When Han Yu opened his eyes again, it felt as though some kind of barrier had been shattered. It was a gentle, crisp sound, akin to raindrops on a lotus leaf, or a lone leaf falling in the mountain forest.

As he rose and attempted to activate his Wood Divine Power, the shadow of a giant tree, hundreds of feet tall, appeared behind him. In the next moment, it was lush and green, only a shadow, yet exuding a vast, majestic aura.

The only pity was that at such an incredible moment, there was no one around!

When Han Yu realized this, he was taken aback. He remembered that there had been a large crowd when he lost consciousness. Could he have been unconscious for too long?

"You were only unconscious for two days!"

The Artifact Spirit curled its lip, unable to resist reminding him.

"Where is everyone?"

Han Yu was extremely curious. Not only had everyone disappeared, but Mo Xiuwen had also left without saying a word. Moreover, everything here had been dismantled completely. What was going on?

On this matter, the Artifact Spirit pondered for a moment, "It seems something major happened in the Central Continent!"

What event could cause everyone to flee? Unable to restrain his curiosity, Han Yu headed to New Sea Stone City.

Meanwhile, at New Sea Stone City, Quan Xiaotong had a furrowed brow, appearing completely overwhelmed. Ling Wuce had already made several trips to the Government Office, and upon his last return, his expression was unusually grim.

"How is it?"

Quan Xiaotong stood up with both hands on the table, quickly speaking up.

Ling Wuce shook his head, his face ashen.

"It was sudden, impossible to withstand!"

Since yesterday, when a Communication Bird flew in, it caused an uproar here!

Inexplicably, across the Central Continent, powerful invaders have appeared, resulting in extremely severe casualties.

Whether cultivators or commoners, these powerful beings seemed to kill for the sake of killing.

"Not quite!"

Chasing Soul’s voice sounded from the side; he had been there all along, but unusually still, like a statue.

The two turned their heads in confusion.

Chasing Soul shook his head and began to explain.

"It’s not just needless slaughter!"

He didn’t even need to guess. He already knew it was the Yama Hall making a move.

Moreover, this massacre was strikingly similar to what the Minor Soul had done in the past; the only difference was that the Minor Soul was secretive, while now it was done openly.

There could only be one result behind this slaughter.

Sacrifice! Activate the array base!

"You’ve always wanted to know what the Yama Hall is planning in the Central Continent. You will probably find out soon."

"But you might not bear the weight of this truth!"

Chasing Soul spoke in a low tone. It was clear that the Yama Hall seemed to no longer be hiding, meaning that answers to the bewildering mysteries would soon emerge.

"Can you provide the locations of those array bases, Senior?"

After thinking for a moment, Ling Wuce suddenly spoke.

If they could know the locations in advance, could they make preparations?

"Don’t say I don’t know; even if I did, what could you do?"

Chasing Soul had little faith in them, and he truly did not know all the array base locations. At the time, the Minor Soul, with its limited knowledge, only knew a few places, and nothing more.

Even if these people in the Central Continent knew, what could they do; could they withstand it?

Given that even a small step by the Yama Hall left them helpless here, what more can be said of other issues.

"The best you can do is to ensure fewer people die!"

Chasing Soul’s words were harsh but irrefutab​le.

In fact, Quan Xiaotong was doing just that. The Nine Sects had already returned, mobilizing all available cultivators to minimize casualties. As for the Fifth Tower, it was operating fully to relocate civilians.

As of now, the Northern Border seems to be the safest location.

Capturing a messenger would be ideal, even if it just meant evacuating people from around the array bases in advance.

"Everything is happening too suddenly."

Quan Xiaotong, despite considering himself quite clever, was caught off guard in such a situation.

"Sudden? No, you find it sudden, but it’s just a millennium-old move by the other side."

Chasing Soul slowly shook his head.

Soon, another cultivator rushed in with a Communication Bird.

Quan Xiaotong opened the message to read it, his expression flickered before he let out a small sigh of relief.

"How is it?"

Ling Wuce, anxious, kept asking from the side.

