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n“Boom!”

nA shadow tentacle pierced through an illusory human figure. Facing such an enemy, Feng Wuji’s perception seemed to have increased by a level.

nBehind him, a huge rock and the grass were pierced through, creating a deep hole.

nChen Yiming narrowed his eyes when he saw the deep hole in the distance.

nAround the deep hole, the large patch of grass had turned grayish-white, revealing signs of its vitality being depleted.

n“The life force in the grass has been sucked dry?”

n“Elder Zhang was almost sucked dry by the fragments of mysterious symbols.”

n“Inside the 10,000-meter-long corpse, I saw blood that had turned black.”

nPutting the clues together one after another, Chen Yiming seemed to have grasped the opponent’s goal.

nBlood essence and spiritual power might be the food for the other party to strengthen its body. Or rather, the life force contained in living creatures was what caused the black tide.

nThe martial master, Elder Zhang, had sufficient blood essence and spiritual power, which satisfied this hypothesis.

nThe soldiers in charge of monitoring the sentry posts in the no man’s land in the southwest were not ordinary soldiers. Instead, they were made up of military martial arts experts. Without a doubt, each of them had a strong life force.

nThere was no need to mention the 10,000-meter-long corpse. Its life force was unimaginably strong, and it was a powerful creature of a higher level.

nJust as Chen Yiming was secretly summarizing the information about the black tide, the balance of the battle was suddenly broken. It wasn’t the shadow tentacles that had unleashed a stronger ability, but Feng Wuji.

nFacing an opponent with opposing attributes and whose strength did not exceed the level he could withstand, his crystal shadow talent suddenly seemed to be enhanced.

nMore complicated lines and structures emerged, creating a stronger purifying power.

nIn fact, it even seemed to be imitating the marks that appeared on the shadow tentacles and creating marks with the opposing effect.

nThis was the potential of one’s talent. A suitable opponent would be able to cause one to surpass their limits in a battle.

nThis was indeed reflected in the battle between Feng Wuji and the shadow tentacles.

n“Break!”

nFeng Wuji roared angrily and slashed at the shadow tentacles that were stabbing at him.

nThe range of the attack was not large, not even a meter, but the power of purification within this range had become stronger and denser. This was an attack that sacrificed range to maximize its power.

nThe shadow tentacles that had the upper hand earlier were cut in half by the sword, and a scream rang out from the cut.

nThe severed shadow tentacle had lost its power and was turned into a black gas by the purification power, disappearing into the air.

n“Pay attention to what is underground. The opponent is about to escape!”

nChen Yiming reminded him from afar. He still restrained his aura to prevent the other party from sending a message over an unknown distance to report his investigative actions.

nOf course, this was only his guess. If the other party could preempt his next move, it meant that his guess was wrong. That would make things even more troublesome.

nAs soon as he finished speaking, there was a loud bang.

nA huge hole appeared in the ground, and an unstructured ball of shadow energy rushed out.

nChen Yiming’s eyes took in the scene that flashed past amidst the flow of shadow energy.

nThe soldiers at the sentry post were still in their military uniforms, which were all still intact. They were sleeping quietly inside the ball of shadow energy, each with a black tube inserted between their eyebrows.

nThis was too surprising. Chen Yiming had thought that the soldiers at the sentry post would be sucked dry when faced with the same situation as Elder Zhang.

nFeng Wuji was standing in front of the ball of shadow energy and was completely dumbfounded.

nFrom the situation, the other party was performing some unknown evil act on the captured humans.

nFeeling an endless amount of anger, Feng Wuji could not stay his hand. He slashed out with his sword again and again, and the power of purification hit the shadow energy, creating a sizzling sound with each move.

nThe shadow energy was immediately held back and could only counterattack.

nHowever, it did not seem to be a combat type to begin with. The shadow energy did not display much of its ability. Instead, it was forced to retreat after finding itself at a disadvantage.

nAfter another 10 minutes of fighting, suddenly, the shadow energy exploded and melted under the power of purification.

nFeng Wuji stopped immediately, but shockingly, the shadow energy did not leave any traces behind and completely disappeared into thin air.

n“Don’t blame yourself too much,” Chen Yiming said as he walked over. Feng Wuji looked very apologetic.

nAt the spot where the shadow energy had dissipated, 11 soldiers were lying on the ground. Their eyes were tightly shut and their breathing was steady, indicating that each of them was still alive.

nHowever, the black tubes between their eyebrows were no longer there. It was unknown if they had dissipated or if they had hidden themselves by some unknown method.

nChen Yiming started to use his spiritual power to randomly check one of the soldiers.

nSoon, he discovered that a hole had appeared in the wall of the soldier’s spiritual world. The hole was filled in by a layer of shadow energy.

