Chapter 118: I Think He Is the Anomaly

More than a hundred miles from Wuji City, a cliffside was riddled with caves, resembling a honeycomb. A group of people was currently resting inside several of these caverns.

"I wonder what kind of creature originally made these nests to create such a marvelous landscape. It is a pity that those creatures are all gone now," a woman remarked, looking at the camera screen in her hands, which displayed the footage of the cliffside she had recorded earlier.

This group belonged to the Qi Dynasty. As Yan Hao and his companions had suspected, the forces of the Qi Dynasty were not far away.

The others had little interest in the nests of the world's creatures and chatted idly: "I never expected this place to actually lead to South Chu. It is truly surprising."

"Like a house with two doors."

Mentioning South Chu did not concern them much; the gap between the two sides was simply too vast. With a ten-fold difference in scale, whether in territory, national power, or the number of awakened individuals, they were outclassed by more than ten times.

"Do not underestimate South Chu. At the very least, they have Chen Daoling," someone remarked casually from the side.

A Seventh-Level Awakened—that was the primary concern regarding South Chu. Among the dozens of nations in this world, there were only ten Seventh-Level Awakened individuals to date. Among the smaller nations, there were only two, and one of them was in South Chu.

The conversation then shifted to Danyang Mountain. The news received by South Chu had reached them as well. After all, they had dispatched several times more personnel than South Chu, with over seven hundred awakened individuals entering this region.

As they were chatting, a message arrived from outside.

"There is unusual activity at Wuji City!"

The group, who had been resting, sat up one after another, looking at the man who had just returned.

"What happened?"

"South Chu's awakened have arrived. They have drawn the attention of the monsters in Wuji City, and the entire city is in an uproar."

The others were surprised. Someone asked in confusion: "Are they trying to reach Danyang Mountain first while we are still on our way?"

"Then why aren't they going to Danyang Mountain? What are they doing in Wuji City?"

"How many people from South Chu entered Wuji City?"

"Only one, but he is at least a Sixth-Level Awakened. By the time I left, the place was almost submerged by monsters!" the man who brought the news reported.

"This is bad!" someone immediately exclaimed. "They must be planning to head to Danyang Mountain overnight, but they feared complications on the mountain if they were surrounded by these monsters, so they diverted someone to hold them back."

"They intend to lure the monsters away so that even if something happens on Danyang Mountain, the monsters won't have time to return."

Once this was said, the others agreed; this deduction was likely spot on.

"The people of South Chu are quite bold, actually trying to get a head start!" someone sneered.

"What else can they do?" another laughed. The awakened of South Chu certainly could not compete with them directly, so they had to take a desperate gamble.

"This is fine. Let them clear the way. We will follow behind and strike when the time is right!"

"Prepare yourselves!" commanded the person leaning against the wall, before heading outside. This was the Sixth-Level Awakened leading the team. Seeing him move, the others displayed expressions of excitement.

Ten minutes later, the group emerged from the caves. Hundreds of people filed out, and unlike the somewhat lax appearance of the South Chu awakened, these individuals wore deep blue garments with silver trim on the sleeves and hems. The hundreds stood in silence, as disciplined as an army.

"Move out!" A middle-aged man glanced at the group and spoke calmly. The party then disappeared into the night.

Over an hour later, they appeared in the distance from Wuji City and immediately met with the scouts responsible for surveillance.

"What is the situation now?"

"There is only one person in the city! There are a few other awakened on the city wall, but we dared not get close."

"Have they left yet?"

"No. The target seems to have turned into a ball of blood. No matter how many monsters approach, they are reduced to bones as soon as they get near."

"Let's take a look."

A moment later, more than twenty people appeared at a location far from the wall where Yan Hao and his group were stationed. Each wore a bracelet that completely masked their presence. Otherwise, with more than twenty Sixth-Level Awakened gathered together, even the slow-witted among Yan Hao's group would have noticed.

