In front of some entrance of the Human Alliance on the Black Sand Continent.
A streak of black lightning appeared out of thin air, and after it dissipated, it revealed the figures of Ounan, Gongsun Yi, Song Hengxiu, and others.
Although they had left the Lingtu Continent, they were still immersed in the aftershocks of the recent battle, so none of them moved.
After a few minutes.
The giant Andula took a deep breath.
"So, are we just keys? Once we pass the bloodline check, we’re no longer needed?"
"It seems so. We are merely decorations, keys." Song Hengxiu patted his thick arm with a low voice, his mood somewhat downcast.
Anyone who witnessed such a terrifying battlefield slaughter would doubt the power they pursued.
Because they knew very well that even if they took their current system to the extreme, they could never reach the level of the Netherworld King and Herudira.
This is determined by innate nature.
"Is La from the Eternal Palace really that powerful?" Gongsun Yi instinctively combed his long hair, suddenly asking.
"They should be. They belong to a high-level figure." The giant Andula looked at her, unsure of her meaning.
"Do you think the Secret Keeper can really withstand the alliance of the three families from the Chana Tower?" Gongsun Yi continued to ask.
"...One Netherworld King alone killed Herudira of the First Secret Lock. There are still two other Demonic Kings and the even more powerful Long... the Secret Keeper, the odds are slim." Ounan replied in a deep voice. "They are just stalling for time now."
In fact, comparing Sol’s attitude before and after, they could roughly guess some clues.
At the beginning, when Sol talked to them, he spoke highly of Lord Herudira, thinking that with its presence, dealing with a mere Netherworld King would not be a problem.
Even if they couldn’t win, they could greatly delay the time.
But now... after just the initial battle, everything was over.
"Since there’s no hope in sight, why should we continue participating? We might as well go back and wait for death." Gongsun Yi sneered.
Suddenly, everyone fell silent.
Sol, who was confident and full of promises before departure, compared to Sol who hurriedly sent them back into hiding now.
The contrast made them even more lose confidence in participating further.
"No! Actually, we still have hope!" Suddenly, Ounan spoke lowly.
His words immediately drew everyone’s attention to him.
They had all watched the video of the Spirit Eye Race massacre by Long after it developed a special consciousness, given by the Secret Keeper.
And the traces of words and deeds of Long collected over the years by the Secret Keeper, as well as the only two auras when its power was leaked.
That power was essentially an enhanced version of white pupil radiation.
"What hope?" Song Hengxiu focused and asked.
Ounan fell silent for a moment.
"We know that the matter about the passage is false, it’s all a scheme by Long. But many people don’t know. And... could it be that the Eternal Palace and the Blood Alliance really did so much and paid so much just to open the passage to the white pupil? We still need to confirm their real purpose."
"Makes sense, the enemy’s internal alliances, the three main alliances may not have a consistent goal." Gongsun Yi nodded in agreement.
"So. Our main goal now is to investigate clearly why the Eternal Palace and Blood Alliance are aligning with the Chana Tower. But this investigation must be as covert as possible, otherwise, if they are anomalies like Long, we would be in danger." Ounan said seriously.
"Then, the Blood Alliance is a force that emerged later, so their power may not be significant. We should first investigate the Eternal Palace. Palace Master La rarely leaves the Eternal Tower, and usually only uses the stone statue army as a channel for external interaction..." Song Hengxiu frowned.
In terms of analysis, Ounan, Song Hengxiu, and Gongsun Yi were relatively skilled. Meanwhile, the solitary Gorvi and the giant Andula couldn’t quite keep up with their thinking.
"But why do we have to do these things? What if the Secret Keeper deceived us?" Gorvi asked in confusion.
"That’s a reasonable question. The Secret Keeper offered benefits, and we just followed along. We’ve already been fair enough to run one trip. What’s the point of continuing further? There are no benefits." Andula agreed.
"What if the passage linking to the white pupil is true? If it is, without us, the Secret Keeper would collapse rapidly, then the passage opens, and the world is destroyed?" Ounan countered.
"Considering the time, let’s live as long as we can." Gorvi said coldly.
"If you don’t want to live, you can die right now. We still need to find hope to survive!" Ounan stared seriously at them.
"Let’s split up, just like Ounan suggested, we can completely divide our actions, with some going to the Eternal Palace and some to the Blood Alliance. We need to thoroughly investigate the specific purposes of Palace Master La and the Blood Immortal’s Great Spirit Imperial Tutor. If confirmed to be suspicious, we might be able to unite all forces to combat Long!" Gongsun Yi quickly said.
"Alright!" Everyone agreed one after another.
They originally joined in with the Secret Keeper under the agreement of payment for cooperation.
Now in this situation, they all felt trapped.
If ignored, the apocalypse would soon arrive, and no one could escape.
If involved, the Chana Tower’s three alliances were incredibly powerful, far beyond their reach.
They could only use strategy.
After some discussion, they decided to return to their gathering place first, then after making adequate preparations, head separately to the Eternal Palace and the City of Sin—Yuan City.
*
*
*
In some ruins on the Black Sand Continent.
A figure twisted space and appeared above the ruins.
The newcomer wore a black dress, with a smooth head, not even eyebrows or eyelashes. Although the facial features were exquisite, there was no feminine charm.
It was indeed Palace Master La of the Eternal Palace.
"Palace Master, this is the last gathering place unwilling to cooperate—Yudong City."
Another figure brought several people, rising from the ruins, hovering beside La.
