deep voice: "I don't know if you noticed just now, but the Night Demon has already obtained the true authority of a Clone, but it seems it hasn't yet converted its true attributes and is praying to a deity. Do you know what that means?"

"What?" Tang Zheng asked.

"This indicates that the Night Demon has actually just promoted to S-Rank and was impatient to deploy such a large-scale Domain. This is our golden opportunity to kill it..."

Xu Shuya's expression suddenly became extremely solemn: "If we wait any longer, until the Night Demon has sacrificed enough power to fully convert its true attributes, any damage we deal to it will be greatly reduced, while its damage to us will be almost impossible to defend against. As one waxes and the other wanes, it will be impossible to kill it anymore."

"So, the later we delay, the more miserably we will die!"

"We have no way back!"

Tang Zheng frowned deeply, digesting the meaning in Xu Shuya's words.

At this point, Xu Shuya changed the subject: "Furthermore, you don't actually need to worry about Chu Xuan's safety. We can close the entrance to this level before we leave, retaining only the permission to open it from the inside. This way, under Rank suppression, even a Transcendent cannot forcibly break in from the outside. As for those werewolves, it's even more impossible. And to be absolutely sure, we can leave some people outside the entrance as guards."

Tang Zheng pondered, glancing through the glass at Chu Xuan inside once more.

And just then, the hoarse voice of the Night Demon rang out abruptly: "At the end of the fourth night, the cumulative number of werewolves killed is 1,596, and the total number of werewolves is 115,920."

"This night, the werewolves performed well and finally got a bit smarter, so I have decided... to grant werewolves two additional Assimilation permissions every night!"

"This way, the best-performing werewolves can meet the survival conditions as early as the sixth night, thereby gaining the freedom to leave this city."

"Additionally, I express deep regret for the situation of the humans. Most of the werewolf casualties stemmed from infighting. Although two lucky souls met the condition of killing ten werewolves, they unfortunately died at the hands of the Pioneers and failed to leave successfully. It is truly a pity. But this cannot be changed; perhaps this is the arrangement of fate..."

The Night Demon suddenly let out a burst of wild laughter, the sound incredibly unrestrained: "So, during this daytime, I hope the humans can perform a bit better. Don't just keep hiding and blindly defending, because that is simply useless!"

"Wail, slaughter, for this is your ultimate destination. Continue the revelry!"

As the Night Demon's voice fell, everyone's faces showed shock, horrified that the number of werewolves had increased so much in just one night—it was simply terrifying. And besides that, it had actually granted werewolves two extra Assimilation abilities.

If this continued, Haicheng would likely turn into a total dead zone within a few more cycles of day and night.

Tang Zheng's expression suddenly turned firm: "I'll go with you!"

The group's spirits were lifted; Tang Zheng's joining undoubtedly increased their chances of victory significantly.

In their view, although it was only for a short minute, at a critical moment, it would be enough to become the key to turning the tide of the battle.

"Chu Xuan, the situation is critical now, and I can't stay any longer. I hope you can come out soon... I just don't know if your Heavenly Secret has given you any guidance?"

Before leaving, Tang Zheng opened the door and left these words. Unfortunately, Chu Xuan was entirely shrouded in Black Flame, showing no movement at all, and it was unknown whether he was alive or dead.

The others also came outside the detention room at this time. Seeing Chu Xuan's current abnormality for the first time, everyone's eyes showed shock, not understanding what exactly was happening.

However, in this situation, they couldn't afford to investigate too deeply and hurriedly left this underground level.

Beep! Beep!

As the heavy underground gate slowly lowered, several electronic beeps sounded, marking that this level had been sealed and could only be exited if opened from the inside.

[Remaining Duration: 1:05:25]

After an unknown amount of time, Chu Xuan's consciousness gradually cleared.

He had cycled through this state of clarity and semi-unconsciousness an unknown number of times.

At this moment, with his four attributes having reached 60 points, Chu Xuan's hands trembled slightly. He found that he could already move on his own, but under this intense pain, it was still very difficult to move freely.

Chu Xuan lightly clenched his fist, and a thick layer of blood scabs cracked, burning to ash in the Black Flame, revealing the flesh and blood tissue underneath that was congealing and recovering.

"Soon, it's almost time..."

"Just a bit more spirituality value!"

Chu Xuan opened his mouth, but his dry and parched throat could no longer make any sound.

With Tang Zheng's departure, Chu Xuan immediately realized that his previous guess was not wrong: the Future Tang Zheng was very likely killed in this Night Demon Incident!

However, after the Phantom Demon had lost its activity, the speed of gaining spirituality value had significantly slowed down, taking almost two to three minutes to harvest a feedback of 1 point of spirituality value.

At this rate, it would take at least half an hour to finish this baptism.

Chu Xuan gritted his teeth and tried to stand up.

Although his various physical attributes had increased significantly and his spirit and will had also been tempered, the intense pain of being burned by the Fire of Nirvana still made his whole body tremble.

It wasn't until more than a minute later that Chu Xuan finally succeeded in standing up.

A few more minutes passed...

"I can move, but it will intensify the pain. I can endure it and move for a few seconds, but it's still too difficult to recover my freedom of movement..." Chu Xuan took a deep breath. He discovered that for some reason, his attributes had actually not been suppressed.

Could it be because of this Fire of Nirvana?