The group raised their binoculars and looked into the distance. Sure enough, on a section of the city wall, there was a massive ball of blood, which in reality was formed by countless dense, pulsating blood threads. Countless monsters threw themselves at the blood ball like moths to a flame. They watched as several monsters melted in mid-air, leaving only skeletons that clattered to the ground below.

"What kind of monster is that?" The group felt a chill down their spines as they watched the blood ball.

"It is an awakened..."

"How long has this been going on?" someone asked.

"Three hours..."

"This person's ability seems to counter these creatures... but to sustain this level of combat for three hours is not just about countering them... No wonder South Chu let him stay here to distract these monsters!"

"Take the opportunity to bring him back!" the middle-aged leader said coldly. Bring him back... for study!

The Qi Dynasty awakened left a few people behind to continue observing and then proceeded toward Danyang Mountain.

Even Gu Changqing had not anticipated this development; his focus was entirely on his own body. He was immersed in the constant rise of spiritual energy within him. Half an hour after the Qi Dynasty forces arrived, he broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, and the meridians through which his spiritual energy circulated expanded further.

His blood energy and spiritual energy continued to surge like a river in a torrential downpour, flowing through him and stimulating every cell, causing his body to undergo a constant metamorphosis. As his strength increased, the power of his Blood Prison grew, expanding in scale.

As countless blood threads covered the surroundings like a sphere, a river of blood flowed, eroding and dissolving the piles of bones beneath the wall. Otherwise, the corpses of these monsters alone would have filled the space between the wall and the city floor a dozen times over.

Under these circumstances, Gu Changqing did not care about the consumption of spiritual energy. Among the incoming monsters, elite ones wielding weapons appeared from time to time. Without paying close attention, Gu Changqing was surrounded by several elites. One of them moved like a phantom, appearing behind Gu Changqing no matter how he turned. Even among martial artists, such footwork was astounding.

However, Gu Changqing did not need to look back. Countless blood threads danced behind him, and in a moment, the upper body of the monster melted away, leaving only its legs to fall to the ground and be devoured by the encroaching Blood Prison.

In the distance, Yan Hao and the guards had long since become numb. They now believed that Gu Changqing could truly deal with these hundreds of thousands of monsters alone. When facing a tide of monsters with limited individual strength, Gu Changqing’s ability was simply unsolvable.

"Do you think the Qi Dynasty will discover the situation here and head to Danyang Mountain overnight?" Yan Hao’s expression had completely relaxed as he stared at Gu Changqing’s position, asking Gao Wenxin.

"I don't know!" Gao Wenxin sat on the top of the watchtower, her fingers idly stroking a short blade.

"There must be more to life than this!" Yan Hao mused.

"Such as? Killing?" Gao Wenxin retorted.

"Forget it, just worry about your blade!" Yan Hao sighed. He felt that the Qi Dynasty forces were likely nearby, and if they hadn't appeared yet, they had probably already gone to Danyang Mountain. He hoped they would clear the way, yet he feared they would strip Danyang Mountain bare before he could arrive.

He knew well that the strength of the Qi Dynasty was something they could not resist. Even Chen Daoling was likely on the Qingjiang battlefield at that moment, watching from afar. But without absolute certainty, Chen Daoling would never make a move.

As the sky began to brighten, the spiritual energy in Gu Changqing's body reached another bottleneck. The next step was Foundation Establishment. Not yet prepared for that, Gu Changqing poured all his efforts into expanding his blood energy.

As the blood energy surged, his body swelled, and veins began to bulge across his skin. The energy within him roared like a tsunami. The sound of painful wailing echoed within him, carrying far enough to reach the ears of Yan Hao and the others.

"I think he is the real monster," a Sixth-Level Awakened guard couldn't help but say. Throughout the night, he had watched countless creatures throw themselves into that blood ball only to be consumed. If, as they had previously guessed, Gu Changqing grew stronger after devouring so many monsters, how terrifying would his power become?

Apart from Chen Daoling, it seemed no one would be able to suppress him.