The episode of being called “uncle” by a young girl quickly passed.

The beautiful woman’s expression changed as she circled the hall to avoid Chen Yiming’s gaze.

Zhang Qingqing took the box of fruits and walked back to the corner where she came from. The beautiful woman pulled her out of the hall. From the expression on her face, she would definitely be reprimanded.

Zheng Hong led Chen Yiming to a room deep in the villa. All the people who had come to visit Elder Zhang followed behind.

“A sentry soldier died mysteriously. Elder Zhang received the news and went to investigate, then he was suddenly attacked by a black stream of light. At that time, he could still suppress his injuries, but not long after he returned, he fell unconscious.”

During the short journey, Zheng Hong briefly explained how Elder Zhang got severely injured.

Chen Yiming’s expression darkened when he heard this.

To a country, a martial master was equivalent to a nuclear bomb. Their position was of strategic importance.

For example, after Rover died in the Daxia Kingdom, whether it was working together as an alliance or making a joint statement, it was all just for show.

Chen Yiming had been at home the entire time, but no one had really come to ask for an explanation.

So what if their nation was the beacon of humanity? When one was weaker than others, they would still be forced to lower their heads. This was the deterrence brought about by the martial masters.

At this moment, the Daxia Kingdom was also facing the loss of a martial master.

“You are…?”

As soon as he entered, an old man in a white coat put down the equipment in his hand and looked up.

Zheng Hong stepped forward and explained in a low voice. The old man nodded and got the medical team to make way. The figure of an old man appeared in front of them.

Elder Zhang lay quietly on the bed, not moving at all. His face was ashen, and he revealed a pained expression from time to time.

At the moment, his entire body was as thin as a skeleton. The skin on his hand from which was receiving an infusion had dried up, and the blood vessels underneath were clearly visible. It could be said that his blood essence had been severely depleted.

Chen Yiming’s eyes lit up. His invisible spiritual power swept across Elder Zhang’s entire body, and he instantly discovered the culprit that caused the martial master to appear in this state.

There were fragments of mysterious symbols embedded in his flesh and blood, as well as scattered throughout his spiritual world.

At this moment, Elder Zhang’s body was like a battlefield. The fragments were like a virus, constantly attacking various parts of his body as well as his consciousness in his spiritual world.

What was terrifying was that the fragments, which were foreign objects removed from their source, could actually forcefully convert the surrounding blood essence energy for its own use and was not weakened at all.

The spiritual world was even more dangerous. Elder Zhang’s spiritual body was forced to dodge continuously.

This was even more vicious than a curse.

Seeing this, Chen Yiming tried to use his powerful spiritual power to wrap around a fragment in the elder’s flesh, trying to drag it out of Elder Zhang’s body.

“Boom!”

A thunderous explosion rang out.

Elder Zhang’s entire body spasmed and his body bounced up and down. He spat out a mouthful of blood towards the ceiling.

At the same time, in the microscopic world that could not be seen with the naked eye, the fragment exploded and the spiritual seal on it broke.

However, it did not dissipate because of this. Instead, it turned into many more smaller fragments that remained in the flesh and continued to attack the surrounding cells. It did not seem to be weakened.

In the outside world,

Elder Zhang’s family, old and young, rushed over in tears and surrounded the bed.

For a moment, a heavy sense of grief surrounded the room. The others who had come to visit Elder Zhang also felt extremely uncomfortable.

In everyone’s opinion, since even Chen Yiming couldn’t save Elder Zhang, he could only wait for death.

Zheng Hong’s eyes were red and his body was trembling. He looked at Chen Yiming and hesitated.

Chen Yiming explained helplessly, “The black light that ambushed Elder Zhang probably turned into a large number of mysterious symbols that currently exist as fragments in his body and mind. That was an attack at the level of the inscription realm.

Earlier, I tried to forcefully take out a fragment, but it seemed to be programmed to self-destruct in response.”

Chen Yiming had two powerful talents. If he was facing the black light attack, it would not be a problem for him to be hit by it.

Firstly, in terms of endurance, he was absolutely confident that he could wear his opponent down to death.

Secondly, he could rely on his regenerative ability to directly get rid of the affected parts.

However, Elder Zhang clearly did not have such conditions.

Zheng Hong’s face was ashen as he sobbed. “Is there no way to save him?”

As soon as he finished speaking,

the others held their breaths.

At that moment, they imagined a scene of a martial master being sucked dry and tortured to death.

They could not accept such a tragedy.

Elder Zhang was a martial master. For decades, he had held up a barrier for several provinces in the south of the Daxia Kingdom. He was equivalent to the guardian of the south.

