70: Chapter 69 The Alliance Leader Arrives

The sigh from underground didn't sound like it came from a beast.

It was more like something that had been asleep for a very, very long time, letting out an impatient grunt the moment it was awakened.

The crack continued to expand.

Black mist surged from the fifty-meter-wide abyss, carrying an aura of extreme decay.

Wherever the mist passed, the gravel on the ground weathered directly into powder.

The Dragon Blood Soul-Devouring Curse on Lin Mo's chest throbbed violently.

Pitch-black lines spread from his right chest to his collarbone, as if being pulled by something from a distance.

Every throb was accompanied by a sharp, stinging pain.

It wasn't ordinary pain.

It was the curse itself... responding to something.

"It's coming out."

Zhang Wei's voice had regained its calm.

From deep within the crack, a giant claw gripped the edge of the ground.

The surface of the claw was covered in grayish-white scales, each engraved with dense, ancient runes.

Those runes had the exact same law fluctuations as the grey-robed Dragon Attendants in the Hell Dungeon.

Something from the Dragon Temple.

Lin Mo's smile vanished completely.

Wang Jingzhe's face was pale. He stopped trying to break the blockade and instead yelled desperately toward the instructors in the distance:

"Everyone retreat! Take the students to the West Gate! Fast!"

A second claw reached up.

A large section of the ground collapsed.

The owner of the claws hadn't fully appeared yet, but the aura from just those two claws had already caused everyone within a hundred meters below the Third-Rank to faint instantly.

Zhang Wei looked at Lin Mo, a cruel smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Lin Mo, you are very impressive."

"But in this world, there will always be things you cannot defeat."

Just as a third claw was about to emerge from the crack—

The sky cracked.

Not metaphorically.

The sky above was like a sheet of glass, with a finger poking a hole through it from the outside.

The edge of the hole was pure gold, without any magical effects or flashy lights.

It was just gold. Clean, pure gold.

A person stepped down from the hole.

He wore a grey robe that was somewhat faded from washing, and ordinary cloth shoes on his feet.

His hair was greyish-white, tied casually behind his head. His face showed no clear age; he could be forty, sixty, or four hundred.

He landed beside the crack.

There was no outward display of power.

Not even the hem of his robe fluttered.

But the moment he stepped out of that hole, the air in the entire Tianfu University froze.

The five Zhang family Fifth Class Advancement experts pinning down Wang Jingzhe stopped simultaneously.

Not because of any coordination.

But because their bodies could not move.

"Alliance Leader..."

Wang Jingzhe's voice was somewhat raspy.

The Grey-robed Man didn't look at him.

He looked down at the thing crawling out of the crack.

Then he reached out a hand.

His right hand.

With fingers spread and palm facing down, he gently pressed downward.

As if soothing a disobedient dog.

Boom.

The two giant claws on the ground suddenly retracted.

A shrill howl came from the crack, followed by the sound of bones shattering—not the ground cracking, but the creature's own bones breaking.

The fifty-meter-wide crack began to close.

The rock layers on both sides automatically repaired and closed, like a video tape being played in reverse.

The black mist was forcibly suppressed back underground.

The entire process took no more than three seconds.

A few tender green grass shoots even grew on the closed ground.

Not only that, the fallen students were all healed, and those who had been unconscious due to the White Calamity also woke up one after another.

Like a miracle!

The Dragon Blood Soul-Devouring Curse on Lin Mo's chest throbbed violently the moment the crack closed, then slowly returned to its normal frequency.

That feeling of being pulled disappeared.

"Is this an Eight-Turn powerhouse? Even if it's just a clone."

A middle-aged man behind Zhang Wei had his teeth chattering.

Eight-Turn.

The power limit of this world was the peak of the Fifth Class Advancement.

Anyone exceeding the Fifth Class Advancement had to go to the Extraterrestrial Battlefield to intercept the Outer Evil Gods.

That was an eternal battlefield where human civilization and unknown horrors had clashed for over a thousand years.

Those who could return were few and far between.

