‘What the hell is this thing??’

Li Cheng颐 stared at the fist-sized, pitch-black meatball floating in front of him.

The surface of the black ball was fuzzy, covered in fine black hairs. A black slit in the middle was slightly open, revealing what looked like sharp teeth and a tongue inside. It was constantly emitting sounds.

“mu, en, ni, ti”

He held it up straight to look at it, and unconsciously, his throat secreted a little saliva.

Just looking at this thing, he actually felt an appetite.

‘I’ll keep it for now, it might be useful later.’

Clamping the sphere between two bones, Li Cheng颐 was about to continue swimming forward when he suddenly paused.

“How come it feels like these two bones have gotten smaller?”

He stopped and carefully examined the two bones.

After looking at them up and down several times, he was certain he wasn’t mistaken. The bones had indeed shrunk.

Moreover…

Their surfaces were faintly seeping a grayish-white particulate matter that floated towards his palm, which was holding them.

‘Could it be death energy?!’ A possibility suddenly occurred to him.

Death energy also came in different strengths and concentrations.

For example, his death energy was stronger and more viscous than that of the Balance Angels.

And here, the death energy of these two bones was actually stronger and more viscous than his own.

Clearly, an individual who could continuously survive in the Black Sea was far stronger than those two angels.

‘So far, the only Black Sea creature I’ve encountered that lives in the Black Sea is the Shadow Dragon. The rest live in the dead corners. There must be some difference between them.’

Looking at the two large bones in his hand, Li Cheng颐 carefully sensed that a part of his body that had been empty was rapidly being filled with the newly added death energy.

‘It seems the engraving has strengthened my body, and along with it, the capacity for death energy has also increased.’

He thought for a moment and tried to swim forward, but this time, he didn’t swim towards the lower left, as before.

Instead, he headed in the direction where he had touched the two bones consecutively.

Before long, *poof*, the fan bone in his hand hit something hard again.

Li Cheng颐 quickly reached out with the bone to try to hook it.

But this time, even when he used force, he couldn’t hook the hard object over.

Helpless, he could only move closer himself.

Just as he got close, and his palm touched the object.

*Swish!!*

In an instant, a speck of gray-white light spread out from the point of contact between his palm and the hard object.

The gray-white flames of death energy burned rapidly in all directions, like a wildfire consuming a prairie.

At the same time, a gray halo quickly lit up the surrounding Black Sea around Li Cheng颐.

With him as the center, the area within at least several kilometers was instantly illuminated by the gray light.

The effect of the death energy flames allowed Li Cheng颐 to see what he had touched.

It was a white bone giant, at least several kilometers long.

The giant, like a normal person, had two arms and two legs, and was floating curled up in the Black Sea.

But its head was unique.

It was a white bone skull with huge white antlers.

There were no facial features, no facial bones. The giant’s face was a huge hole.

A deep hole made of countless intersecting white bone spikes.

How could a person’s face have a hole?

And a deep hole constructed from so many bones??

Li Cheng颐 forced himself to move closer, standing with both feet on the giant’s leg bone.

He was currently standing on the middle section of the giant’s right thigh.

The viscous, glue-like death energy allowed him to easily stand on the leg bone, relying on the flames of death energy to view the other party’s entire body.

‘The death energy here… is so strong!’

As soon as he stood on it, a large amount of death energy particles, even more viscous and colder than his own, quickly seeped into his body from his feet.

Compared to the enormous giant, his size was equivalent to a mosquito on the giant’s body.

The amount of death energy he absorbed was less than one-millionth of the giant’s, practically insignificant.

‘The scriptures of the Death Angel Church mentioned that when all things are born and die, they leave behind a vast amount of death energy. Even such powerful individuals cannot avoid falling into the Black Sea.’

‘So how did the Death Angel Church become extinct in the first place? Even the powerful Death Angel King couldn’t prevent the destruction of his church?’

Looking at this huge antlered white bone giant, a trace of doubt suddenly rose in Li Cheng颐’s heart.

He walked up the giant’s white bones.

As he walked, he absorbed the massive amount of death energy along the way.

With each step he took, the death energy in his body would become colder, thicker, and filled with the aura of death as it absorbed the giant’s unowned death energy.

The aura of death was a difficult aura to describe.

When it was faint, it couldn’t be felt, but if it was strong enough…

It would cause life that approached it to age, decay, and become lethargic from the inside out, until death.

When he reached the waist of the giant, Li Cheng颐 suddenly stopped.

On the bone road ahead, a plump giant insect was blocking his path.