nIf one’s spiritual power had yet to transform to the point where it could materialize and was exposed to the power of nature, it would dissipate in the blink of an eye.

n“Was it left behind by the black tube?”

nChen Yiming took in everything in front of him and didn’t dare to rashly deal with the shadow energy.

nThen, through the wall of the spiritual world, he vaguely saw that half of the soldier’s spiritual body was pitch-black and was taken over by the shadow energy.

nAt the moment, the soldier’s spiritual body had subconsciously shaken off the shadow energy. However, the two sides seemed to have reached some kind of balance only for the time being. The shadow energy was stuck to it like sticky candy.

nChen Yiming retracted his spiritual power and started to check the other soldiers.

nA few minutes later, the inspection ended.

nThe situation of the 11 soldiers was exactly the same. Exactly half of their spiritual bodies were taken over by the shadow energy.

nChen Yiming’s expression was solemn.

nBecause he did not have much understanding of the black tide, as long as these soldiers were brought back, they would undoubtedly become hidden dangers.

nHowever, faced with a rare opportunity to find out the truth about the black tide, it seemed that he could only take a risk with this hidden danger.

n…

nIn a research institute in Chengdu City, the 11 soldiers were brought over and placed in a laboratory.

nOn the outer streets and in the nearby districts, all the civilians had been cleared out. Teams of soldiers guarded every corner of the area.

nThe transfer of personnel was underway. If no incidents happened, for the time being, this research institute would be classified as a military restricted area and would enjoy the highest level of surveillance.

nOutside the laboratory building, Chen Yiming and Elder Zhang were not the only ones present. Elder Zhang’s other capable subordinates, the many leaders of Chuan province, and the highest-ranking leaders of the southwestern provinces were also present.

nFor both body and mind, the master realm enhanced the vitality attribute. Elder Zhang’s body was quickly recovering.

nAlthough he had yet to recover enough to fight, his physical movements were fine, and he could already use his spiritual power slightly.

nAt this moment, everyone was silent.

nElder Zhang had been in charge of the no man’s land in the southwest for many years, and his reputation had been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. After personally checking the soldiers that were brought back, he had come to the same conclusion as Chen Yiming.

nIf that was all, the leaders of Chuan province and the surrounding provinces could barely accept it while mourning the loss of the soldiers. After all, an existence that had surpassed the master realm had appeared in the Daxia Kingdom.

nWith Jiangnan province as the center, the entire Daxia Kingdom was thriving. There was no need to worry too much about the invasion of the otherworld, or the other threats on the blue planet.

nHowever, this new problem caused everyone to be at a loss. For the first time, Chen Yiming chose to reveal a portion of the matter regarding the black tide.

nHe emphasized that the ‘black tide’ came from outer space. There was also a high chance that the otherworld was a world that had been invaded by the black tide.

nThe 10,000-meter-long corpse was a powerful creature from the otherworld when it was alive. It was possible that it used its own body to seal away something similar to the black tide. Chen Yiming didn’t announce this for the time being.

nFirstly, he could not be sure if it was true. Secondly, if even such a powerful creature could not withstand the black tide, it was just going to destroy everyone’s confidence on the spot.

nAfter all, while the black tide was testing the waters, Chen Yiming was also becoming stronger. It was even possible that he could continue to grow stronger as they fought.

nIt was still too early to decide who would be the final victor, but the others did not know that he was cheating using the talent system.

nAfter everyone digested the shocking news that there was an existence known as the ‘black tide’, Chen Yiming suggested, “Our opponents related to the black tide seem to be attracted by powerful blood essence.

nFeng Wuji’s crystal shadow talent was not only extraordinarily perceptive towards it, but was also able to effectively restrain the enemy.

nWe can set up a special investigation team and let Feng Wuji lead the way to investigate the enemy’s whereabouts. We can try our best to gather more information about the black tide.”

nThe leaders looked at each other and then at Elder Zhang.

nAll along, the major events in the southern provinces of the Daxia Kingdom were actually decided by Elder Zhang.

nIt was obvious what it meant to have Feng Wuji lead the investigation team.

nElder Zhang agreed without hesitation.

nWith the powerful threat of the ‘black tide’ and the fact that Chen Yiming had saved his life, his position and authority were only inconsequential matters.

nIf they could not overcome this hurdle, the consequences would be unimaginable.

nAfter that, things were easily settled, and they only needed to discuss some details. The main thing was to start from within the city and find out which places were the priority for the investigation.

n…

nEver since Chen Yiming announced the threat of the black tide, the provinces in the southwest were the first to take action.

nNot only did they enter a state similar to wartime, but a small booklet was quickly distributed to every household. The government also took decisive action.