The Alliance Leader's true body was on that battlefield at this very moment.

Standing here was merely one of his Fifth Class Advancement clones.

A single Fifth Class Advancement clone was enough to suppress everyone here.

"I didn't want to intervene."

The Grey-robed Man's voice was very calm.

He was a trump card left behind by the main body in the Alliance, not to be used unless the Alliance's survival was at stake.

But Zhang Wei's actions had already threatened the entire Core City.

He turned around and looked at Zhang Wei.

There was no anger or pressure in his eyes; they even held a trace of the gentleness unique to old people.

But this gentleness made Zhang Wei shudder.

"Junior of the Zhang family, you have quite the nerve."

Zhang Wei's lips quivered a few times, but in the end, he couldn't say a single word.

His eyes, however, were darting around frantically.

Three pillars of light landed on the plaza almost simultaneously.

Qin Lan, Shen Yuntang, Pei Jun.

Shen Yuntang walked to the Alliance Leader's side and whispered a few words.

Pei Jun scanned the area with a cold face, his gaze lingering on the five Zhang family Fifth Class Advancement experts for a moment.

"Zhang Wei," the Alliance Leader's voice remained very soft.

"Damaging the seal of an institution directly under the Alliance, releasing a forbidden monster, and nearly causing thousands of students to lose their lives."

"You know what crime this is."

Zhang Wei's face turned extremely ashen.

But his right hand had been clutching something inside his sleeve.

"Lord Alliance Leader."

Zhang Wei took a deep breath, his voice raspy.

"This matter... was a momentary impulse. My son was killed, I..."

"Zhang Hengyuan attacked first."

Qin Lan interrupted coldly.

Zhang Wei fell silent.

Silence lasted for five seconds.

Then he laughed abruptly.

"Then there's nothing left to discuss."

Zhang Wei suddenly pulled his right hand out from his sleeve!

A fist-sized golden Crown floated above his palm.

Liquid-like golden light flowed over the surface of the Crown, and a blood-red gemstone was embedded in the center.

Something seemed to be sealed within the gemstone, writhing frantically.

The Crown had arrived.

A forbidden item that allowed the wearer to briefly possess a portion of the 'King's Power'.

"Zhang Wei!" Wang Jingzhe roared.

Too late.

Zhang Wei slapped the Crown onto his head.

Golden light poured down from the Crown, instantly enveloping Zhang Wei and the five Fifth Class Advancement experts behind him.

The auras of the six people surged by more than a level at this moment.

The Alliance Leader's expression changed for the first time.

It wasn't surprise.

He frowned slightly.

"You actually have a Level Five Crown."

He said those few words plainly.

The golden light intensified!

The ground beneath Zhang Wei's feet vaporized instantly.

He and the five Fifth Class Advancement experts turned into six streaks of golden light, bolting toward the horizon at a speed that was almost untraceable.

Qin Lan and Pei Jun both moved to intercept.

Two spells struck the golden streaks, but like water droplets hitting a red-hot iron plate, they were instantly evaporated.

For a short time, the power of the Crown could withstand attacks from the Fifth Class Advancement.

The six golden lights disappeared over the horizon in the blink of an eye.

They escaped.

The plaza remained quiet for a long time.

Pei Jun withdrew his hand, his face grim.

"Is it inconvenient for the clone to pursue?"

The Alliance Leader didn't answer.

As a Fifth Class Advancement clone, forcibly restoring the seal had already exhausted most of his power.

With Zhang Wei and the others bolstered by the Crown, he was powerless to stop them.

His gaze fell on Lin Mo.

More accurately, it fell on Lin Mo's right chest.

The black lines of the Dragon Blood Soul-Devouring Curse had returned to a steady state, but under the Alliance Leader's gaze, the lines shrank slightly like a startled snake.

"It really did react."

The Alliance Leader walked up to Lin Mo.

At close range, Lin Mo could feel no sense of pressure from this grey-robed old man.

Lin Mo rolled his eyes.

"Just say what you have to say. Don't you know how annoying it is when people stop halfway?"