“That’s not necessarily true. I have an idea. It’s just that I’m afraid Elder Zhang’s body won’t be able to take it,” Chen Yiming quickly said.

The idea he was talking about was to summon the spiritual figure and use the Sword Aura to attack all the fragments of the mysterious symbols at the same time.

Of course, Chen Yiming didn’t specialize in medicine, and he wasn’t confident that Elder Zhang, who was already severely injured and on the verge of death, would be able to survive an attack from someone at the level of the inscription realm.

If he died on the spot and Chen Yiming did not explain things clearly in advance, it would be troublesome if Elder Zhang’s family misunderstood his intentions.

Zheng Hong’s face turned red when he heard this. He asked in a trembling voice, “How confident are you in this method?”

Chen Yiming shook his head and said truthfully, “I can’t give you an answer. It all depends on whether Elder Zhang can withstand it himself. After all, this is a battle at the level of the inscription realm. Elder Zhang is too weak!”

A martial master was said to be too weak.

This might be the first time someone said this on the blue planet.

The others looked at each other, not knowing what to say. At the same time, they secretly noted down the ‘inscription realm’ that Chen Yiming had mentioned.

From his words, it was clear that Chen Yiming had already surpassed the master realm.

This news was even more shocking than Elder Zhang being severely injured and on the verge of death.

…

One step led to life, and one step led to death.

Whether they chose to use a safe method of treatment and place their hopes on Elder Zhang himself to deal with it, or to risk it all, the three generations of the Zhang family would need to discuss it before making a decision.

That night, Chen Yiming stayed in another villa under the arrangements of the higher-ups in Chengdu City.

The clouds in the sky were sparse, and the sky was filled with bright stars. The white moonlight shone down on the ground.

Chen Yiming stood in the courtyard and looked up at the starry night sky.

At this moment, he was thinking about what the female spirit had said about escaping into outer space before the black tide arrived.

The female spirit imprisoned by the mysterious ring was clearly afraid of being affected by the black tide, so she took the initiative to communicate with him.

On the other hand, he had tested the power of the female spirit. She was definitely not just at the inscription realm. She was at an even higher level compared to the 10,000-meter-long corpse.

However, Chen Yiming had the special abilities from the martial arts talent system. He believed that with enough time, he wouldn’t need to be afraid of the black tide. He might even be able to destroy it with a wave of his hand one day.

Now he just needed more time to cultivate, and the crucial question was when the black tide would arrive.

Would it travel through the space-travel passage from the otherworld? Or would it arrive from outer space? Or should it appear in a completely unexpected manner?

Just as Chen Yiming was worrying about the black tide, Zheng Hong came looking for him.

“Has the Zhang family decided?” Chen Yiming asked.

“The second and third generation of the Zhang family basically agreed to risk it all. Now, it’s just Madam Zhang who doesn’t agree. She insists that the suggested method will undoubtedly kill Elder Zhang on the spot.”

Zheng Hong apologized and smiled bitterly.

Chen Yiming nodded. He could understand Madam Zhang’s decision.

This was the truth. Sword techniques were not meant for treating others at all. They focused on killing decisively and destroying everything.

It might be fine if they were at the same level, since the chances of Elder Zhang being able to withstand such an attack would be quite high. However, Chen Yiming had made it clear beforehand that this was a battle at a higher level.

The Zhang family probably thought about how it was said that the country’s martial master, Rover, had been beaten to a pulp.

They probably also thought about how Chen Yiming had single-handedly resolved the war between the treants that had escalated to involve the entire country. How could they not sense the difference between the master realm and the inscription realm?

It was not much different from a martial master bullying the warriors below him.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zheng Hong told Chen Yiming in detail about the situation in the no man’s land in the southwest after Elder Zhang was severely injured.

The no man’s land in the southwest included the southwest border of the Daxia Kingdom and a vast area beyond the territory of the Daxia Kingdom.

Many years ago, an earthquake that affected several provinces in the southwest of the Daxia Kingdom caused a huge crack in the middle of the no man’s land.

According to the records, it was dozens of kilometers long, but there were no records of its depth.

After that, a space-travel passage appeared in the depths of the huge crack. On the other side of the space-travel passage was a large body of water.

Therefore, a large lake suddenly appeared out of thin air in the no man’s land where there was usually little rainfall.

Under normal circumstances, this large lake would definitely become a gathering place for mutant beasts and lead to the threat of a beast tide in the southwest of the Daxia Kingdom.

However, an otherworld creature that was equivalent to a martial master lived in the water on the other side of the space-travel passage.

From the moment the large lake appeared until now, there were not many living creatures in the no man’s land in the southwest area.

