Zhou Feng died.

Zhou Huai manipulated Moria, quietly standing in front of that gradually cooling corpse without saying a word.

The wind blew across the ruins, whipping up dust and the smell of blood.

Once upon a time, he thought Zhou Feng was a coward.

In order to curry favor with the Liu Family, he could watch his own biological son get bullied and driven out of the house.

He could even stand on the opposite side of Zhou Huai for the sake of Liu Yuru and her son.

Now it seemed that this man had simply hidden everything too deeply.

He had his own forbearance, his own hot-blooded spirit, and his own revenge.

But he was equally deeply guilty.

Slaughtering the Liu Family's elites, triggering the ruins' beast tide, and dragging hundreds of thousands of innocent lives in the entire Donghai City into the abyss.

Everything he did was merely wanting to rely on the power of the Divine Artifact to smash the cage of fate fastened around himself and the Zhou Family.

Yet his methods appeared so ridiculous and powerless in front of truly massive forces.

mortals who vainly attempt to master Divine Power will ultimately be backlashed by Divine Power.

"Master."

A member of the Evernight Guild plucked up the courage to step forward, breaking the dead silence.

"The Sakura Country people here have been completely annihilated; how should we proceed next?"

Zhou Huai forcibly reeled back his chaotic thoughts.

He took a deep breath; the Heaven-Suppressing Seal was already in hand, and the purpose of this trip had been achieved.

It was time to leave.

"Retreat."

Just as he spat out a single word, that subordinate spoke up cautiously once more.

"Master, there are still some survivors from the Zhou Family here; how should they be disposed of?"

Zhou Huai looked over following his gaze.

Amidst the ruins, a dozen or so survivors huddled together, trembling.

The Zhou Family, which originally had over a hundred people, now had fewer than twenty left, and everyone was injured, their faces filled with terror and numbness.

As his gaze swept across the crowd, an aged figure sitting limply on the ground caused his pupils to contract slightly.

Zhou Ting.

His own grandfather.

This former head of the Zhou Family who had calculated everything now had a dull gaze and an ashen face, as if all his spirit and vitality had been sucked out in an instant.

The secrets of the Zhou Family, the truth of the ruins, and that so-called "Mr. Duan".

Zhou Feng was dead, and he was perhaps the only person who knew the whole truth.

"Take all of them with us." Zhou Huai's voice was icy without a shred of emotion.

"Yes."

The subordinate immediately nodded and arranged manpower to take away those Zhou Family survivors whose guts had long been frightened out of them, dragging them away like cargo.

...

When the more than four hundred people of the Evernight Guild returned to the guild base, they hadn't even had time to catch their breath.

Hoo——!!!

A sharp, piercing alarm sound that tore through the sky unexpectedly resounded through the entire Donghai City!

The hearts of all members within the base tightened abruptly.

This was the alarm for a beast tide attack!

Before every beast tide arrival, Donghai City would sound an alarm to summon all Classer to head to the city walls for support.

But this time's alarm sound was completely different from the past.

"It is the highest-level crimson alarm!"

"Good heavens! Ever since Donghai City was established hundreds of years ago, this alarm has rung for the very first time!"

"Beast tide! The beast tide is coming!"

Panic instantly spread among the crowd.

Through the huge French windows, one could see that the city's scene had completely fallen into chaos.

On the streets, countless Classer rushed out from buildings, their faces filled with solemnity and determination.

In the sky, streaks of light flashed past rapidly; those were flying-type Classer rushing to the city walls at the fastest speed.

The entire Donghai City, like a rusted war machine, after being silent for hundreds of years, was forcibly awakened, emitting an unbearable roar.

Just at this moment, two figures rushed into the hall at high speed.

They were Jasmine and Qin Ming who had gone out to investigate.

"Master!"

Jasmine stepped forward quickly, reporting at an extremely fast speed.

"There are currently two available one-way teleportation arrays in the city, located in the Du Family and the Ye Family respectively!"

"The destination for both is Jiangning City!"

Qin Ming followed closely behind, his expression equally ugly.

"Master, the people sent outside the city for reconnaissance have sent back news!"

"The exit from the Secret Realm to the ground has been cleared by the exotic beast army!"

"It is estimated that in one hour, the first wave of the beast tide army will arrive beneath Donghai City!"

One hour!

Time was running short.

Zhou Huai no longer hesitated.

He closed his eyes, and his consciousness instantly returned to the bedroom on the third floor.

Lying on the bed, Zhou Huai slowly opened his eyes.

It was time to leave this precarious small city.

"Uncle Fu."

He called out softly.

Uncle Fu, who had been guarding outside the door all along, immediately pushed the door open and entered, anxiety written on his face.

