The sunlight was blazing, but a chill crept up Chu Xiuâs spine.
He stared at the Hexagram insignia without saying a word.
The man opposite him stood up and patted his body. Like Chu Xiu, he wore a mask, and his voice, altered, came from beneath the mask: "Brother, according to the rules, this prey was mine first. You should find another one."
Chu Xiu remained silent.
The man seemed displeased: "Hey buddy, what do you mean by this, targeting your own people?"
Chu Xiu finally spoke: "Do you know how many âExtreme Daoâ have come in this time?"
"Probably quite a few. This world seems a bit special, and my master values it greatly."
"How do I contact the others?" Chu Xiu asked again.
"How would I know? Who among us âExtreme Daoâ would ever reveal our whereabouts?" The manâs tone turned impatient, "Just be straight with me, are you giving up this prey or not?"
"Heh," Chu Xiu let out a low laugh and dashed forward in the next moment!
Behind him, the Celestial Demon Hand frenzied at the same time, resembling two heavy hammers descending from the sky!
"Boom!"
With a loud bang, the spot where the Frenzied Celestial Demon Hand struck shattered a whole layer of concrete, large chunks crashing down and revealing the bent rebar beneath, while the man in the black robe deftly dodged, narrowly escaping, cursing angrily: "I knew it, you âExtreme Daoâ are all crazy! Attacking even your own! But do you think youâre the only one with a âBlessingâ?"
Saying this, he turned his wrist and a horn as long as an arm appeared, and he blew it forcefully.
"Woomâ"
It sounded like an ancient command. At the moment the horn was heard, Chu Xiu trembled and felt a fear rising from the depths of his soul, instinctively wanting to turn and flee!
Fortunately, this impulse was halted in a split second by Chu Xiu, whose exceedingly high Mental Attribute quickly resisted the hornâs influence.
"Bah, trash!" The shadow spat, not wanting to tangle with Chu Xiu, and turned to leave, but suddenly several phantom childrenâs arms stretched from beneath him, grabbing tightly at his legs!
A blurred phantom appeared, it was the Fierce Ghost!
An Earth Binding Technique of moderate level held him firmly in place. He snorted coldly, seeming to use some skill, his Power increased instantly, and a backward thrust allowed him to break free, but more hands grasped his legs!
One Fierce Ghost after another emerged, making the figure show an unbelievable expression. Panic set in, and he hurriedly said, "Wait, brother, letâs talk this out..."
However, what greeted him was another blow from the Frenzied Celestial Demon Hand descending from above!
"Bang!"
With a loud crash, the figure was smashed flat, but instead, Chu Xiu frowned.
The sensation wasnât right.
He hadnât used his full strength with that punch, intending only to smash the figure half-dead to extract information about the so-called "Extreme Dao."
The familiar Hexagram insignia preoccupied Chu Xiu quite a bit.
But the moment he struck the figure, it shattered like porcelain with a "crack."
Chu Xiu used a spear to lift the robe, revealing that the figure had disappeared, leaving only broken fragments of human skin color scattered on the ground.
"Was there a protective artifact?"
Chu Xiu clicked his tongue lightly, his expression growing more serious.
This man was already formidable on his own; three or four of them would be enough to cause trouble for Chu Xiu, and gathering seven or eight together, not even Chu Xiuâs Ghostly Legion could guarantee an easy victory. If there were more than ten, Chu Xiu would be fighting for his life.
Not to mention, he seemed to have some eerie abilities, probably what he referred to as "Blessing."
The means by which he escaped from Chu Xiuâs grasp did not seem like something a person at this Tier could possess.
However, although he escaped with his life, the equipment he hadnât managed to store in the Storage Space all exploded out.
Chu Xiu stepped forward and picked up the long knife with which heâd attacked Chu Qin before and the horn he claimed to be the "Blessing."
The long knife was nothing noteworthy, a Warrior Tier treasure weapon, but the horn was intriguing.
[Oublaisâ Shivering Horn]
[Tier: Warrior]
[Quality: Perfect]
[Attribute One: Can link up to one hundred creatures.]
[Attribute Two: All creatures that hear the horn sound will receive a Fear attack with a strength of 2.0; the closer the distance, the stronger the effect, with a maximum boost of +1200%, linked creatures are immune to this attack.]
[Evaluation: One of the mass-produced Demon Artifacts by Outer Realm Demon Oublais, possessing extremely strong large-scale control capabilities. Collecting Oublaisâ Charge Horn and Oublaisâ Tenacity Horn allows synthesis into the Legendary Quality equipment "Oublaisâ Roar."]
"So there really is a connection with the Outer Realm Demons."