The reason was that the alien creature had a special sense of smell. It often left the large lake and went ashore to hunt. Furthermore, it had a large range of movement and did not care about the size of the food or what it ate.

Over time, the plains that were originally a paradise for mutant beasts was given a new name, the ‘No Man’s Land in the Southwest’.

After Chen Yiming heard this, he linked it to the fact that Elder Zhang was investigating the strange death of the sentry soldier who had been ambushed by a black light.

The black light might be related to the black tide, but where did it come from?

Was it from the space-travel passage in the strange mountain village? Or did it come from the large lake in the no man’s land in the southwest?

Or could it be that something was wrong with the alien creature?

There were still no clues to this mystery.

Chen Yiming chatted with Zheng Hong for a while more. He learned that after Elder Zhang was injured, no one had the ability to investigate if something had happened with the alien creature.

There was no movement from the large lake for the time being.

He sighed and rubbed his swollen temples. After resolving the problem of Elder Zhang’s treatment, he decided to make a trip there himself.

…

A night where countless people were unable to sleep passed, and the sun rose again.

Early in the morning, Chen Yiming communicated with the figure in his mind and arranged for it to bring Chen Yingying, who was still training in the otherworld, back to East Lake City.

Zheng Hong came knocking on his door with thick dark circles under his eyes, bringing with him bad news: The light in Elder Zhang’s eyes were disappearing, and the blood in his body was showing signs of drying up.

It was obvious what this meant.

Elder Zhang had lost to the mysterious symbols. This was equivalent to a crushing defeat. The speed at which his injuries worsened was far beyond imagination, and he could die at any moment.

A few minutes later.

When Chen Yiming stepped into the room, he saw the Zhang family crying by the bed.

The others who had come to visit Elder Zhang yesterday also arrived one after another. When everyone saw Elder Zhang’s current appearance, it looked as though he had reached the end of his life.

His injuries had unexpectedly worsened, and almost no one had any hope of him recovering.

Madam Zhang sat alone in a chair with a blank expression, but no one blamed her.

After all, the mysterious symbols and inscriptions realm were just a vague concept to all of them except Chen Yiming.

Some people even compared the master realm and the inscription realm to the different levels of control one had over one’s internal force in the warrior realm. They did not know how internal force could be compared to the power of nature.

It was just like a cub that had just learned how to walk and an eagle that was already soaring in the sky.

The cub could look up and see the sky, but crawling and running were completely different, let alone flying.

The second and third generation of the Zhang family had already cried until their voices were almost completely hoarse.

Zheng Hong said to Chen Yiming in a low voice, “The Zhang family has already made a last-ditch effort and agreed to the suggested treatment from yesterday.”

Chen Yiming nodded his head.

Before he entered the room, he used his spiritual power to check on Elder Zhang’s condition.

At this moment, the cause of his injuries worsening was mostly because of his spiritual world. Elder Zhang’s spiritual body was no longer complete, and the success rate of dodging attacks was getting lower and lower. He could collapse at any moment.

When the others heard this, their hearts felt like they were being squeezed by a huge hand.

Elder Zhang’s injuries had already worsened to this extent. Were they still going to use a treatment method similar to fighting poison with poison? How could Elder Zhang’s body withstand this?

They might as well try to wake Elder Zhang up and see if there were any last words from him.

Of course, no one dared to say this out loud. They could only think it in their hearts.

In the blink of an eye, while everyone was still grieving, “Sword, come!” Chen Yiming called out.

Immediately after, thunder rumbled in the sky in the direction of Jiangnan province.

The air suddenly became heavy, and it seemed as if every single breath required more force than usual.

At this moment, everyone in the room came back to their senses and looked at the sky outside the door.

In the distance, the clouds were forcefully pushed aside. The overwhelming aura blocked out the view of the land, and its range was similar to that of a typhoon.

Not long after, a blinding flash of light appeared.

In the next moment, a sword descended from the sky and landed in Chen Yiming’s hand.

On the surface, densely packed mysterious symbols were engraved on the sword. There was no pattern to them, and no one could decipher them.

Chen Yiming couldn’t be bothered with the dumbfounded crowd.

He pretended that he was controlling the sword, then stabbed at Elder Zhang, who was on the bed.

The sword tore through the air. The moment before it stabbed Elder Zhang, it turned into countless small swords that were much thinner than needles. They hit all the fragments of the mysterious symbols in Elder Zhang’s body almost simultaneously.

At this moment, Elder Zhang’s body was filled with extremely thin lights from head to toe. It was a little like acupuncture, but the number of small swords was far greater than dozens of silver needles.