"Young Master, you're awake! Outside... it seems something major has happened outside!"

"I know."

Zhou Huai nodded.

"Help me change my clothes."

Although Uncle Fu was puzzled in his heart, he still complied and nimbly changed Zhou Huai into a clean set of black martial attire.

When Uncle Fu pushed Zhou Huai's wheelchair and appeared in the spacious and bright hall of the Evernight Guild...

The entire hall instantly plunged into a dead silence.

Everyone's gazes subconsciously focused on the thin youth sitting in the wheelchair.

Confusion.

Incomprehension.

Bewilderment.

However, the next second.

The moment their gazes made contact with Zhou Huai's profound eyes...

A tremor and a sense of submission originating from the depths of the soul instantly spread through all their limbs and bones!

It was the Master!

It was the Master whom they followed, believed in, and revered like a deity!

Even though their appearances were completely different, that unique soul coercion could absolutely not be wrong!

This seemingly frail youth sitting in the wheelchair was the true body of their Master!

"Thump!"

Not knowing who reacted first, they dropped heavily onto one knee.

Immediately afterwards, it was like knocking over a row of dominoes.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Inside the hall, nearly six hundred powerful Classer, regardless of gender, regardless of high or low status, at this moment, simultaneously knelt on one knee toward the youth in the wheelchair!

Their movements were uniform and neat, their eyes fanatical and devout.

Jasmine widened her beautiful eyes, her red lips slightly parted, unable to speak for a moment.

She was among the earliest batch of people to follow the Master.

She had imagined the Master's true appearance countless times.

Perhaps a silent and reliable powerhouse like Da Yi, or a strategist holding all the cards like Zhuge Kongming.

The one thing she never expected was...

...that the Master's true body would be so young.

Even... somewhat excessively handsome.

Yet it was precisely such an inconveniently mobile youth who had established the Evernight Guild capable of stirring up the winds and clouds, with powerhouses gathered under his command.

This huge contrast not only did not make her feel disappointed, but instead surged an even stronger sense of awe and worship within her heart!

"Greetings, Master!"

Shouts like roaring mountains and churning seas gathered into a torrent that resounded throughout the entire hall.

Zhou Huai sat in the wheelchair, calmly accepting the worship of everyone.

This was the first time he appeared before everyone in his true identity.

In his heart, an unprecedented sense of heroic pride unexpectedly surged.

He originally didn't want to expose his true appearance so quickly.

But now was an extraordinary time.

Donghai City was precarious day by day.

Naturally, it was impossible for his true body to continue staying in this city destined for destruction.

Zhou Huai slowly raised his hand and gently pressed it downward.

The noisy shouts came to an abrupt halt.

Zhou Huai's gaze swept across the crowd; his voice wasn't loud, but it was clearly transmitted to everyone's ears.

"Everyone, set out!"

"Follow me to the Ye Family!"

The icy command was issued.

The members of the Evernight Guild, like a silent black dragon, left the guild base.

The streets were already in complete chaos.

The sky was gradually darkening, and countless Classer rushed out from the buildings with determination on their faces, gathering into torrents of people and running wildly toward the city walls in all four directions of the city.

The flames of guarding their homeland burned in their eyes, and the hot blood of battle surged through their bodies.

However, the Evernight Guild's team was like a counter-current.

Amidst this torrent rushing toward death, they silently and firmly Advanced forward in the opposite direction.

The team's speed was not fast, yet it carried a solemnity and order that was out of tune with the surrounding environment.

Along the way, countless Classer rushing to the city walls looked at this strange team with astonished gazes.

"Hey! Wang Hao!"

A familiar shout caused a young guild member in the team to stiffen.

He turned his head and saw a sweat-soaked youth panting as he waved at him.

That was his high school classmate.

"Where are you guys going?"

That classmate ran to his side, with a bit of perplexity on his face.

"The city walls are over there! Aren't you going to assemble?"

The expression on the face of the guild member called Wang Hao was somewhat complex.

He pulled out a slightly stiff smile.

"We have other missions."

"You guys go ahead first, stay safe."

Hearing this, his classmate showed a knowing expression and heavily patted his shoulder.

"Understood! It's all for Donghai City!"

"Once we beat back the beast tide, you and I brothers will have a good drink together!"

Finished speaking, he stopped lingering, turned around and merged into the surging crowd, his back quickly disappearing from sight.

The smile on Wang Hao's face slowly faded.

He looked in the direction where his classmate disappeared, a trace of sorrow flashing in his eyes.

Beat back the beast tide?

Have another drink?

He knew very well that there would no longer be such a time.

His classmate, along with the vast majority of people in this city, would turn into cold corpses tonight.

Wang Hao withdrew his gaze, silently turned around, and caught up once again with that silently advancing team.