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It’s here.

A series of hurried footsteps, accompanied by heavy, painful breaths, broke the dead silence within the force field as they drew nearer.

Under the dim streetlight’s halo, a group of figures stumbled into view.

About forty people, each in a wretched state, with everyone wounded.

Those with severed limbs had blood soaking half their bodies, and those with pierced chests could only move with the support of companions.

More people bore wounds deep enough to expose bone, their breaths feeble, eyes filled with the shock of surviving catastrophe and bone-deep fatigue.

Their combat uniforms were of varied styles.

Covered in blood and dust, distinctly the Desolate Bone Corps’ standard issue.

Leading the group was an old captain Fang Qingyu recognized.

One of his arms hung limply, corroded by some kind of erosive energy, flesh and blood mutilated, bones visible, blood dripping continuously from his fingers, tracing a broken line behind him.

The previously stooped figure now stood upright.

His murky old eyes were bloodshot from severe pain and blood loss.

When this group of defeated soldiers rushed into the Taikang Road area and saw Fang Qingyu leaning alone against the convenience store’s entrance, they erupted with their last bit of strength, like drowning men grasping their final lifeline, accelerating toward him.

The old captain led the charge, still seven or eight steps from Fang Qingyu.

He suddenly lifted his head, his gaze anxiously sweeping over Fang Qingyu.

However, upon making eye contact with Fang Qingyu’s raised eyes...

The old captain’s body instantly froze.

His steps halted immediately.

Those eyes...

Were no longer the molten gold-like, fierce and commanding vertical pupils he remembered.

Instead, it was a deep starry sky.

The pitch-black base swallowed all light like an abyss, with countless fragmented and dazzling silver light dots slowly circulating, flickering brilliantly.

Just a fleeting moment of eye contact.

"Fang... Captain Fang?!"

The old captain exclaimed in shock, his voice altered by surprise and pain.

The person before him exuded a more profound and restrained aura compared to their last meeting.

But the oppressive feeling from those eyes was at least ten times stronger!

Had his Martial Artist System also stepped into Tier Three?!

And certainly not an ordinary Tier Three.

Fang Qingyu’s gaze calmly swept over the group.

Finally, it landed on the old captain’s face, pale from blood loss, a faint, inscrutable smile curling at his lips:

"Old Captain, where are they?"

The old captain was startled by Fang Qingyu’s eerily calm gaze.

But at the moment of life and death, there was no time to ponder.

He jolted back to his senses, suppressing the turbulent waves within and the piercing pain in his arm.

With his relatively intact arm, he sharply pointed to the end of the street behind him, his voice hoarse with urgency:

"They’re here! Right behind, closing in tightly!!"

The words barely fell!

"Boom——!!!"

As if to verify his words.

At the street’s end, the border of the dim streetlight’s illuminated area was instantly engulfed like ink dripping into clear water by a surging black tide.

Uniformly clad in black robes, figures silently filled the wide street.

Spreading from the ground to the walls of buildings on both sides.

The number was overwhelming, at least over a hundred strong.

At the forefront of this black tide.

Were four figures advancing boldly, like a sharp prow cutting through turbulent waves.

With just one glance.

Fang Qingyu recognized who they were.

Divine Bone Martial Saints akin to Shi Hao, their presence extremely palpable.

And behind them, over twenty figures followed with similarly formidable auras.

Uniformly Tier Three Martial Saints or Apostles.

Behind them was a large group of elite Tier Two forces, numbering in the dozens.

Over twenty Tier Threes.

Along with four Divine Bone Martial Saints.

Plus dozens of Tier Twos.

The Celestial Punishment Association’s force mobilized to exterminate the remnants of the Desolate Bone Corps...

The one-time mobilization was terrifying in its scale.

"Heh..."

A very light chuckle escaped Fang Qingyu’s lips.

He turned, looking at the old captain and his group of battered soldiers, his tone flat and unemotional:

"You all retreat first, back off a bit. Leave this to me."

The old captain instinctively wanted to speak.

But upon seeing Fang Qingyu’s gaze, he swallowed his words back down.

"Alright, Captain Fang, be careful."

The old captain suppressed the turbulent waves in his heart, gritting his teeth as he nodded, then shouted at those behind him: "Retreat! Everyone fall back! Give Captain Fang space!"

He led the remaining troops, stumbling backward rapidly into the depths of the street behind.

But they didn’t move too far away, only pulling back around a hundred meters before stopping.

With their backs against the cold walls, they panted nervously, their eyes fixed on the lone figure facing the black tide ahead.

At this point, they were in the same boat as Fang Qingyu.

If Fang Qingyu died, they would also die.

They couldn’t afford not to be tense.

Fang Qingyu no longer looked at them.

His gaze returned to the surging black tide.

The faint hint of a smile at his lips completely vanished.

Then he stepped forward.

Buzz!

The solid ground underfoot silently cracked, with a web-like pattern of fissures spreading out several meters.

Next came the second step, the third step...

Fang Qingyu’s pace was not fast.

But with each step he took, the aura around him rose like a dormant volcano suddenly awakening with a roar.

Dark red near black, glowing with countless silvery star points, tribulation crystals emerged and spread from beneath his skin as if alive.

In the blink of an eye, they covered his entire body.

The sharp-edged crystals refracted cold and dazzling starlight under the convenience store’s lights, outlining perfect muscle lines.

As if he was donning battle armor forged from stars and molten rock.

Simultaneously, pale azure Qi Force spewed out from his acupoints like awakened spirit serpents, coiling around him.