Chapter 641: Movements of All Factions

Today was a day of celebration in Old Sin City.

Tens of thousands of lights shone brightly across the city. Lanterns and festive banners draped the streets, giving it the air of a true holiday.

And it truly was a holiday.

After today, no foolish interlopers would dare covet this domain again.

A Demigod Realm entity had died right here in Old Sin City. If word got out, probably no one would believe it.

Therefore, Mantou had issued an order to lock down all information. No one was allowed to speak a word of today's events to the outside world.

However, precisely because of this, dark currents were already surging far beyond Old Sin City, out where the various domains intersected.

...

...

Cling, clang... Cling, clang...

Mechanical Emperor Caesar struggled to raise his hand and push open the grand doors of the Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom.

The moment the doors parted, he could hold on no longer and collapsed stiffly to the ground.

He had originally been clad in a set of exquisite armor, but it was now reduced to shattered fragments. Spiderweb cracks covered every remaining plate, and a tangled mess of electronic circuitry hung loosely from his various wounds.

The skin on his face was broken like shattered porcelain, directly exposing his internal core mechanical components to the air.

A figure sped over from the horizon, landing in front of Caesar in an instant.

"How did this happen?"

Mechanical Emperor Castle stared at Caesar's condition, the temperature of his own internal core spiking several degrees.

He hadn't thought Caesar was guaranteed to win this expedition, but no matter what, he shouldn't have ended up in this state.

"Did a Demigod Realm entity intervene?"

His heart chilled. Countless electronic data links extended from his palms and plugged into Caesar's back.

A few seconds later, accompanied by a faint hum, Caesar's dull eyes lit up once more.

Looking at Castle, Caesar seemed to finally let out a breath of relief.

But a moment later, as if recalling something, his expression drastically changed. He spoke.

"We need to seek out a superior for guidance."

"What exactly happened?"

Castle frowned deeply.

"Which Demigod Realm entity was bold enough to strike like this?"

Caesar shook his head, his face entirely cold.

"It wasn't a Demigod Realm entity."

"Not a Demigod Realm entity?!"

Shock was visibly written across Castle's face, a face that rarely showed any emotional fluctuation.

"From which domain?! To be able to reduce you to—"

Halfway through his sentence, a figure surfaced in his mind, and his expression immediately sank.

"Is it that guy from the Xue Family..."

"It wasn't him," Caesar said, planting a hand on the ground to struggle to his feet.

"But he was involved."

"Let's go. We'll find a superior first. The superior must take action this time. There is a group of monsters over there."

"That group of monsters will be our greatest enemy during the upcoming Advent Day!"

"We can only eliminate them as quickly as possible!"

Castle froze at the words.

"Is this the only path? You know the superior's recent condition—"

"If we don't do this..." Caesar cut him off directly, staring intently into Castle's eyes.

"If we don't do this, our Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom might as well withdraw from the battle for Advent Day altogether."

"It would be meaningless. As long as a single one of those monsters seizes the item influencing Old Sin City, we won't have the slightest chance of winning."

Castle fell silent. He had no idea what Caesar had encountered out there, but he had never seen him in such a state.

...

...

Eerie Capital, the Fear Intent clan.

Smash!

A water glass slammed into a glass tabletop, and both shattered across the floor.

"I told you two to bring him back! What did you do? Tell me, what is the meaning of this?!"

San Yan glared furiously at Shi Sanchuan and Shi Yicheng, bitterly disappointed by their failure.

"Father, this matter isn't that simple—"

"Did I say it was simple?! Did I ever say this would be simple?!"

San Yan's fury only skyrocketed further at the excuse.

"If it were simple, would I have made you two haul the ancestors' Coffin out there?!"

"Ah?! Speak!"

Having never seen San Yan lose his composure to such an extent, Shi Sanchuan subconsciously gulped.

"The ancestors never said success was guaranteed, this—"

"Are you saying it's the ancestors' fault?!"

San Yan's roar nearly blew the roof off the room.

Shi Sanchuan wisely shut his mouth.

Beside him, Shi Yicheng shot Shi Sanchuan a look of disdain and sighed.

"Mo Xuan of the Mo Family is dead."

"What?"

The topic shifted so abruptly that San Yan felt he hadn't heard clearly.

Shi Yicheng spoke in a cold voice.

"Mo Xuan of the Mo Family, the Earth Saint of the Life Heavenly Kingdom, the Chief Conductor of the Train, and Chen Mo of the Chen Family are all dead. The ninth Mechanical Emperor of the Mechanical Heavenly Kingdom, the Sea Saint of the Life Heavenly Kingdom, the Son of Chaos of Chaos, the Exiled Immortal of the Immortal Anomaly, and the youngest deputy train conductor of the Train were all severely injured, their very foundations damaged. The whereabouts of Chaos Merchant Haiti and the remaining descendants of the Chen Family... are unknown."