nThey organized a large number of people to conduct regular assessments. Every household had to participate at the designated time, and those who did not pass would be gathered together to study.

nThe content of the booklet was compiled based on the limited information that had been gathered about the ‘black tide’. It mainly taught people how to determine if there were any strange incidents happening around them.

nThere was also information on how they should pretend not to notice anything was amiss and quickly report it to the higher ups.

nTime passed day by day.

nThe investigation team led by Feng Wuji started to investigate the cities starting from Chengdu City, paying extra attention to the higher ups of the martial arts factions in the cities. They wanted to prevent any human martial arts experts from being controlled.

nChen Yiming stayed in Chengdu City and no longer arranged for the spiritual figure to go to the otherworld. Instead, he kept it in Jiangnan province so that he could summon the sword spirit at any time.

n…

nIn the slaughterhouse in the east of Chengdu City.

nIn order to standardize the process, even if it was a dead mutant beast, as long as it entered the city, it had to be registered at the slaughterhouse and cut up into pieces then brought away.

nThere was a strong smell of blood in the air. The area around it was completely surrounded by soldiers, and all the staff were being questioned.

n“I really told you everything. I didn’t hide anything. I’m just an ordinary butcher. You have to believe me,” a middle-aged man explained anxiously. His hands were cuffed and he was tied to a chair with special ropes. Beside him, several military martial arts experts were watching him at the same time.

nThis time, it was not the investigation team who discovered the abnormality. Instead, the middle-aged man’s colleague had discovered it. After it was reported, it immediately received a lot of attention, which was why soldiers had surrounded the slaughterhouse.

nChen Yiming sized up the middle-aged man.

nHe had already used his spiritual power to check several times, but he did not find any abnormalities in the middle-aged man’s body or spiritual world.

nThis was the reason why Feng Wuji couldn’t make up his mind and needed Chen Yiming to come over.

nThe report was that a middle-aged butcher, who originally only had a little martial arts foundation, had obtained extraordinary power overnight.

nIf it was any other time, perhaps his colleagues at the slaughterhouse would be envious and curry favor with him. They would think that the middle-aged butcher had finally been rewarded after his years of hard work and somehow became a warrior through cutting up mutant beast corpses.

nBut now, almost everyone could memorize the contents of the small booklet. Everyone wished they could stay far away from him, afraid that they would be implicated.

n“Could it be testing the intensity of the humans’ counterattack? Or is there another motive?” Chen Yiming thought to himself.

nAll kinds of signs indicated that the current enemy behind the ‘black tide’ was definitely not something ordinary. Otherwise, it would not have been able to trick the humans.

nThat’s right, in reality, they were all being played with.

nThe investigation team led by Feng Wuji had indeed discovered a few abnormal human experts, but that was all. The clues had ended there.

nHow did the other party silently bewitch the human experts and make them willingly accept the intrusion of the shadow energy? Every person who was captured and questioned gave a different answer.

nSome people picked up an item that they thought was a treasure, some people mistakenly thought that they had an epiphany while practicing martial arts, and some people claimed that they were being taught cultivation techniques in their dreams…

nAt the side, Feng Wuji was feeling extremely anxious. He wished he could light a cigarette to ease his anxiety.

nChen Yiming had given him some pointers about the ‘mark’ that appeared on the shadow energy. Without any guidance, he had relied purely on his crystal shadow talent to find the key to resonating with the power of nature.

nAs he led the investigation team, he wished he could fight with enemies like the shadow tentacles instead, improving his talent through battle.

nUnfortunately, not only did he not achieve anything substantial, but the enemy was also nowhere to be seen. He felt like he had wasted his effort.

nSuddenly, a middle-aged woman raised her hand, indicating that she had something to say.

nSoon, the middle-aged woman was brought to Chen Yiming. There was a complicated expression on her face, as if she knew of some unspeakable secret.

n“What is it?” Chen Yiming asked.

nThe middle-aged woman stammered, “Um… Old Wang… He likes to collect the bones of mutant beasts and even likes to practice carving on them.

nBut he’s been practicing at home. Almost no one knows.”

nNo one knew because he was practicing at home?

nHowever, the middle-aged woman knew.

nSince the two of them were only colleagues, it meant that…

nOld Wang’s colleagues from the slaughterhouse looked over with complicated expressions.

nGood lord!

nThis secret was kept well!

nHe had actually taken her right under everyone’s noses.

nThe middle-aged woman was a widow, and there were many colleagues who were interested in her.

nChen Yiming retracted his gaze and remained serious.

nThe middle-aged woman was willing to reveal her private matters to expose Old Wang’s practice of carving the bones in his own home. Clearly, she had realized that something was amiss after reading the booklet.

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