Chapter 99 Has He Gone Mad?

Master Jiang lowered his head and silently walked past the statue-like, rigid Yun Bai, quickly re-entering the house. Only a barely audible, heavy sigh remained in the air.

"What to do?"

This desperate question lingered in everyone's hearts like a ghost, weighing so heavily it made it hard to breathe.

A terrifying sum of fourteen million; even if everyone scraped together what they had, plus Du San's total contribution, they had barely managed to collect three million. The cold doors and even colder rules of the Guoquan Bank would only agree to lend at most three million. They were still short by at least eight million! A full eight million Low-Grade Spirit Stones! This was simply an astronomical figure capable of crushing any Cultivator; how could it possibly be conjured out of thin air?

If kneeling and begging the heavens would be of any use right now, the entire courtyard would have likely been filled with people on their knees.

"Xiao Liu!" Yun Bai suddenly lifted his head, his eyes bloodshot.

He seemed to be speaking to the Void Realm, or perhaps desperately talking to himself, "Think again! Think carefully! Is there anything missed? Is there anywhere... any other way? Any way at all!"

This was already a complete case of grasping at straws, a final struggle in a hopeless situation.

[Information retrieval in progress... Secondary review of plans within authorized scope...]

In his mind, that familiar mechanical voice sounded once again.

After a brief, suffocating silence, the response to Yun Bai was still absolute silence.

Even Xiao Liu could not find any feasible plan.

"Is there really... no other way?" Yun Bai muttered in a daze. The turbulent thoughts in his heart spilled out unconsciously, "Could it be that I can only watch... watch Qianqian... and I can't do anything? Can't do anything at all?!"

Captain Zeng Fu, hearing these desperate words that sounded like delirium, felt as if his heart had been fiercely squeezed. He felt immense sorrow for this young man who was heartbreakingly stubborn.

He stepped forward and firmly wrapped his arms around Yun Bai's slightly trembling shoulders, saying in a low voice, "Brother! Listen to me! You have already done your absolute best! You really have... done well enough! No one could have done better than you!"

Yun Bai seemed not to hear his comfort. He stared blankly into the Void Realm, his voice drifting like a wandering ghost, "Brother Zeng... tell me, if Qianqian really... really goes to that place... is there really an Underworld in the afterlife? Is it dark there? She has been afraid of the dark since she was little... What if she is afraid of the dark... What is she supposed to do all by herself..."

"Yun Bai!" Captain Zeng Fu saw him in this state of having his Divine Soul scattered, his mind almost collapsing. His heart gave a sudden jolt, and he quickly gathered Qi in his throat, letting out a thunderous shout, "Calm down! Yun Bai! Hold onto your focus! Don't let the Heart Demon take advantage of you!"

He vigilantly scanned the surroundings. The city had just experienced a Demon Race attack; there was no guarantee that there weren't hidden Heavenly Demons lurking, waiting to take advantage of the situation.

Right now, with Yun Bai's focus lost, it was the most dangerous moment!

"I..." Yun Bai was shaken by the shout, his eyes momentarily dazed.

Suddenly, it was as if he had been struck by lightning. He froze in place, unconsciously uttering a few monosyllables, "Ah... Ah... Eh? Dark? Dark... Black Tower?!"

"What Black Tower?" Captain Zeng Fu was taken aback by his sudden reaction, his worry growing even deeper. He quickly grabbed his arm, "Yun Bai! Concentrate and calm your mind! Don't let your thoughts run wild, beware of Qi Deviation! Yun Bai!"

Jiang Shuanger, standing by, grew anxious as well. She hurriedly took out a "Calming Pill" that exuded a cool aura from her bosom and rushed forward, intending to stuff it into Yun Bai's mouth, "Yun Bai, take this quickly!"

However, Yun Bai was like a leopard suddenly startled awake. He violently backed away several steps, dodging Jiang Shuanger's outstretched hand with abnormal agility.

The flame in his eyes, which had almost been extinguished, was now crazily reigniting, burning with a terrifying brightness!

