Chapter 109: Death and Blood, the Fengdu Guards

  “It’s over…” “Help!!” “We’re doomed! We’re doomed…”

  In an instant, everyone who saw this scene went pale.

  It was not just the colpse of the domed ceiling that frightened them; it was the human figures plummeting along with the debris.

  They deployed no buffering spells, nor did they assume any defensive nding posture. Instead, these figures dropped rigidly—standing bolt upright—from an unknown height. Their bodies crashed through the bck market’s protective shields and yers of stone, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and triggering a small-scale earthquake.

  Then, scarlet spots of light gleamed in the dust, and the figures slowly emerged from the haze.

  “The Fengdu Guards of the Surveilnce Bureau!” Taking a half-step back, Boss Ji Lu groaned in near-despair, “We’re done for—these ominous stars will kill us all!”

  “What kind of armed force is this?!”

  Meanwhile, An Jing, his hair standing on end, stared fixedly at the group exuding a bone-chilling Baleful Qi.

  They wielded hefty Spiritlight Machine Cannons, and all manner of sabers, swords, maces, and hammers dangled from their belts. Multiple yers of thick bck alloy armor enveloped their bodies—overpping like dragon scales and leaving no gaps, clearly engineered for overwhelming defense.

  Sinister demon-visage helmets crowned their heads, as though forged in the depths of the Netherworld. Though each helm differed in design, every one pulsed with murderous intent and flickered with crimson spiritual light.

  One after another, glowing red spiritual inscriptions lit up at the armor’s edges, flickering on and off across their entire forms like the heartbeat of a ferocious beast, exuding a terrifying power.

  —These were the official suppression troops of the Tianyuan Realm: the Fengdu Guards under the Surveilnce Bureau!

  “An entire set of Spiritual Artifacts? And exquisitely crafted, hammered and refined countless times!”

  Even the Sword Spirit grew wary. “From head to toe, from inner lining to pting, from the spiritual furnace to the protective eyepieces—every piece is part of a unified Spiritual Artifact set. There must be over twenty in total!

  “With such a set, a peak Qi Refining cultivator could likely hold their own against someone at mid-stage Foundation Establishment!

  “Be careful, An Jing! They’re brimming with killing intent—hide yourself immediately!”

  Why wait for the Sword Spirit’s warning? The moment An Jing sensed the Fengdu Guards’ Baleful Qi and a murderous aura far fiercer than any demonic sect’s, he had already mustered his spiritual power. Ignoring all lines and order, he bolted at full speed toward the emergency escape!

  He might not have been strong, but the bck market customers knew all too well how terrifying the Fengdu Guards were. Overawed, they hesitated for a moment—reacting even more slowly than An Jing, the unrecognized otherworlder. Only after he knocked them aside did they finally cry out and rush for the exit, all sembnce of order forgotten.

  Boss Ji Lu, however, did not g behind. Spotting An Jing barreling through the crowd in the same direction, he rode the wind in pursuit. Without hesitation, he pulled out a top-grade Gale Talisman from his pocket and spped it onto An Jing, boosting An Jing’s already considerable momentum and letting Ji Lu stick close.

  One leading, one following, they acted in near-perfect unison and forced their way into the emergency exit.

  Amid the chaos, the overseer of the bck market’s second level—a Qi Refining ninth-yer cultivator—soared into midair. He too wore a sleek azure-gold battle armor, albeit clearly a size smaller than the Fengdu Guards’. Layers of pale-blue light formed overpping ice-shield armor, coalescing into a giant over twenty meters tall. Only then could his aura barely stand against theirs. “No one has died yet—withdraw now so we can keep this retionship intact!”

  【No sign of the target on this level. They may have employed disguise or mimicry.】

  From the moment they nded, the Fengdu Guards intimidated everyone beyond measure. Sweeping their gaze across bck market personnel—tense as if facing a deadly threat—and the panicked customers, they seemed utterly unmoved.

  Their captain ignored the ice-armored man’s warnings entirely. Amid the cmor of cries and angry shouts, scarlet light fshed as he scanned the crowd, then reported: 【How should we handle these suspects and bystanders?】

  An ancient, detached voice responded through the transmitter: 【Suppress them all. Search each one.】

  【What level of force?】

  【No regard for casualties.】

  【Understood.】

  At once, pitch-bck fog spewed from the vents of the Fengdu Guards’ armor. Saturated with an aura of deathly misfortune and smoldering ghostfire, it spread in all directions, turning the area into a hellscape in the blink of an eye.

  “Form up!” the bck market cultivators roared, gathering their spiritual energies. A mighty surge of power converged, bracing for a head-on csh with the Fengdu Guards.

  An Jing had barely reached the emergency escape when his expression shifted. The Sword Spirit’s urgent warning rang out: “Get down! Activate your restriction at full strength!”

  Wasting no time, An Jing yanked his backpack in front of him and fttened himself on the ground. He poured energy into his Radiant White Spirit Divine Restriction, channeling four flows of spiritual power at once to safeguard his head, torso, limbs, and bulletproof rain cloak.

  At once, golden-white restriction patterns covered him, and spiritual radiance shimmered across the bulletproof cloak on his back.

  In the next instant, a colossal burst of spiritual light exploded behind him. Smoke and dust surged upward, and waves of force rippled outward in a savage shockwave, spreading in every direction.

  Pa, pa, pa-ji… The grotesque sound of flesh tearing filled An Jing’s ears. Though he y prone in the safety of the escape passage and escaped the worst of it, the shockwave still left him dizzy and disoriented.

  —Thankfully, he had recently advanced his Radiant White Spirit Divine Restriction, or he would have lost consciousness by now.

  Oddly, that was his first stray thought. On the brink of passing out, An Jing bit down hard on his tongue, filling his mouth with blood. The pain snapped him back, and he gritted his teeth as he continued channeling spiritual power to steady his body.

  The others still outside weren’t so fortunate. Those with decent strength or protective treasures could hang on, though even then the shockwaves might shatter tendons or break bones, leaving them scrambling for cover.

  But if anyone was weaker…

  Pa-ji. An Jing felt a body, hurled by the shockwave, smash against him from the side.

  The unfortunate person was likely just a mortal—or at most someone who had cultivated vital essence but hadn’t reached Qi Refining. Their body paled in comparison to his, bolstered as it was by the Radiant White Spirit Divine Restriction. Moreover, An Jing’s spiritual power carried a sharp edge, forming a yer of slicing force when fully activated.

  Thus, under the combined force of the shockwave and An Jing’s rebounding spiritual power, the body burst like a cake hitting the floor, flesh and blood scattering in all directions.

  An Jing y there, sightless in the chaos, left only to guess. Countless other bodies likely met the same gruesome fate.

  Chunks of flesh and gore poured down in a grisly shower, swiftly coating the ground—and burying him beneath.

  An Jing gritted his teeth, drowning in death and blood.

  The csh between the Fengdu Guards and the bck market had only just begun.

  Yet a hellish confgration had already descended upon this pce.

  (End of Chapter)