105: This sword does not ask about gods and demons, but only about the heart!

Human Realm, Sin Ranch, Blackrock City.

Night, like a black cloth soaked in ink, pressed down heavily upon this prison-city named Blackrock.

The air was filled with a rusty smell, a mixture of blood, decay, and despair.

The City Lord’s Mansion’s “Blood Sacrifice” preparations had entered their final stage.

Teams of city guards, clad in heavy armor and with vacant eyes, patrolled the streets like soulless puppets.

The scales of their armor reflected the never-fading crimson nebula in the sky, gleaming with a chilling light that made hearts palpitate.

The entire city was plunged into a deathly silence of panic.

All city gates had been sealed with giant boulders.

Entry was permitted, but exit was not.

Blackrock City had become a massive altar, awaiting its “sacrifice.”

And Chen Yuan, the former Human Emperor,

now lurked quietly at the top of a clock tower, like the most inconspicuous shadow in the night.

His gaze pierced through the layers of night, fixed on the City Lord’s Mansion in the distance, which was brightly lit yet exuded an ominous aura.

Those eyes, which had witnessed a hundred thousand years of vicissitudes, were now devoid of any confusion.

Standing before his old friend’s lonely grave, amidst the altered history and the unbroken torch of civilization, he had rediscovered his “Dao” as the Human Emperor.

It was not the ruthless “fighting evil with evil.”

Nor was it the naive and foolish “sacrificing oneself to feed a tiger.”

Instead, it was… to cut down all injustice with the sword in his hand!

To rekindle the torch of “hope” for this dark land with an unyielding soul!

Even if that flame would first consume him entirely!

“Ling Xi.”

He called softly in his heart.

“Hmm, I’m here.”

The Sword Spirit Girl’s voice carried an unprecedented firmness.

“Are you really… determined? To challenge that City Lord, who seems even crazier than all the evil gods?”

“I have no choice.”

Chen Yuan’s voice was as calm as water.

“I cannot stand by and watch these millions of lives become sacrifices for his ambition. What’s more…”

A hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.

“The Lord of the End has already set the stage for the ‘Great War of a Hundred Demons.’ Theoretically, the City Lord only needs to follow the steps, select believers, and participate in this ‘game’ to have a chance at ‘godhood.’”

“Why would he risk angering other Old Gods by insisting on holding this ‘Blood Sacrifice,’ which is grand in scale and is bound to attract the attention of all the gods?”

“It doesn’t make sense.”

Chen Yuan’s mind, which had once commanded a million-strong Human army, began to race after calming down.

He keenly sensed that behind this seemingly insane Blood Sacrifice, there must be a greater scheme hidden, one even larger than “godhood”!

Just as he was pondering.

A seductive and playful female voice, without warning, quietly echoed from the depths of his mind.

The voice was like a deep nightmare, yet also like a lover’s whisper, full of fatal attraction.

“An interesting little mouse, you’ve discovered an incredible ‘lie’.”

Chen Yuan’s mind instantly sharpened!

This voice… it was a god!

Before he could figure out which god, from a hundred thousand years ago, had been shattered and then resurrected,

the voice appeared again.

“Do you think that fat pig prepared this ‘feast’ to curry favor with the God of Gluttony?”

“Wrong, completely wrong.”

“Those are not ‘sacrifices’ at all, but a ‘key’…”

“This is a key, forged from the resentment and despair of millions of living beings, powerful enough to open a ‘forbidden gate’ that even the gods would tremble before.”

“Go, go and personally unveil this ‘lie’ that could overturn the entire Celestial Realm.”

“When you show everyone that the City Lord has betrayed the God of Gluttony he worships, you will receive My ‘blessing’.”

“Remember My divine name…”

“God of Mysterious Lies and Betrayal.”

The voice receded like a tide.

But the information it brought was like a thunderclap, exploding in Chen Yuan’s mind!

Key?

Forbidden Gate?

Betrayed the God of Gluttony?!

Each keyword linked together to form a clue that sent shivers down his spine!

The City Lord’s true objective was not to participate in the “Great War of a Hundred Demons” at all!

He was using this Blood Sacrifice to open a terrifying existence called the “gate of ending”!

“Damn it!”

Chen Yuan’s back was instantly drenched in cold sweat!

He finally understood why this City Lord was so reckless!

Because what he coveted was something far greater and crazier than “godhood”!

He had to stop him immediately!

Chen Yuan’s figure, in a blink of an eye, leaped down from the clock tower.

Like a falling leaf, he stealthily moved towards the City Lord’s Mansion without a sound.

However, as he approached the City Lord’s Mansion, he discovered that the defenses here were a hundred times more formidable than he had imagined!

Teams of elite “Blood Sacrifice Guards,” armed with “Grudge Soul Blades” capable of severing souls, stood guard every three steps, with a sentry every five.

The air was also permeated by a “Curse Barrier” formed by countless resentments.

Any unauthorized being who stepped in would immediately be devoured by ten thousand souls and turn into a pool of pus!

“Troublesome…”

Chen Yuan hid in a shadow, his brows furrowed.

With his current strength, trying to infiltrate this impregnable fortress without alerting anyone seemed an almost impossible task.

Just as he felt a bit tricky, even considering a forced breakthrough,

another voice sounded in his mind.

This voice was completely different from the “God of Lies” from before.

It was cold, hollow, and devoid of any emotion.

It was as if “Fate” itself, from on high, was reading out a predetermined “death sentence.”

“I have seen your ‘ending’.”

“You will die in despair.”

“Your corpse will be found floating in the foulest, most polluted ‘sewer’ beneath the west wall of the City Lord’s Mansion.”

“Your holy sword will be swallowed along with you by that putrid sludge, never to see the light of day.”

“This is your unchangeable ‘destiny’.”

This “death prophecy,” filled with “despair” and “malice,”

if heard by an ordinary person, would likely cause them to lose their composure and all will to fight.

However, for Chen Yuan,

this was nothing short of an “apocalypse” from the heavens!

West wall!

Sewer!

He understood!

This unknown God of Despair Apocalypse was using the most “vicious” method to show him the only way out!

“Thank you.”

Chen Yuan thanked the “evil god” he had never met in his heart.

Then, his figure vanished from the spot like a ghost.

He bypassed the heavily guarded main entrance and arrived at the most secluded west wall of the City Lord’s Mansion.

There, indeed, was a sewer emitting a sky-high stench.

Without the slightest hesitation, he held his breath and leaped directly into the viscous, black sewage, sneaking through the pipe towards the interior of the City Lord’s Mansion… Meanwhile, in the Celestial Realm.

On a “Star-Gazing Platform” made of countless shattered stars,

Ling Xi, clad in a starlight robe, was quietly gazing at the “Star-Orbit Mirror” before her, woven from the threads of destiny.

The mirror clearly reflected Chen Yuan leaping into the sewer.

“Really, the captain is too reckless.”

Ling Xi sighed helplessly.

“He insists on us helping him in such a ‘villainous’ way. What if he doesn’t understand my ‘hint’ and truly thinks he’s doomed? What then?”

Although she complained, a hint of a smile, one she herself hadn’t noticed, flickered in her eyes.

Because she could feel it.

When she delivered that “despairing” divine message to Chen Yuan,

the “Humanity” she believed in was not weakened at all.

Instead, it became even more solidified because of the “hope” born from that “despair.”