The insect was similar in shape to a beetle, more than one person tall, grayish-white all over, with densely packed more than ten pairs of legs, and three antennae extending upwards from its head, connecting to three red eyeballs.

Its body was covered with ring-shaped stripes, and its back carried a hard, round shell.

It was also devouring the giant’s bones, and its body was burning with the flames of death energy.

At this moment, it also noticed Li Cheng颐 approaching. Its jagged, saw-like mandibles paused slightly, and it turned its head to look over.

The man and the insect paused.

*Whoosh!*

Suddenly, the giant insect turned and fled, as if Li Cheng颐 carried an aura that made it extremely frightened.

It wasn’t just it. On the bone road around, there were rustling shadows everywhere, rapidly fleeing from the flames of death energy.

They were all clearly frightened by the approaching Li Cheng颐.

‘Perhaps it’s the residual aura of the Death Angel King on me…’ Li Cheng颐 frowned.

“You shouldn’t be here…” Suddenly, a familiar voice, stuttering, entered his ears.

Here, in the Black Sea, he could actually hear sounds!?

Li Cheng颐 was shocked and looked around.

Soon, he saw a very familiar figure on the white bone road on the right.

A tall man wearing a gray, old windbreaker, wearing a hat, and with his face wrapped in gray cloth, was standing timidly on the road, looking over here.

His eyes were vaguely visible through the two holes dug out of the gray cloth. His white eyeballs were full of bloodshot veins, revealing a strong color of terror.

“You are… Gorn!?” Li Cheng颐 never expected that he would encounter Gorn, whom he had met before, here.

This mysterious man had, long ago, when he was constantly entering the Silent Shop, come to stop him from continuing his actions.

But he didn’t expect that he would encounter the other party here as well.

This was the land of the unknown giant’s corpse. Was the other party unaffected?

“You are constantly getting closer… closer to them… becoming them…” Gorn stammered, still speaking in the language of Yi with a fearful tone.

“Who exactly are you!?” Li Cheng颐 frowned and asked solemnly.

At first, when he saw the other party in reality, it was considered normal, after all, there were also people in reality who had been infected by dead corner individuals.

But now, seeing the other party here again, the meaning was completely different.

“You are constantly… moving closer… towards them…”

Gorn continued to speak.

“The world… is falling…”

“Everyone will die…”

“Are you saying that the power I absorb will cause the world I’m in to fall?” Li Cheng颐 frowned.

“You can’t continue… the world is sick…” Gorn continued.

“You mean, I alone can cause the entire world to fall?” Li Cheng颐 understood his meaning and asked in reply.

“…You… are the last…”

“And then what? I don’t believe that my power alone will cause the entire world to be destroyed. So, the question is, what about the other individuals?

What about those individuals whose influence and weight are far greater than mine? You don’t go to dissuade them, why are you running to dissuade me?” Li Cheng颐 raised an eyebrow.

“Will die…” Gorn stuttered.

“Ridiculous. You don’t blame the dead corners for forcing me to this step, but instead blame me for strengthening myself to resist the threat. Is that your logic?” Li Cheng颐 continued.

“Lan Meng… Li En saved… twice… you will speed up… the third time… it’s too late…” Gorn explained with difficulty.

“If I slow down, I will die!” Li Cheng颐 suddenly raised his voice sharply.

“I don’t care about the third time! No one can stop me from pursuing greater strength! If I cause the third threat, then I will solve the threat!”

He opened his arms.

“Whether it’s Lan Meng or Li En, I will surpass them.”

“You!”

Gorn seemed to be provoked. He approached angrily, as if wanting to attack.

“You can get lost!”

Li Cheng颐 waved his right hand, and a sharp sword of wisdom instantly struck him, carrying death energy.

The enhanced death energy, carrying a biting coldness and death aura, instantly smashed Gorn into countless pieces, which dissipated into nothingness.

‘An illusion?’ Li Cheng颐 suddenly understood that no wonder this Gorn could allow him to hear sounds. It turned out that he was using some kind of illusion technique to affect his consciousness.

And the Seven Intent Sacred Spirit Technique was completely a technique aimed at consciousness, so it instantly defeated him just now.

This was clearly treating the symptom.

Sensing that the other party had completely disappeared, Li Cheng颐 sneered.

“Nonsense.”

He strode forward, continuing to absorb and strengthen the death energy in his body.

The death energy nurtured by the bones of the unknown giant was far stronger than his own death energy.

He had to seize this opportunity, because he would definitely not be able to enter Death Angel City again in the future, and it would not be so easy and convenient to absorb death energy in the future.