This evaluation of the Equipment confirmed Chu Xiuâs suspicions.
Thinking back to the Warrior Tier Trial, that Pain Incarnation also wanted him as a subordinate.
"Looking at it this way, these Outer Realm Demons have actually infiltrated humanity? I donât know when it started, but thereâs no news online."
"And from that personâs words, itâs clear that this Corpse Demon World seems to be quite significant. Iâm afraid heâs not the only subordinate to have entered this world."
"I wonder what goals these Demon Gods have and how strong the Blessing they bestow is."
Chu Xiu pondered silently in his heart.
After a while, he couldnât help but shake his head and sigh, "The situation is becoming more and more complicated."
Without further thought, he focused his attention on the Attributes of the horn.
This horn is an extremely rare piece of Equipment with large-scale control capabilities!
Although itâs not very useful in one-on-one High Tier battles, it is very helpful in large-scale group battles!
If he had had such a horn during the extermination of the nest, his Ghostly Legionâs losses would have been greatly reduced.
What caught Chu Xiuâs attention even more were the other two horns he heard about in the evaluation!
"Charge Horn and Tenacity Horn... they sound like Equipment that buffs teammates."
This made Chu Xiu quite tempted, as any Equipment that provides group buffs is loved by the Summoning Class, because the large number of Summoned Creatures can multiply the buffâs effects!
And Chu Xiuâs Ghostly Legion urgently needed such Equipment!
Not to mention that gathering all three horns could synthesize a piece of Legendary Quality Equipment!
"As long as that person continues participating in world tasks, weâll definitely meet again sooner or later. By then, Iâll capture them and question them thoroughly."
"I donât believe they have many life-saving Artifacts left!"
With that thought settled, Chu Xiu turned his attention to where Chu Qin had been. The person was nowhere to be seen, leaving behind only a trail of blood on the ground, suggesting that Chu Qin had run off during their fight.
With a kick of his legs, Chu Xiu followed the blood trail and soon caught up with the stumbling, fleeing Chu Qin. She was severely wounded, and the blade that had struck her had a Bleeding effect, which would have caused an Ordinary person to pass out from blood loss by now.
Feeling Chu Xiuâs presence, Chu Qin immediately turned with her sword in hand, gritting her teeth and looking at him warily.
"I mean no harm," Chu Xiu said, tossing a healing Artifact her way.
Chu Qin took it, the wariness in her eyes diminishing considerably, yet she still held her sword across her chest, "Youâre not from Extreme Dao?"
"You know âExtreme Daoâ?" Chu Xiu was a bit surprised, then shook his head, "Today is the first time Iâve ever heard of this organization."
This finally put Chu Qin at ease, knowing that if the masked man in front of her wanted to harm her, he wouldnât need to bother with such pretense.
"Thank you for your help, sir. Those âExtreme Daoâ people are all damn lunatics!"
Chu Qin spat, forcing herself to stand, but her face was pale with pain, and even with the healing Artifact, her wounds were not easy to recover from.
"Let me take you back. You can also tell me about âExtreme Daoâ on the way."
As Chu Xiu spoke, the Celestial Demon Hand appeared beside him, lifting Chu Qin up.
"Thank you. I am Chu Qin from Jiangcheng First High School. If you need anything in the future, feel free to find me."
She knew Chu Xiu wore a mask because he didnât want anyone to know his identity, so she didnât ask further questions.
However, she was secretly curious about who this powerful figure emerging on this Abyss expedition might be.
Chu Xiu didnât say much either. Using the Celestial Demon Hand to carry Chu Qin, he hurried toward the base.
On the way, Chu Qin told him about âExtreme Daoâ.
According to Chu Qin, itâs a newly emerged organization, with members who believe in survival of the fittest. They use various traps and schemes to indiscriminately hunt weaker Awakened, seizing their resources.
The reason Chu Qin knew about this organization was that an Extreme Dao member, under the guise of leading a dungeon, had brutally killed seven students from Jiangcheng First High School and was still at large.
Given that this person could lead a Corpse Demon World dungeon, they must be one of the newly Awakened students who had just passed their Trials and were most likely blending in with the Ordinary students, returning to the Abyss together.
Zhang Qingshan and Chu Qin had both joined the government forces, so they were also keeping an eye out for this issue to assist the investigators.
"Based on recent investigations, this force is not just a simple gathering of murderers but acts with discipline and organization. Though theyâve only been around for less than three months, theyâve already caused numerous tragedies nationwide, drawing significant attention from the state."
Chu Qin said, her expression growing increasingly serious.
"Itâs said that their real goal is to revert human society to the âBlack Ageâ when the Abyss first descended."