Only then did Quan Xiaotong hand the message over to him, slowly responding, "Reports from a few places; another wave of unknown powerful beings is to intercept the others."

"Looks like the Celestial Dao Sect is involved now too."

Chasing Soul nodded, instantly identifying the identity of this wave of powerful beings.

It’s undeniable that it’s somewhat of a good thing, at least providing a moment to catch their breath.

Quan Xiaotong made a swift decision, ordering Ling Wuce, "Now, have Government Offices in all areas suspected of being array bases immediately organize the evacuation of civilians."

With the order, Ling Wuce dared not delay and hurriedly departed.

At this point, Chasing Soul suddenly felt a movement in his heart, glancing thoughtfully outside, his figure flickered, and in a flash, he was gone.

...

The Minor Soul had searched the Endless Sea Domain for quite some time without finding any trace of Chasing Soul.

Only belatedly did he realize how utterly wrong it was to project his thoughts onto the other.

If the other could understand his intentions, of course, he’d also know about the arrival of the Blue Glimmer Five Envoys. In that case, there’s no way he’d still be in the Endless Sea Domain.

The only place to hide now would be the Central Continent!

But just thinking about the Central Continent made the Minor Soul fret; there is someone there he’s equally reluctant to face.

So, he continued to hover in the seas outside the Central Continent, hesitating to advance.

In his mind, two distinct voices tangled and clashed, noisy beyond measure.

One voice said, why fear, could six not defeat one Han Yu? Perfect for revenge.

The other voice said, don’t go, this kid is extremely strange, haven’t you learned from all your previous defeats?

The two conflicting thoughts nagged incessantly, nearly giving him a splitting headache.

He seemed to somewhat understand why Chasing Soul had gone mad and separated from him before.

This could be nothing short of an immense torment.

While he was attempting to calm the various thoughts, a streak of light flashed past, almost instantly appearing before his six avatars.

The divided spirit was initially stunned, then filled with joy.

"You’re just in time!"

If it weren’t for his flesh being replaced by the Spiritual Treasure, losing the five senses of a normal person, all six avatars might have simultaneously wept with joy.

Do you know how hard I’ve been searching for you?

"I know!"

Chasing Soul scoffed, revealing the thoughts in the mind of the divided spirit.

He also wanted to eliminate the other, but the divided spirit always lingered in the Endless Sea, and he dared not venture too deeply again.

Now that the divided spirit has come to his senses and pursued him here, he has indeed waited quite hard.

In the current situation, if the divided spirit doesn’t kill Chasing Soul, he can’t explain things to Yama Hall.

Similarly, if Chasing Soul wants to fully become an independent person, he must eliminate a predecessor.

Originally of the same root, yet neither even bothers with the pretense of exchanging decorative words as both swiftly strike simultaneously...

...

"You finally came."

Quan Xiaotong stood up to greet Han Yu upon seeing him return.

One must say, this guy is the only one from Central Continent who is presentable, and he’s easy to please, as long as you can provide what a Qi Fortune Cultivator needs, everything can be discussed.

Han Yu was quite puzzled; unexpectedly, upon entering, the whole Sea Stone City was once again deserted, with even Chicken Feather Gall missing.

Could it be the third time organizing a mass escape of the populace?

How unfortunate! This wretched city was finally built up, and now it’s deserted again.

In fact, he could guess about ninety percent of it. If the battle line extends to the coast, indeed, the local populace must migrate.

However, the current situation is that the Chicken Feather Gall has led them into hiding in the mountains.

Quan Xiaotong explained everything briefly in a few words, and Han Yu remained silent after listening.

"Can we still exchange rewards for capturing those cultivators?"

Only after a long pause did Han Yu manage to blurt out this question.

Quan Xiaotong nearly choked, thinking to himself that while he was discussing the survival of Central Continent, Han Yu was talking about rewards for capturing. Are these two related?

If one stretches the connection a bit, it might seem relevant. If there truly are countless Qi Fortune Cultivators, perhaps Han Yu could indeed be hired to take out that group of people.

Unfortunately, it’s not feasible.

Quan Xiaotong sighed deeply, "To be honest, there don’t seem to be that many Qi Fortune Cultivators left."