Death energy used purely for fighting was just so-so, but it was the origin and foundation for him to create engraved spheres and conduct comprehensive research in the future.

He had to store enough of it.

*

*

*

Reality, Tong City.

Inside a magnificent and resplendent hotel lobby.

Densely packed, at least a hundred people were standing on the floor tiles with dazed eyes, out of focus.

They were neatly arranged in teams, silent, as if they had lost their consciousness.

The shadows beneath everyone were no longer human-shaped, but were black monster shadows with crocodile heads and human bodies.

At the deepest part of the lobby, the original counter had been moved away and replaced with a large metal basin.

The basin was filled with a large amount of viscous, oil-like black liquid.

A young man with black hair and golden eyes was standing by the basin, watching the rolling liquid with a smile.

“Using blood as a guide, and aura as a thread… Come out… my kin…”

Suddenly, a series of ear-piercing alarms sounded outside the hotel.

Aircraft circled, emitting violent jet sounds, and vehicles constantly made emergency brakes.

Gunfire, footsteps, shouted commands.

All sorts of chaotic noises came from outside the door.

“The people inside, listen up! This place has been completely surrounded! Please put down your weapons, give up resistance, and come out of the main entrance slowly with your hands up!”

The sound of the loudspeaker vibrated into the hotel.

“Kill them.” The black-haired, golden-eyed man glanced at the hundreds of people in the lobby and ordered.

Immediately, the shadows under everyone’s feet silently exploded out, all rushing towards the door.

*Bang!!*

The door was blasted open from the outside, and a white-robed man with a silver-gold yin-yang symbol on his cheek led the team through the door.

“First Symphony: Heaven Turns Two Forms.”

The man raised his right hand slightly.

*Buzz!*

In an instant, a huge transparent twisting force field centered in front of him, covering everything within sight.

The floor cracked, rolled up, as if being grabbed and lifted by a giant hand.

The walls peeled off, shattering into countless fragments that scattered.

A large group of crocodile-headed humanoid black shadows that charged forward was immediately caught by the invisible twisting force field, and exploded one after another.

The person who came was Yin-Yang Flying Divine Blade - Zhao Chengyu, who was in charge of this area.

“A bit of trash, the cleanup is over. Next, it’s your turn.” Zhao Chengyu looked at the golden-eyed man standing by the basin, the Taiji diagram on his cheek lighting up with silver light again.

*Boom!!*

The massive force field twisted and flew towards the golden-eyed man once again.

Unlike other Flying Attendants, Zhao Chengyu’s Flying Attendant was the gold and silver yin-yang symbol embedded in his face.

That was his famous Yin-Yang Flying Divine Blade.

Everyone thought he used a blade, but in reality, his blade was invisible to ordinary people.

The huge distortion crossed the distance of the lobby in a split second, and fell heavily on the golden-eyed man.

*Bang bang bang!!!*

Successive bombardments caused the area where the golden-eyed man was located to sink by several meters.

The space there was enveloped by an invisible giant hand, which squeezed it tightly towards the center.

“Just die quietly like this.”

Zhao Chengyu clenched his right hand, and a transparent beheading blade composed of force field appeared in his palm.

“Second Symphony.”

“Yin-Yang Luo Shen…”

Invisibly, countless black and white light spots behind Zhao Chengyu condensed into a white-skinned woman over three meters tall, wearing a black veil.

The woman was graceful, wearing a white veil, and holding an exaggerated giant horse-chopping blade that was five meters long.

*Chih!!*

In an instant, a flash of white light.

The woman instantly transformed into a rainbow, appearing above the golden-eyed man, and slashed down from the air!

*Clang!!!*

This terrifying strike, exceeding fifteen times the speed of sound, a domineering beheading blade capable of cutting a hundred-story building in half.

When it landed in front of the golden-eyed man, he actually accurately grabbed it with his right hand, which he had instantly raised.

Zhao Chengyu’s pupils shrank.

‘Impossible!!!??’

He raised his right hand, wanting to continue.

*Chih chih chih chih!!!*

In an instant, dense bursts of air and sonic booms erupted from where the blade fell, forming dense, semi-transparent ripples.

The ripples cut everything around, cut the walls, broke through the hotel building, and flew outward.

The entire building, over thirty stories high, slowly tilted and collapsed at this moment.

At the same time, the protective force field that had been deployed around it only lasted for a moment before collapsing.

The nearby residential buildings, shopping malls, and office buildings were also cut off at the bottom by the ripples, and slowly tilted.

(End of chapter)