"Damn it… are we too late?!"
Inside Life City, near the gate.
Led by the sword-wielding youth, Guan Fei, the rescue team rushed toward the city gate at full speed.
All four of them—
Including Guan Fei—
Were frowning deeply.
A strong sense of foreboding filled their hearts.
The reason was simple.
Although they were still some distance from the gate and couldn't see what was happening—
Their ears were telling them something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Something had happened.
Zhao Xuan was very likely in trouble.
Because—
It was far too quiet.
If Zhao Xuan were still alive, there was no way the area would be this silent.
There would have been some noise.
Some commotion.
"Zhao Xuan… you must be alive… you must be alive…"
Guan Fei clenched his fists and muttered inwardly.
The four of them sped up instinctively.
A few seconds later, with uneasy hearts, they finally reached the gate.
And when they saw the scene before them—
When they saw the apocalyptic sight—
When they saw the headless corpses—
When they saw the ground soaked in red blood and white matter—
They froze.
The world seemed to go silent.
Utterly silent.
Tick… tick… tick…
Time passed.
Ten seconds.
Thirty seconds.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Almost five full minutes passed before the four of them barely snapped out of it.
They looked at each other.
Each of them could see the same thing in the others' eyes—
Shock.
Unbelief.
"T-this… what… what happened here?!"
"That's… that's Neps! I recognize him! That's definitely Neps!"
"Dead… they're all dead?! What is going on?!"
Endless confusion flooded their minds.
Their gazes swept across the headless bodies one by one.
What on earth happened here?!
Weren't Neps and the others supposed to be ambushing Zhao Xuan?
Guan Fei's body suddenly trembled.
"Wait—!!"
His eyes frantically searched the battlefield.
Again. And again. And again.
But he couldn't find the person he was looking for.
"Where's Zhao Xuan?!"
He asked urgently.
The other three shook their heads.
Guan Fei suddenly let out a breath of relief.
If Zhao Xuan wasn't here—
That meant he hadn't died here.
At least, not at the gate.
The heavy guilt in his heart eased significantly.
Then his gaze returned to the horrifying scene.
A bold.
Absurd.
Almost ridiculous thought slowly formed in his mind.
He swallowed and said shakily:
"Y-you think… is it possible… possible that… Zhao Xuan did this?"
The moment he said it—
Silence.
Then—
Guan Fei suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Haha! Just kidding! You didn't actually believe that, right? You're not that crazy, are you?"
He pointed at the battlefield.
"There are thirty-seven bodies here! Thirty-seven geniuses from various nations! Even an Eighth-Rank peak expert would struggle against this group! Unless it was an Eighth-Rank apex or a Ninth-Rank Emperor!"
"You're not actually saying Zhao Xuan is that strong, right?!"
"Don't forget! He's only Rank Six! A high-school graduate!"
The other three quickly agreed.
Yes.
It was too absurd.
A Rank Six killing thirty-seven Rank Seven elites?
Who would believe that?
Then—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Figures rushed in from the city.
It was Felimon and his team.
They arrived, glanced casually at the gate—
And froze.
Their eyes widened.
Their faces turned pale.
After three seconds, Felimon turned to Guan Fei and said in a trembling voice:
"G-Guan Fei… what happened here?"
"We don't know. It was already like this when we arrived."
"Zhao Xuan!!!"
Felimon suddenly shouted.
"It was Zhao Xuan! It had to be Zhao Xuan! He did this!"
His five teammates immediately echoed him.
"Yes! Yes! It was him!"
Guan Fei frowned.
"Felimon, this joke isn't funny. Zhao Xuan is strong, yes—but he's still Rank Six."
Felimon shook his head violently.
"You don't understand! You never saw what we saw!"
"That monster… killed an entire Golden Armor squad in one second! Two Rank Eight Golden Guards and ten Rank Seven Silver Guards—dead in one second!"
The color drained from Guan Fei's face.
"You're serious?!"
"We saw it with our own eyes!"
Silence fell again.
No one wanted to believe it.
But Felimon's certainty—
And the expressions of his team—
Made it impossible to dismiss.
Soon, more survivors arrived.
Each person froze at the sight.
Then screamed in disbelief after learning what happened.
"This is bad… very bad…"
"Neps's family… his brother is an Eighth-Rank apex… his parents and grandfather are Ninth-Rank Emperors…"
"The sea… the sea is going to shake…"
Meanwhile—
Zhao Xuan, who had long since left Life City, summoned the Big Golden Rat.
With its guidance, he returned to the secret entrance he had used before.
He successfully exited the ruins.
Looking at the dense forest and blue sky, he took a deep breath.
Then—
With a thought, he opened a spatial crack and stepped into his personal relic space.
The villa-sized relic space was filled with dense Life Energy.
Life Stones covered the ground.
Among them, spatial relic hearts were scattered.
Zhao Xuan smiled brightly.
"I'm rich."
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