"Wait a bit more... wait a bit more..."

Chu Xuan sat down again and slowly closed his eyes.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of footsteps suddenly rang out from outside.

Tap, tap, tap...

The footsteps approached from far to near.

Chu Xuan suddenly opened his eyes.

The entrance gate had been closed; who else could come in?

Chu Xuan didn't wait long before a familiar face appeared behind the special glass outside the detention room door; it was He Jun.

He Jun just stared at Chu Xuan inside the room without saying a word.

It wasn't until two or three minutes later that He Jun suddenly showed a smile. As he stepped forward, his entire body actually directly penetrated the metal door like a ripple on water.

"Chu Xuan, what's wrong with you?" He Jun was extremely careful and did not approach, instead standing at the door and looking him up and down for a while before asking: "What are these Black Flames on you? Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Chu Xuan did not answer.

"You might have some misunderstanding about me. I previously only thought there was an S-rank Specter inside you; I wasn't deliberately targeting you. Now it seems something has gone wrong with your body."

He Jun coughed lightly: "If you need anything, just say it. Although my Rank has been suppressed, I still have some means."

Chu Xuan remained silent, just quietly looking at He Jun.

A few seconds later, the smile on He Jun's face suddenly became inexplicably sinister: "Chu Xuan, are you unable to move?"

Chu Xuan did not answer.

"Heh! Told me to be extremely careful, and this is it? I really overestimated you after all!"

He Jun shook his head and let out a laugh, a trace of helplessness and mockery flashing in his eyes: "Heavenly Secret is indeed inferior to Revelation..."

Before his voice had even faded, He Jun suddenly drew his blade. A dazzling white light instantly flickered upon it, making the standard-issue long blade look like spilling moonlight. With a whistling sound of breaking wind, it slashed out fiercely on a diagonal.

It turned out that while He Jun's words were full of disdain, his sudden sneak attack was actually a full-strength effort.

But at this critical moment.

Chu Xuan, who had been sitting on the floor, suddenly erupted!

His figure turned into an afterimage, and with lightning speed, he suddenly grabbed He Jun's neck.

"You..." He Jun's mouth hung open, his eyes full of disbelief: "Your Rank wasn't suppressed..."

Buzz!

A line of black fire rapidly climbed up He Jun's neck from the palm and then spread across He Jun's entire body.

"Ah!!"

He Jun let out a wail from his mouth, seemingly enduring an indescribable agony.

[spirituality value +5]

[spirituality value +5]

[...]

Accompanying the appearance of the System prompts for Chu Xuan, He Jun's screams became increasingly shrill: "What is this fire... why... can it burn my spirituality value..."

There was no answer, only a dry, hoarse voice that sounded as if it came from the depths of Hell: "Why... do you want to kill me?"

He Jun screamed in pain: "I didn't think about killing you... I was only ordered by Revelation to kill you in secret... and in this Night Demon Domain, as long as I kill you, he can help me escape..."

Revelation again!

Chu Xuan's eyes were full of killing intent.

So, He Jun's deliberate attempt to take his spirituality in the dream was to kill him.

And this time, intentionally getting separated from Xu Shuya and Tan Ziming was just to double back and lie in wait here, waiting for the opportunity to kill him.

"Let... let me... down..." He Jun screamed shrilly: "I can tell you more secrets..."

"No need!"

Chu Xuan sensed that his spirituality value was already sufficient and had no interest in wasting time. He suddenly tightened his palm, and with a crack, he snapped He Jun's neck.

His strength didn't stop there; it pierced through the throat, directly crushing most of the neck, and the head slumped to one side.

Before the blood could even spray out, it was burned away by the Black Flame.

He Jun died on the spot.

Immediately after, the Black Flame surged even more violently, instantly enveloping He Jun's entire body.

In the blink of an eye, He Jun's body vanished into nothingness within the fire, leaving only a complete set of clothes lying lonely on the spot.

At the same time, more spirituality value feedback arrived.

Not only did it completely finish the remaining duration, but it also allowed Chu Xuan to obtain an additional 120 points of spirituality value.

[Remaining Duration: 00:00:00]

The black fire slowly subsided.

All the pain vanished instantly at this moment!

Chu Xuan felt his blood flow speed up, and a surging power was transmitted throughout his body. His muscles, bones, and internal organs—every inch of his cells seemed to be nourished by an inexplicable power.

Crack! Crack!

His body shook, and layers of black blood scabs cracked and continuously peeled off his body, falling away to reveal pale and tender skin like that of an infant.

[Body consumed by fire, the old shell peels away. You have been tempered in pain, you have been sublimated in hardship, and you have gained new life in nirvana.]

[You have completed the baptism of the Fire of Nirvana.]

[You have stepped onto the only remaining sequence in this world.]

[Purifier!]

[Commissioned today.]

In an instant, Chu Xuan felt a connection. He found that his eyes could seemingly pierce through all obstacles. He looked up, his vision penetrating the dozens of meters of underground space and reaching directly into the high sky.

The massive vortex floating in the sky suddenly paused.

Immediately after, an incredibly thick pillar of light abruptly descended, piercing through the vortex and blasting through the dozens of meters of earth.

Heaven and earth fell silent.

...

...

--Everyone, only one chapter today, 4,600 words. Goodnight, everyone. ♦♦