216: The mission is interrupted and the dark invasion begins!

Xiao Lu's attribute panel popped up, allowing him to choose one item.

Magic Attack attribute was sufficient, Intelligence attribute was not considered, so he directly chose Mana!

Following a flash of blue light, the mana on the panel instantly surged to 7,570,111 points!

Now there was completely no need to worry about mana issues.

He then instructed Xiao Lu to choose to inherit his HP, which directly soared to over 100 million HP!

The inheritance effect was not fixed; other attributes could be inherited in non-combat states.

It was actually not bad for Xiao Lu to inherit his Magic Attack.

According to a 1:5 ratio, it could provide over 1 million base mana, and with other bonuses, it could easily reach tens of millions.

But compared to hundreds of millions of HP, it seemed less cost-effective.

It was still the same old saying!

Ensure Xiao Lu's survival; she just needed to keep going...

As soon as the two finished their choices, they suddenly heard a loud rumble!

The deathly silent mist around them actually began to tremble! It flowed rapidly and irregularly!

Chen Beixuan had an ominous premonition, feeling that something was about to happen!

As expected!

The next second, a prompt popped up on the panel!

"Ding! The SS-rank hidden quest [Shocking Conspiracy] has been interrupted. Settlement is being performed based on the number of destructions..."

"Ding! Settlement successful! Rewards obtained: EXP +150,000, Gold +200!"

Chen Beixuan quickly scanned it; the rewards were all within his expectations.

After all, compared to tens of thousands of magic arrays, what he destroyed was merely a drop in the ocean; the progress was too low.

He was more concerned about the reason for the quest interruption.

Currently, it was highly likely that the Lord of Darkness's soul, which had escaped, had, for some reason, activated the magic array early, choosing to forcibly devour the human realm.

But even if he guessed the reason, he had no good solution.

Now he could only wait and see.

At the same time.

Thousands of miles away, at the border of the Black Curtain, the calm Black Curtain suddenly began to move!

Both soldiers and civilians were terrified, screams rising and falling!

Some hid in rooms.

Some stood frozen in place.

More ran towards outside the city.

But their actions were ultimately futile; they were caught up by the Black Curtain and devoured not long after running out.

In just a few breaths!

The Black Curtain enveloped a series of border towns, including Mont Town, and expanded outwards at an extremely fast speed!

Initially, the residents of Mont Town, who were swallowed, only felt that there was nothing unusual besides the world turning dark, secretly feeling lucky.

But gradually, some began to feel their strength draining, and even wounds not healing!

By the time a large number of city-guarding soldiers realized something was wrong.

What greeted them were black terrifying creatures sweeping in like a tide!

"Archers, fire!"

"Everyone, attack!"

Arrows shot out across the sky, raining down into the insect tide, but they caused no ripples!

The soldiers discovered in horror that their attacks had no effect on those dark creatures!

They could only watch helplessly as the insect tide climbed the city walls, tearing apart the bodies of those around them, hot blood splashing on their faces, the soldiers' eyes wide with terror.

The next second,

A massive black pincer mouth rapidly enlarged in his pupils!

Pfft!

Mont Town...

Fell.

......

City of Radiance, wilderness.

Players who were leveling up by grinding monsters stopped what they were doing, their eyes all looking towards the black barrier in the distance, their faces showing confusion.

"What's going on? Is it a new dungeon?"

"Nonsense, we haven't heard any server-wide announcement. Where would a new dungeon come from? I think it triggered some kind of cutscene."

"Seriously, this Black Curtain's oppressive feeling is so strong, it seems to be getting closer and closer..."

"Damn! It's not 'seems', it IS getting closer and closer!"

"Uh... how about we run? I feel like something bad is going to happen!"

"What are you afraid of?! You're a goner if you're scared even playing a game..."

"What if I lose a level? It was so hard to grind up. No, I'm going back to the city first."

"No way, no way, there are really people who are scared even playing games!"

"Sigh, ignore him, let's keep grinding."

Some players realized the situation was wrong and began to return to the city, running back.

But most players felt indifferent, burying their heads and continuing to grind monsters. Some even activated skills and rushed towards the Black Curtain, wanting to explore it.

The Black Curtain accepted all comers, devouring them.

Upon entering, players immediately received a panel prompt: 1% reduction in both attack stats per second, and healing was prohibited.

Just as they scratched their heads in confusion, wondering whether this was a special dungeon or a plot event, the subsequent black insect tide surged over!

"Holy crap, level 50 insect tide!!"

"Run!!"

The players were shocked and turned to run.

Are you kidding? Their levels were not even 40 yet; they knew they couldn't win just by thinking about it.

Moreover, the numbers were so vast!

But even if they fled immediately, they still couldn't match the speed of the surging insect tide, and were successively caught up and devoured.

In the hazy mist, white lights illuminated one after another!

All were sent back to the fountain.

Only the first batch of people successfully returned to the main city.

Above the City of Radiance.

Laji looked gravely at the gradually approaching Black Curtain, clearly feeling the dark power contained within it.

Negative emotions reached their peak.

"Is this world finally going to be destroyed? Alas, I knew it..."

"...This kind of rule power, I guess other small cities have all fallen, right...?"

"I wonder if the preparations I've made over the past ten years can withstand this; it feels like it'll be tough..."

Laji spoke and moved, drawing symbols in the air, as if preparing something.

As the Black Curtain drew closer, he let out a surprised 'eh' and rarely showed joy.

"Eh... there seems to be a weak point?"

This discovery was like a shot in the arm; he immediately pushed his hands forward, and the ethereal runes glowed with golden light!

Buzz—

The moment he made his move, the teleportation array within the city suddenly shot out a golden light dozens of meters thick, straight into the sky!

Immediately after, the golden light continuously spread, enveloping the entire City of Radiance!

At the same time.

Across the entire Lokeshi Continent.

All cities with teleportation arrays were experiencing the same phenomenon!

Even cities already enveloped by the Black Curtain, at this moment, were like a wisp of fire in the darkness, forcibly spreading light and protection.

The golden light shield and the Black Curtain were clearly demarcated by the city walls!

The insect tide that had already surged into the city turned into black water like ice meeting the sun, while the surviving soldiers and civilians were trembling with fear, not knowing what had happened.

Scenes of surviving a catastrophe played out everywhere, gradually stabilizing.

80% of the human realm's land was swallowed and enveloped by the Black Curtain, with the remaining 20% located in the center of the imperial city.

Except for the large cities with teleportation arrays, small towns and cities, without exception, all fell.

All players in the server were either forced back to the city or had returned to the main city in advance.

A large number of players crowded within the city, all looking bewildered.

At this moment, a server-wide announcement rang out!

"★ [Server-wide Announcement: Due to player Old Man Chen prematurely triggering the Darkness Invasion, the game will undergo a version update in 1 minute. The update duration is 30 minutes. Players, please wait offline in a safe place to avoid losses!]"

"★ [Server-wide Announcement: Due to player Old Man Chen prematurely triggering the Darkness Invasion, the game will undergo a version update in 1 minute. The update duration is 30 minutes. Players, please wait offline in a safe place to avoid losses!]"

......

All players on the server: "@￥##￥%6!!!"