103: The final calculation

Tianxing City, Qingshi Alley, Secret Room.

Drip.

The last drop of water fell; the hour of Zi had arrived.

Zhou Wannian snapped his eyes open. In his palm, the dark gold Heavenly Secret Dao Disk erupted with an unprecedented eerie light, trembling violently as if wailing.

"I dare to ask the heavenly secret."

"The tremors below ground—what is the fortune? Where lies the gate of life?"

Buzz—!!!

A sharp pain shot through Zhou Wannian's Sea of Consciousness, as if a pair of scarlet eyes had glanced at him from across the Void Realm.

A moment later, a line of dripping blood-red characters appeared:

[Deduction Result: Great Calamity (Certain Death)]

[Divination: The Demon Suppression Abyss collapses; the Demon Emperor descends. Traitors assist from within; Tianxing shall be bathed in blood.]

[Death Tribulation: In three double-hours, the City Protection Formation will transform into a 'Blood Refining Formation,' turning every living being in the city into a sacrifice.]

[Path of Survival: The Tianxing City teleportation hub has been secretly locked. Only in the moment of chaos before the Formation collapses can one use the 'City Lord Medallion' to force a passage through a spatial node, teleporting in reverse to the sparsely guarded 'Zhenhai City' in the Outer Sea.]

"Hiss..."

Zhou Wannian's pupils constricted.

A Nascent Soul Demon Emperor? Traitors massacring the city?

He had actually encountered a catastrophe of the kind only seen in history books.

"I cannot stay here."

"Run! Run immediately!"

Without a moment's hesitation, he ignited two specially made sound-transmitting Talismans in his hand.

The first was for Li Feiyu:

"Bring all the elites of Tingfeng Tower and enough Talismans. Gather in the backyard within half a quarter-hour. Don't ask, don't think, just run. One breath late, and you die!"

The second was for Young Master Ling:

"Young City Lord, the restoration of the ancient mirror has reached a critical moment. I need to borrow your 'City Lord Medallion' to channel the earth fire and suppress the instability. Come quickly! Any delay and the treasure will be destroyed!"

This was a lie.

But he needed Young Master Ling.

The space in Tianxing City was already locked down. To send people out, he had to use the "official channel" of the Tianxing Pavilion. The Formation he had built himself was merely a "smuggling interface." Without Young Master Ling's City Lord Medallion as a "key," it was impossible to bypass the Formation's blockade... Less than half an hour later.

In the backyard of Qingshi Alley, the atmosphere was so heavy it was almost palpable.

Li Feiyu stood silently in the shadows with twenty fully armed black-clad Cultivators. They didn't know what was happening, but out of absolute trust in "Old Man Han," no one said a word.

"Old Man Han!"

Young Master Ling rushed over with Steward Liu, drenched in sweat. "Old Man Han! Is the earth fire really about to erupt? Then the ancient mirror..."

"Young City Lord, forgive me."

Zhou Wannian didn't waste any words. With a single hand, he grabbed Young Master Ling and pulled him onto the Formation in the center of the secret room.

"Old Man Han, what are you doing..."

Young Master Ling was about to struggle when he saw Zhou Wannian's eyes, which were cold and devoid of any warmth.

"What's buried underground isn't earth fire; it's a Nascent Soul Demon Emperor."

Zhou Wannian spoke rapidly, his voice like a blade. "The City Protection Formation will soon turn into a slaughterhouse. If you want to live, take out your City Lord Medallion and pour all your Qi into it!"

"What?!"

Young Master Ling's face turned pale, and he instinctively wanted to argue.

Rumble—

Just then, the ground beneath their feet shook violently. A sickening scent of bloody Demonic Qi seeped up through the earth, and the protective Formation of Qingshi Alley instantly let out an overburdened creak.

"This..."

Young Master Ling felt that world-destroying aura, and his legs went weak.

"If you don't want to die, hold up the medallion!"

Zhou Wannian barked.

Young Master Ling snapped out of it and tremblingly raised the purple medallion that symbolized the City Lord's authority.

"Initiating connection."

Zhou Wannian's hands moved like phantoms, casting hundreds of hand seals.

"Wang Cai, fill it with Spirit Stones!"

Squeak squeak!

The Treasure-Seeking Mouse painfully spat out three Top-Grade Spirit Stones (its private savings) and stuffed them into the formation eye.

Buzz!

The originally independent teleportation Formation instantly erupted in brilliant light, transforming into a pillar of light that forcibly tore through the surrounding space, establishing a forced connection with the massive teleportation hub in the center of Tianxing City.

"Warning: Spatial lockdown in progress... City Lord Medallion detected... Authorization granted!"

A line of runes flashed across the Formation Plate.

"Go!"

Zhou Wannian swept his large sleeve, enveloping Li Feiyu and the others within the Formation's range.

Just as the teleportation light was about to swallow everyone.

Crack!

Above Tianxing City, the thick defensive light barrier suddenly turned an eerie blood-red.

In the city center, a dragon's roar that shattered the clouds rang out. A heaven-blotting black dragon claw emerged from the ground, crushing half of the Central District with a single strike.

"No—!!!"

Countless screams echoed in the distance.

Young Master Ling stared blankly at the apocalyptic scene.

"Don't look."

Zhou Wannian coldly pressed down on his shoulder and took one last look at the small shop he had run for over half a year.

"Business is finished."

Shua!

A flash of white light.

When the shockwave of that terrifying dragon claw swept through Qingshi Alley, only an empty crater remained, along with a few Formation Flags that had instantly turned to dust.

That group of shrewd hunters had vanished without a trace just a moment before the prey's counterattack.