"Black Tower! Yes! Raid the Black Tower!" He roared this sentence, as if he had grasped the only piece of driftwood before drowning!

Before the words had even faded, he ignored everyone's shocked gazes and, like an arrow released from a bow, violently turned and rushed out of the Jiang residence, sprinting madly toward the State Religion base!

His figure quickly disappeared around the corner of the street.

...

...

...

Inside the State Religion headquarters, Supervisor Zhou Shengtai was desperately dealing with a series of aftermath and deployment tasks following the Demon Race attack. The multitude of tasks made him furrow his brows tightly.

Just then, the communication jade talisman at his waist vibrated slightly. It was an urgent message from Elder Yin Xin.

[Supervisor Zhou, Yun Bai failed to raise sufficient funds. In his desperation, he has gone alone to the Black Tower, intending to raid it!]

The message was brief, yet it caused a sudden shock in Supervisor Zhou Shengtai's heart. His fingers holding the jade talisman subconsciously tightened.

"Raid the Black Tower?" He blurted out, his face full of disbelief, "He is only at the First Realm Mid-stage cultivation; why would he be so unwise as to raid the Black Tower?"

He immediately made a judgment in his heart — this was an almost impossible task to succeed at!

He, Supervisor Zhou Shengtai, was a Personal Disciple of the great Confucian Huang Shouren. His knowledge, resources, and cultivation System were far superior to his peers. Even so, he had only managed to pass the third level of the Black Tower after breaking through to the Second Realm, relying on years of accumulation and broad knowledge from the capital and the Holy City. And that year, he was already twenty-four years old.

What about Yun Bai? His cultivation time was still short, he lacked systematic learning and guidance, and he knew very little about the myriad Divine Abilities, mysterious techniques, Formations, Restrictions, or even the unique Domain methods of the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals. How could he cope with the endless trials inside the Black Tower?

But the Yun Bai he knew was not an impulsive, brainless brute.

Why would he suddenly take such a risky move? Supervisor Zhou Shengtai shook his head and sighed, understanding in his heart: "It seems he was truly driven to a dead end; his mind must have become somewhat deranged."

A strong sense of sympathy welled up in his heart, both for Yun Bai's desperate determination and for his sister, whose life was hanging by a thread.

Regardless, this matter could no longer be ignored.

He and Elder Yin Xin, who had also received the news, began to divert a portion of their focus to closely monitor the movements in the direction of the Black Tower.

As the supervising Elder of the State Religion in Chu Prefecture, although Supervisor Zhou Shengtai still could not spy on the specific combat situation inside the Black Tower, he possessed the authority to perceive in real-time which level the challenger had reached inside the tower and the results.

He tried again to contact Great Elder Xu Antong through a secret method, but the message sent was like a stone sinking into the ocean, with no response.

Supervisor Zhou Shengtai understood in his heart that Great Elder Xu Antong must be conducting a crucial war meeting with the high-level leaders of the Human Race, engaging in intense combat deployment.

During meetings of this level, unless it was a monumental event concerning the survival of a city or territory, it was absolutely impossible to be interrupted by the outside world.

And such strategic meetings often lasted for half a day or even an entire day.

For high-level Cultivators, there was no need for rest during this time, so it was very likely that the meeting did not even have breaks. Without intervals, Great Elder Xu Antong naturally had almost no opportunity to notice outside communications.

Through conventional means, he could not contact the Great Elder at this moment.

During the meeting, all communication Formations would be strictly shielded or prohibited.

If there was really an extremely urgent matter, the only way was to dispatch a messenger to deliver the news layer by layer, directly into the meeting venue.

Supervisor Zhou Shengtai weighed the situation. In fact, even regarding the incident of the Demon Race terrorist attack on Chu Prefecture, he had suppressed it and did not immediately report it to Great Elder Xu Antong, choosing instead to report it directly to the Holy City for a decision.

On one hand, he did not want to disturb the crucial war deployment; on the other hand, it was because although this attack caused panic, the actual losses were controllable, and the public sentiment was not low but rather united against the common enemy. He was confident that he could handle the aftermath well.