He raised his head, looking at San Yan's trembling pupils, and said, "Is it not enough that Eldest Brother and I made it back alive? Yes, we failed. If you think you can pull it off, then you go do it yourself."

"I really hope you can beat Seventh Brother. Take it easy, though. A father wouldn't actually lose to his son, would he?"

Saying this, the corners of Shi Yicheng's mouth curled into a cold smile.

...

...

Shi Sanchuan looked at San Yan in terror. He could clearly see every single vein bulging on San Yan's forehead, and he could see San Yan's hands and chest constantly trembling as he gasped for air.

"Get out!"

Finally, San Yan let out a low roar, and the two quickly retreated from the room.

From a corner, Yi Dao, chewing gum, finally walked over.

He looked at San Yan, knowing exactly why he was so furious.

It was because the two ancestors had issued a verbal decree commanding San Yan to pass his position to Yi Ji. Otherwise, they would forcibly strip San Yan of his seat as the head of the family.

Such a severe punishment was tantamount to directly denying all of San Yan's contributions to the Fear Intent clan over the past century. Not to mention, what they were demanding was for San Yan to yield to his own son.

But...

Just as Shi Yicheng had said, even if San Yan were to personally make a move now, could he really guarantee a victory against Yi Ji?

Yi Dao didn't think so.

He had met with that nephew of his and knew his true level of strength.

And the battle record his nephew had just displayed proved this point even further.

Although he didn't know exactly which of them Yi Ji had killed, if he picked any name randomly from that list, neither he nor San Yan could confidently say they would win.

Those were monsters among monsters, ultimate trump cards among trump cards. If old fossils like them wanted to win, they would have to put in serious effort.

The notion that older meant stronger didn't apply here.

"Let it go, brother."

Yi Dao sighed.

"Coax the kid back, and our family will prosper for another generation. You'll still be considered to have made a massive contribution, so why be so stubborn?"

...

San Yan's face remained tense. He lowered his head, lost in his own thoughts.

Yi Dao sighed again.

"You're too stubborn."

"If you can't bring yourself to do it, I'll go talk to the kid. I'm not afraid of losing face anyway."

Having said his piece, Yi Dao turned and walked toward the door.

"Wait a moment."

Finally, right as Yi Dao pulled the door open, San Yan spoke in a cold voice.

Yi Dao looked back at San Yan and raised an eyebrow.

"Let me tell you, I might be agreeing to embarrass myself right now, but I could change my mind in a minute. You only get so many chances, big brother, so you'd better grab hold of this one."

...

San Yan said nothing more.

Yi Dao nodded.

"Alright, understood. I'm leaving."

With that, he pulled the door open and stepped out.

The two of them had depended on each other since they were young. Some things didn't need to be spoken aloud for the other to understand.

Others might find all sorts of flaws in San Yan, but in Yi Dao's heart, San Yan would always be his older brother.

If not for San Yan back in the day, he would have long since died in the struggle for the position of family head.

If not for San Yan back in the day, he would have starved to death when they were just kids.

Just as he had said, he wasn't afraid of losing face, let alone for San Yan's sake.

Some things were simply meant for him to do.

...

...

"The Earth Saint is dead, and the Sea Saint is severely injured!"

A man wearing a long white robe sat upon a throne, his fingers gently tapping against the armrest, his expression unreadable.

The trailing hem of the man's robe spilled down the steps behind him, covering nearly all the floor tiles before the throne.

"Who can tell me what to do?"

He looked to both sides of the grand hall.

Upon the flowing white silk of his trailing robe stood numerous figures. It looked as though they all lived and breathed by relying entirely on the hem of his garment.

...

The figures exchanged glances, but none could utter a single word.

"According to the Sea Saint, we should invite a Demigod Realm entity to step forward and crush these uncertain variables to death," the man said slowly.

"But... if only our Demigod Realm entity intervenes, and even pays a price to do so, things will turn very grim. Do you understand what I mean?"

As soon as his words fell, a figure immediately stepped forward and addressed the man.

"I will immediately contact the other domains and sign an agreement, striving to have the Demigod Realm entities of all domains strike together."

The man nodded.

"Go."

Watching the figure leave the grand hall, the man's expression remained perfectly calm.

This was the exact reason he hadn't personally intervened this time.

As the saying goes, excessive hardness leads to snapping, and the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Perhaps one truly belonged to the very strongest echelon in this world, but the real game hadn't even begun yet.

Without the restrictions of game rules, you couldn't blame others for using underhanded methods.

"Let it be," he murmured indifferently.

...

...

Chaos.