Just like now, he can’t even bring them out.

However!

Quan Xiaotong implied, "Yama Hall is slaughtering the cultivators and the populace mercilessly. If the whole Central Continent is dead, who will consume your pills?"

Han Yu was taken aback by this statement, although he doubted the accuracy of the words, he was equally uncertain about Yama Hall’s lower limits.

If everyone were really dead, what would he do then?

Not to mention if everyone died out, some special pills must be consumed by cultivators, so even if all the cultivators died out, it wouldn’t work.

That would cut off his future!

Han Yu suddenly felt a toothache, sensing that he and Yama Hall were destined to be adversaries.

In this situation, it seemed he couldn’t ignore it.

The Mo Family had Mo Xiuwen, if something happened there, would he care?

Nanli Sword Studio had You Li, Unparalleled Tower had Ou Mingdong, the Dragon and Phoenix Palace had Bai Junya, the Southern Border was his hometown...

Counting it all, he wasn’t really all alone.

"I’m not asking you to sacrifice yourself, just hoping that within your capabilities, you can lend a hand to Central Continent."

Quan Xiaotong’s face was solemn, looking intently at Han Yu.

"Similarly, Central Continent will not fail you, and I will do my utmost to mobilize resources to meet your requirements."

From the beginning till now, Quan Xiaotong had never asked Han Yu to do anything under the guise of righteousness.

Even when he spoke, he left ample room for the other to refuse.

So, at this moment, he used only a bit of personal rapport to speak up, still giving Han Yu the space for choice.

After a moment of silence, in reality, it was continuous communication with the Artifact Spirit within the Sea of Consciousness.

"Your resentment towards the Tribulation Thunder is probably not small. Do you think they wouldn’t kill you in retaliation?"

The Artifact Spirit recounted Han Yu’s history, noting the countless cultivators from Yama Hall that had died at his hands.

If Central Continent could match the opponent in strength, Han Yu would have to turn around and cling to them for protection.

"So you’re conflicted about protecting Central Continent, feeling it strange, right?"

Han Yu nodded almost imperceptibly.

It definitely felt strange; according to Quan Xiaotong’s words, implicitly it’s asking him to help Central Continent if capable, but he wasn’t that noble.

He was merely an ordinary person who wished to refine pills and silently grow stronger every day.

Wearing the hat of saving Central Continent felt uncomfortable.

"Then save your customers! If everyone in Central Continent dies, who will consume pills?"

The Artifact Spirit decided to give him a change in perspective; that way, he could save as many as possible without putting too much pressure on himself.

Ultimately, one’s power is limited; both Han Yu and the Artifact Spirit could foresee this.

One day, when he truly runs out of options, if he wears the hat of saving Central Continent, continuous setbacks will likely be enough to bring him down.

Changing the perspective now is much better, approaching it with an effort-to-the-best mindset, even in the worst scenario, he could at least find solace.

"Hmm! This feels much better."

The strange feeling Han Yu had vanished, and only then did he turn back to look at Quan Xiaotong.

"Tell me! How do you wish for me to act?"

Quan Xiaotong, as though hearing heavenly music, became invigorated, rushing to the desk where the map was filled with dense markings.

"Chasing Soul once said, Yama Hall plans to sacrifice the cultivators and populace to commence the formation base. Once fully activated, the large array encircling Central Continent will be triggered."

At this moment, his mind rapidly adjusted, despite Celestial Dao Sect stepping in to block, insurance wasn’t guaranteed, and in such a vast Central Continent, there would be missed places.

Central Continent wants protection, and likewise mustn’t let Yama Hall succeed.

Even though the specific purpose of the large array wasn’t known, the brutality of just starting the formation base suggested it was undoubtedly something sinister.

"If possible, capture a tongue."

Quan Xiaotong’s mind gradually formed a clear plan. With Han Yu present, capturing a tongue wouldn’t be difficult. If they could know all the formation base locations in advance, at least clearing those places beforehand would be achievable.

As long as they couldn’t sacrifice, they’d have nothing to rely on to start the formation base.