Chapter 459 - 58: Extinction (Part 1)

"Run!"

"Run for your lives!"

"..."

The multi-faction battle near the assembly hall had caused a power outage across Funeng City, shaking the very earth.

Countless people rushed out of their homes, fleeing toward the city’s outskirts.

"Xiao Huang!"

"Xiao Huang, where are you?"

A beautiful young woman burst into the room she had prepared for her beloved dog, only to let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Xiao Huang, what’s wrong?"

She saw that her once-lively dog’s lower body was now fused with the wall.

...

「In a certain dormitory.」

Inside a room that once housed dozens of people, there was now only a grotesque ball of flesh with over a hundred arms.

...

「On a graffiti wall.」

The painted cartoon characters had been replaced by human bodies.

They screamed, their eyes wide with horror, unable to stop their bodies from slowly merging into the wall.

...

"Those lunatics from the Salvation Hall might have been right."

Zhu Ju floated in mid-air, the vertical eye on his forehead glowing faintly as he fully activated its power to perceive all things.

"There’s something wrong with this world. The Treasure Manual can distort more than just the genes of living organisms... it’s this entire world!"

"Mr. Zhu," Wuh Qing’s voice trembled.

"What do you mean?"

"When the Treasure Manual is attacked, it releases a special energy wave." Zhu Ju looked down toward the distant battlefield and said,

"This energy wave causes everything in its vicinity to fuse together. Genes... or something even deeper. Under its influence, even the soil will come to life and merge with any creature it touches."

"This doesn’t seem to be just an automatic defense mechanism!"

"Fusing?" Wuh Qing tugged at her clothes, and a sharp pain shot through her.

Her clothes...

...were actually merging with her body.

Tearing at the fabric felt like tearing her own flesh; the bone-deep pain was undeniably real.

But she was no ordinary person. She was a Grand Martial Master. Gritting her teeth, she abruptly exerted her strength.

"RIP!"

Her clothes tore.

Suppressing her embarrassment, she channeled her Blood Energy, forming a thin layer of armor to cover her entire body.

"The higher your Cultivation, the stronger your resistance to this energy," Zhu Ju said, unfazed by the sight.

"However..."

"If this continues, you will also merge with your surroundings."

"What in the world is happening?" Horror filled Wuh Qing’s eyes.

"How do we make it stop?"

"Not provoking it should stop it temporarily," Zhu Ju began, then shook his head gently.

"But..."

"It’s not that simple."

In his vision, the air, the soil, and the flesh of this world all contained a special kind of ’Dust’.

It was similar to the Spiritual Qi of the Main World.

And this ’Dust’ was the key.

It was omnipresent, and its very existence was what allowed all things to fuse together.

And the source of this ’Dust’...

The Treasure Manual!

Deep underground, the golden Treasure Manual was frantically spewing out this barely perceptible Dust.

The vertical eye on Zhu Ju’s forehead narrowed, its focus landing on the Treasure Manual deep underground. A sudden sense of dread rose in his heart.

’This thing is terraforming the world!’

If his Physical Body wasn’t comparable to the Nascent Soul realm, and if he hadn’t enhanced his eyes with the Ten Thousand Spirits Body Forging Technique, he would never have noticed the existence of this Dust.

"If I’m not mistaken, the Treasure Manual uses this ’Dust’ to evolve this world’s beasts into various powerful Exotic Beasts, and to allow humans to become Martial Saints, fundamentally altering the course of evolution in this world."

Zhu Ju said slowly,

"It releases this ’Dust’ everywhere, silently transforming the entire world. This must be intentional."

He didn’t know the purpose, but a sense of foreboding had already crept into his heart.

’I have to leave!’

With that thought, Zhu Ju cast aside all other concerns. His figure flickered as he tried to leave this world.

The next instant, his face turned deathly pale.

’I can’t go back!’

For the first time, he found himself unable to return to his original world. To think, not even the Jade Void Cave Heaven could stop him from crossing over.

*

*

*

"Holy King Beasts!"

"And there are more than ten auras comparable to Holy King Beasts!"

「The Assembly Hall.」

Several Martial Saints wore grave expressions.

Over the long years, they had experienced many attempts by ’outsiders’ to seize the Treasure Manual.

But never had there been a time like this.

The Evil God had personally descended with its Divine Thought to strengthen the Physical Bodies of the Evil God Followers. The Pseudo-Human Royal Family was launching suicidal attacks. And then there was that bizarre group from the Human Race, of unknown origin, wielding power that far surpassed that of a Martial Saint.

Although the Federation Imperial Guard was strong, they could hardly stand against a group that included beings at the Martial Saint level.

Even the escorting Warships in the sky were unable to provide support.

"The Treasure Manual must not be lost."

Yun Xiang spoke up.

"Hex Yong, take the Treasure Manual to the Warship. I’ll hold them off. With the sky fleet providing cover, not even a Holy King Beast will be able to get near the Treasure Manual."

"Director..." The man named Hex Yong looked up abruptly, his face filled with astonishment.

"Has it really come to this?"

"Go," Yun Xiang said, shaking his head.

"The Treasure Manual has already activated its self-defense function. Even with our protective suits, we can’t last much longer."

"Go!"

He pressed down with one hand, his eyes swirling like vortexes, and a bizarre power surged forth.

Imaginary Number Space!

He used his own energy to create an Imaginary Number Space, a dimension where his power was nearly infinite.

This was Yun Xiang’s ability.

It was one of the most powerful abilities in the world. Supported by the Imaginary Number Space, he could face several Holy King Beasts without being at a disadvantage, and could even defeat them.

Not only that,

the Imaginary Number Space also had the ability to trap people.

"Yes, sir!"

Hex Yong’s expression was grave. With a flicker, he appeared underground, grabbed the Treasure Manual, and shot toward the sky.

The Cultivation Technique he practiced was called Phantom Bubble. It was an extremely unique art that required one to train in the special environment of colliding energy particles just to reach the Entry Level. The slightest mistake would result in death.

Once mastered, it granted the ability to traverse space.

"SWOOSH!"

Flickering, Hex Yong dodged several intercepting figures and appeared high above Funeng City. But before he could make another move, an invisible force field materialized, locking him in place.

"Void Shifting?"

"Do you have any idea how long I spent finding a way to counter you?"

A figure appeared in mid-air, blocking Hex Yong’s path.

"Who are you?"

Hex Yong frowned, moving the Treasure Manual behind his back.

"An Evil God Follower?"

The newcomer was about ten feet tall, with a pair of strange horns on his head, wings on his back, and limbs covered in scales. He looked like a chimera pieced together from several different species.

"Me?"

The figure grinned, his eyes flickering between sanity and madness.

"My name is Wuh Ping."

"Wuh Ping?"

Hex Yong narrowed his eyes.

"Never heard of you."

"It doesn’t matter," Wuh Ping said, shaking his head gently.

"The Treasure Manual contains countless different genes, yet remains unaffected itself. That ability is very useful to me."

"So..."

"Hand it over!"

He stretched out a large hand and lunged at Hex Yong.