Haiti sat blankly on a cloud of flowing dark light, his face looking somewhat lost.

He had just returned from Old Sin City.

He had run back.

More accurately, he had fled back in terror.

He had seen Mao Si.

Though he had only seen him from afar.

When Wen Xu signed the agreement with him, Mao Si, as the captain of the Cat Ship, was someone he definitely recognized.

But he had no idea Mao Si was that strong!

At first, he had maintained a wait-and-see attitude. He figured that if Mao Si was no match for the others, he wouldn't even have to take action, saving himself from a bad reputation.

But as he kept watching, things started to take a bizarre turn.

That black cat who never seemed to take anything seriously on a normal day...

Was simply far too strong!

He had watched helplessly as aura after aura vanished before his eyes, his expression growing increasingly terrified.

This terror reached its absolute peak when that Mechanical Emperor actively asked for a truce!

After seeing Mao Si's figure disappear, Haiti, hiding in a corner, disregarded everything else and fled in panic, running all the way back to Chaos without stopping for breath.

He didn't know if Mao Si had noticed him in the end. Maybe he had, maybe he hadn't. But what troubled him more was what to do next.

Should they just ignore it?

But if Mao Si or that Xue Mo got their hands on that item from Old Sin City, would they still have any chance of winning?

Right now, the Son of Chaos's very foundation had been damaged. When Advent Day arrived, would they be able to beat their opponents?

If they did intervene, how were they supposed to do it?

This wasn't something he could decide.

Left with no other choice, he ultimately sought instructions from the Demigod Realm entity permanently stationed in Chaos.

He was currently waiting for the result.

After an unknown amount of time, the Chaos Prophet finally handed down a decree.

Looking at the slip of paper that had suddenly appeared in his palm, Haiti carefully unfolded it.

The contents of the slip were revealed:

Pay them no mind. The item in Old Sin City is not an opportunity, but a great catastrophe. The people of Old Sin City will die in Folly.

Looking at the slip of paper, Haiti breathed a sigh of relief.

A Demigod Realm entity was truly on another level; they had calculated everything perfectly.

This way, his good reputation was preserved, and there was no need for the Demigod Realm entity to pay a price to force a move. Their enemies would simply perish on their own.

Everything was perfect.

"Die in Folly..." Haiti muttered quietly, looking at those words.

Then, it seemed he suddenly understood something.

"It's that existence... That existence is actually still alive?"

He sighed.

"If that's the case, then Old Sin City is truly finished."

Once a Demigod Realm entity aligned with Folly emerged into the world, no one would be spared.

If he had known this whole thing was a trap, he would have asked the Prophet to calculate it clearly beforehand so Chaos wouldn't have waded into these muddy waters.

The main issue was that a Prophet's prophecies required a price to be paid, which was why he had been careless.

...

Pure Blood Heavenly Kingdom.

The Xue Family.

"How did it go?"

Xue Shi looked anxiously at Xue Rou and Xue Wan.

The two had just walked out of the Xue Family's grand hall. The reason they had gone to see their father was to request the family's Demigod Realm entity to intervene and bring Xue Mo back safely.

Normally, this was something Xue Shi should have done herself.

But she was worried that her clumsy words and anxiety would ruin things, so she had specifically sought out Xue Rou and Xue Wan for help.

The two looked at Xue Shi, the corners of their mouths curving up slightly.

"Father agreed, and he's already gone to petition the ancestor!"

Joy filled Xue Shi's eyes at the news, and she let out a long breath.

With a Demigod Realm entity stepping in, this matter would finally come to a conclusion.

As long as Xue Mo could come home safely, nothing else mattered.

...

...

Inside a silver-white train, in what appeared to be the driver's cabin.

The entity resting with his eyes closed in the chair listened to the account from deputy train conductor Tang Chi, his intertwined fingers tapping continuously against his stomach.

Finally, he opened his eyes and nodded.

"I'll take a trip there."

Tang Chi's heart chilled at his words, and he lowered his head.

"I'm sorry to have disappointed you!"

Faced with Tang Chi's admission of fault, the man said nothing. He stood up and picked up the coat draped over the chair.

"I didn't cultivate you for this long just for you to hand in a result like this."

"Advent Day hasn't even begun yet."

"When the old gods are destroyed and the new gods are established, you'll finally understand exactly what kind of existences still remain in this world."

"Every day, you talk about how you'll become the strongest. I didn't want to crush your confidence before, so I didn't point it out."

"But the truth is, it's absolutely impossible for you to become the strongest."

"When that day truly arrives, you'll finally grasp the madness of this world, and exactly what a domain is willing to do to rise."

"My expectations for you are simple: as long as you can secure a Divine Throne, I'll consider it a success. That's all."