73: Are you prepared to die while the Psionic Bureau is investigating a case?

Outside the Huai Gu District, in the mountain suburbs.

Deep within a sparsely populated forest, space exhibited an extremely eerie distortion.

An immense fissure appeared out of thin air.

It was pitch black throughout, its edges flickering with ominous purple lightning, as if space itself had been torn open to reveal a hideous scar.

The fissure was not yet fully open, but even that single crack was enough to make one's heart skip a beat in terror.

“Roar—!”

“Awoo—!”

The roars of countless demons were frantically echoing from the other side of the fissure.

The sounds were filled with bloodlust and frenzy, as if billions of demons were struggling within, ready to burst through the rift and descend upon this world at any moment.

Yet, such a terrifying commotion did not travel even an inch beyond this area.

A translucent, powerful barrier emitting a faint glow acted like an inverted giant bowl, enveloping the entire hilltop and isolating everything inside from the outside.

Whether it was the sound or the nauseatingly evil aura leaking from the fissure, everything was tightly sealed within the barrier.

Beneath the barrier, dozens of members of the Eternal Life Cult, dressed in black robes, sat cross-legged around a massive Formation.

They chanted incantations, their obscure and difficult syllables echoing through the woods; cold power surged from each person, continuously pouring into the Formation beneath their feet.

Their target was precisely that massive demon cave fissure.

They intended to tear this fissure completely open!

At the very center of the large Formation, an even more complex Formation was in operation.

This small Formation was connected to the larger one, yet it functioned independently.

It acted like a greedy vortex, frantically collecting the boundless energy leaking from the demon cave fissure.

This eerie Demonic Energy was continuously purified and compressed by the Formation, eventually transforming into streams of black energy that flowed steadily into the Magical Artifact at the center.

It was a simple black banner; the surface of the banner was empty, yet it emitted terrifying fluctuations that seemed to swallow everything.

As the Demonic Energy continued to pour in, the color of the banner became deeper and deeper, as if it wanted to suck in one's very Soul.

They were using the power of the demon cave to refine a powerful Magical Artifact.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Seeing the aura on the small black banner grow stronger and stronger, nearing completion,

a hint of fanaticism appeared on everyone's faces.

Just then.

“This is bad!!”

A panicked scream broke the eerie silence of the scene.

A member responsible for guarding rushed over, crawling and stumbling, his face etched with terror.

“Something happened! Something big happened!”

His voice trembled so much he could barely finish a sentence.

A middle-aged man presiding over the Formation frowned and shouted sternly, “What’s the panic! Has the sky fallen?!”

The member fell to his knees with a thud and cried out, “Protector Xu! The brothers we sent out to the perimeter to mask our aura... their life signatures have vanished!”

What?!

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire place broke into an uproar.

The crowd, who had been focused on their spells, instantly turned into a chaotic mess.

“Life signatures vanished? W-What does that mean?”

“What else could it mean? They’re dead!”

“How is that possible? They were only on the outermost perimeter guarding and masking our aura, how could something happen?”

“It’s over, have we been exposed?!”

These words were like a bomb dropped into a calm lake, instantly igniting panic in everyone.

For a moment, the scene was filled with unease as terrified whispers rose and fell.

“All of you, shut up!”

Just as the group was about to descend into total chaos,

the man at the head, known as Protector Xu, suddenly let out a thunderous shout.

He stood up, his gloomy face carrying a hint of ruthlessness.

“What are you panicking for, you bunch of useless trash!”

His prestige was clearly very high; under his roar, the rowdy crowd finally quieted down a bit, though everyone's face still bore an unmistakable look of fear.

Protector Xu scanned the area and spoke coldly.

“The Magical Artifact will be finished soon. Everyone, listen to my command: speed up and collect the last bit of energy!”

“Once the artifact is complete, we withdraw immediately!”

His words were decisive and resolute, without the slightest hesitation.

Hearing this, the people around him were all startled.

Withdraw?

Just like that?

Then what about this demon cave?

A slightly bolder member couldn't help but ask, “Protector Xu, then this demon cave...”

Protector Xu interrupted him impatiently.

“It's just a tiny demon cave, it has no strategic value at all. The Cult won't care!”

“If the people from the Spiritual Energy Bureau really come, we’ll just leave this mess to them. It’ll give them some trouble to deal with!”

Upon hearing this, the surrounding people were shocked once again.

The whispering started up once more.

They were actually going to abandon this demon cave they had worked so hard to find?

To open this demon cave, they had prepared for months and spent a vast amount of manpower and resources.

And now they were abandoning it just like that?

If The Cult investigated, who would take responsibility?

Would they really not be punished for this?

But soon, the group changed their minds.

The life signatures of the brothers on the perimeter had vanished. What did that mean?

It meant those brothers were most likely dead!

If their lives were at risk, who cared about the demon cave or The Cult's punishment?

Compared to their own lives, what did these other things matter!

The proper thing to do was to quickly get the benefits at hand and then slip away!

Besides, even if the demon cave was gone, at least they had successfully refined this powerful Magical Artifact.

That would be considered a major contribution.

When they returned to The Cult, their merit and fault would balance out, and they probably wouldn't receive too severe a punishment, right?

At most, they’d get a scolding.

It was better than losing their lives here!

Thinking of this, everyone steeled their hearts and gritted their teeth.

Let's do it!

“Yes! As you command!”

“Speed it up!!”

All the Eternal Life Cult members gathered their spirits and performed their techniques once more, pouring power into the Formation.

“Buzz—!”

The massive Formation’s rotation speed suddenly accelerated, its light flaring brilliantly.

The energy-collecting Formation became like a water pump running at full throttle.

It steadily extracted pure Demonic Energy from that massive fissure, frantically pouring it into the small black banner at the center.

The small banner vibrated violently, and the fluctuations it emitted became more and more terrifying.

Success was right before their eyes!

However, at this most critical moment.

“En... Enemy attack!!”

Another member responsible for guarding let out a scream a hundred times more terrified than before.

“Detected an extremely powerful energy body approaching at high speed!”

“Wait, it’s already outside the barrier!!”

What?!

Everyone present turned pale with fright, their hearts skipping a beat.

They instinctively looked in the direction the member was pointing.

Then, they saw that outside the massive barrier above their heads, a figure had appeared at some unknown time and was quietly standing in mid-air.

It was a young man with a tall stature, surrounded by powerful red energy that was incredibly terrifying.

Seeing them look over, Chen Nian gave a faint smile and said, “Good morning, everyone. The Spiritual Energy Bureau is on the case. Are you ready to die?”