New chapter 24

# Chapter 24 — The Crimson Threads

# Sun City — Central Plaza

The giant crimson eye remained suspended above the eastern mountains.

Watching silently.

Its presence alone distorted the sky around it while crimson clouds slowly rotated across the heavens like a massive vortex swallowing light itself.

And beneath that eye—

Sun City trembled.

---

Civilians flooded the streets in panic.

Some prayed desperately.

Some packed belongings trying to flee.

Others simply stared upward frozen in fear.

Because no one inside the city had ever witnessed something like this before.

---

Xu Yuan stood near the central plaza while the invisible crimson threads remained visible before his eyes.

They stretched across the city endlessly.

Connected to cultivators.

Buildings.

Formation towers.

Even the eastern forest itself.

And all of them—

led back toward the eye.

---

The resonance inside Xu Yuan’s chest continued pulsing heavily.

The system screen had disappeared again.

But the newly unlocked ability remained active somehow.

---

Lin Hao stood beside him staring upward blankly.

“…I miss normal disasters.”

Xu Yuan slowly looked sideways.

“What counts as a normal disaster?”

“Bandits.”

“Spirit beasts.”

“Falling off cliffs.”

“Anything without giant sky eyes.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

---

Nearby guards struggled maintaining order while formation masters reinforced the city barriers continuously.

One exhausted cultivator shouted from atop a damaged tower.

“The eastern barrier lost another thirty percent stability!”

Another yelled back angrily:

“Then stop shouting numbers and fix it!”

---

Even during apocalyptic situations—

cultivators still argued like workers repairing roofs during storms.

---

Xu Yuan quietly focused on the crimson threads again.

The longer he looked—

the stranger they became.

Some threads appeared thin and weak.

Others thick and powerful.

But several around the city already looked broken.

Connected to dead cultivators from yesterday’s battle.

---

Then—

Xu Yuan noticed something worse.

The crimson threads connected to civilians slowly darkened over time.

As if the giant eye above the mountains continuously drained something invisible from the city.

---

He frowned slightly.

“That thing is affecting everyone.”

Xia Yu immediately looked toward him.

“You can see something?”

Xu Yuan hesitated briefly.

Then quietly nodded.

“Threads.”

Lin Hao blinked.

“…You’ve definitely become strange.”

“That observation arrived several disasters late.”

---

Xu Yuan slowly pointed toward the eastern mountains.

“It’s connected to the city somehow.”

Xia Yu narrowed her silver eyes toward the sky.

Though she couldn’t see the threads—

she trusted Xu Yuan immediately.

---

Meanwhile—

inside the temporary command hall nearby—

multiple family elders and city cultivators argued intensely.

“We should evacuate the city!”

“And abandon thousands of civilians?”

“If the gate fully opens none of us survive anyway!”

---

Zhao Tianhe finally slammed his spear against the ground.

BOOM!

The entire hall quieted instantly.

“We hold Sun City.”

His voice remained firm despite visible exhaustion.

“If the corruption spreads beyond the eastern region, nearby cities fall next.”

No one argued afterward.

Because everyone understood he was right.

---

Outside—

Xu Yuan suddenly noticed one crimson thread becoming unstable nearby.

It connected to a wounded cultivator resting beside a medical station.

The thread darkened rapidly.

Twisting strangely.

---

Before Xu Yuan could warn anyone—

the cultivator suddenly screamed.

“AAGH!”

His body violently convulsed while crimson veins spread beneath his skin instantly.

Nearby healers immediately stepped backward in shock.

“What’s happening?!”

“The corruption—!”

---

BOOM!

Dark spiritual energy exploded from the cultivator’s body.

His eyes turned crimson instantly.

---

Panic spread throughout the plaza.

“Another corrupted one!”

“Kill him before he transforms completely!”

Several guards rushed forward immediately.

---

But before they reached him—

the corrupted cultivator suddenly looked directly toward Xu Yuan.

Then froze.

---

The crimson thread connecting him to the sky trembled violently.

And for one brief moment—

Xu Yuan instinctively understood something.

---

The threads weren’t simply connections.

They were control.

---

Then suddenly—

without thinking—

Xu Yuan reached toward the crimson thread before him.

The moment his fingers touched it—

BOOM!

Pain exploded through his mind violently.

---

Dark endless ruins flashed before his eyes again.

Ancient chains.

Black crystal oceans.

Countless crimson eyes opening within darkness.

And above all—

the giant crimson eye from the sky.

Watching him closely now.

---

Then—

a system notification appeared.

---

> Observe function activated

>

> Corrupted energy detected

>

> Temporary analysis available

---

Instantly—

information flooded Xu Yuan’s mind.

The crimson thread.

The corruption.

The spiritual control.

Everything briefly became clearer.

---

Without understanding why—

Xu Yuan instinctively pulled.

CRACK.

The crimson thread snapped apart instantly.

---

The corrupted cultivator collapsed immediately afterward.

The crimson veins faded rapidly beneath his skin while the violent spiritual energy dispersed into the air.

---

Silence spread across the plaza.

Everyone stared toward Xu Yuan.

Including the wounded cultivator himself.

---

One healer slowly blinked.

“…What just happened?”

Xu Yuan honestly had no idea himself.

---

Lin Hao looked emotionally exhausted again.

“I’m reaching the point where I stop questioning things.”

“That sounds mentally healthy.”

“No.”

“It sounds like survival.”

---

Even Xia Yu looked slightly surprised now.

Not fearful.

Just thoughtful.

Because she clearly sensed it too.

The moment Xu Yuan touched the thread—

something ancient reacted inside him.

---

Then suddenly—

high above the mountains—

the giant crimson eye moved.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

And for the first time—

it looked directly toward Xu Yuan.

---

BOOOOOOOM!

The entire sky shook violently.

Crimson clouds twisted wildly while countless threads across the city trembled simultaneously.

Several cultivators instantly collapsed coughing blood.

---

The eye had noticed him.

---

Xu Yuan’s chest resonance exploded painfully again.

And within his mind—

the cold ancient voice echoed louder than ever before.

> “The fragment resists…”

Then—

the softer female voice whispered urgently afterward.

> “Do not let it see your soul…”

---

The system screen flickered violently.

---

> Warning

>

> Ancient entity attention increasing

>

> Host exposure risk: High

>

> Recommendation:

>

> Survive

---

Xu Yuan stared at the final line blankly.

Then quietly muttered:

“…That’s not very helpful.”