The figure had long hair reaching the waist, with skin that slightly glimmered with golden light points, precisely Di Mo.
"It doesn’t matter, the Blood Alliance will handle everything. Our purpose here is not this." La said coldly.
Her eyes focused on a magma river in the distance.
"Be careful."
"Yes!" The few of them slightly straightened their expressions and focused on that direction, clearly sensing a problem.
After a moment of silence.
Boom!
The magma there was suddenly overturned, countless searing magma droplets scattering in all directions.
A giant gray-white moth over ten meters long flew out from within.
The moth had four wings on its back, and its head was shaped like a human face composed of countless small compound eyes, with a huge mouthpart full of sharp black teeth.
Hiss!!
It shrieked sharply, emitting invisible sound waves spreading around.
The sound waves instantly tore the surrounding ground into cracks.
"Children of the Blood Fairy... These should be the forty-nine Blood Fairies released and left Yuan City some days ago!" Di Mo’s expression was solemn. "Such tremendous power!"
Just by feeling this imposing force alone, without even touching the destructive force of the opponent’s sound waves, she already felt troubled.
"Why would Blood Fairies appear here? This subterranean gathering place..." Another newly promoted expert from the stone statue army asked in a deep voice.
"There’s no sign of life underground anymore." La replied coldly, "All the life aura has gathered onto this Blood Fairy."
Di Mo’s expression changed slightly, she darted downward quickly.
Sss!
She plunged into the ground, piercing through several layers of earth, and quickly entered a giant cavity.
Inside the cavity, it was already in ruins. Buildings had collapsed, people lay scattered, leaving only incomplete corpses.
The entire gathering place was devoid of any life aura.
Di Mo’s face looked grim, and she intended to keep inspecting to see if there were any survivors.
Suddenly, the ground shook.
She urgently rushed upward to the surface.
The Blood Fairy was flapping its four wings, crazily turning into a series of virtual shadows, constantly attacking La and the others.
Its speed was extremely fast, simultaneously unveiling over a dozen of its shadow selves, accompanied by sound waves and blood mist erosion attacks.
"Such strong destructive power... Di Mo might find it difficult to handle..." La’s face furrowed.
She casually waved her hand, and invisible ripples blocked the opponent’s attacks.
Yet the Blood Fairy seemed eccentric and fearless of her counterattacks, attacking even more frenziedly.
Its speed grew faster and stronger. It seemed to be constantly restructuring and reshaping itself, optimizing its actions to enhance the destructive power of its attacks.
Relying on sharp legs and razor-like mouthparts, combined with high speed, just the airflow from its movement left cracks on the ground.
La’s eyes flashed coldly, her fingertips flicking.
An invisible wave shot out, instantly exploding in mid-air, transforming into countless fine transparent threads.
The threads suddenly pierced through the surrounding hundreds of meters in the air, like raindrops covering every empty spot.
The massive body of the Blood Fairy was instantly pierced and riddled with holes.
However, its body quickly recovered and once again lunged at La.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a breeze carrying the smell of blood swept over from afar.
The Blood Fairy halted abruptly, releasing a sharp cry, then turned to flee.
But just as it turned, it was already unknown when a tall man in a blood robe appeared in mid-air behind it.
The man’s face was gentle, his eyes flickered with faint blood flames, his skin pale, with a blood-red crystal embedded in the center of his forehead.
"Long time no see, La..." Zhang Rongfang’s gaze went past the Blood Fairy, looking at La floating in the air.
"My child is a bit naughty, but it’s better for me to discipline him personally."
He extended his hand, countless blood mist converged behind him into a giant blood hand, gently caressing the Blood Fairy’s body.
"Space manipulation.... you’ve mastered it quickly." La’s gaze was complicated, watching the floating Zhang Rongfang.
How long has it been since he obtained the flesh sample? And he has already completely integrated the space-related Heart-Burning Furnace.
"I must thank you for your generosity." Zhang Rongfang smiled. "This meeting has resolved the last troublemaker. Is it time to start planning the comprehensive conference?"
Their initial goal was to gather everyone’s power, accelerating the speed of channel construction.
Now, basically all gathering places, all interaction zones, have been notified.
The time has come to form a unified entity.
"In Taoyuan, the meeting venue is already built. It’s just about the invitations now." La said calmly.
"Then shall we jointly send letters under the name of our tri-party alliance?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"Over at Chana Tower, the First Secret Lock has been broken. But the second one is still far off. Additionally, someone is spreading rumors, claiming Chana Tower’s intentions are unclear, and the channel it could open might not be for escape." La spoke deeply.
"No need to worry about that for now. After the arrival of the White pupil, everyone will perish, even Long wouldn’t want destruction, right?" Zhang Rongfang chuckled. "If he desires demise, I will gladly offer my escort services. I’ve anticipated the legendary strongest affinity for blood and flesh for a while now..."
"You... seem stronger now..." La appeared to sense something.
"Perhaps." Zhang Rongfang clenched his hand.
Boom!!!
The Blood Fairy froze in mid-air, immediately gripped firmly by the massive blood hand, and after a loud explosion, was completely crushed, becoming a pool of blood and flesh absorbed back into the blood hand.
"You!?" La’s expression was shocked. "It wasn’t your biological offspring?!"
"We are immortals, and the immortal rules set forth a ban on cannibalism." Zhang Rongfang answered calmly, "It violated the celestial laws and must face punishment."
He was now endeavoring to establish a true celestial court, with strict regulations maintaining everything, not to be defied.