Chapter 371: The Most Righteous and Awe-Inspiring Spell Between Heaven and Earth

Origin Internet Club, Jiuhua City Branch.

No matter how violently the storms raged outside, within these walls, it was always just as bustling.

"Ah... to think, when this old man first came to this shop, it was only this small." Nalan Hongwu leaned back against the sofa, gesturing with his hands, "I didn't expect it to have reached such a grand scale now."

"Hehe, Old Master, you haven't seen what it looked like when this shop first opened." Song Qingfeng laughed, "When I first arrived, that was what you'd call small—just four computers in the whole place, only four!"

"Back then, it was just me, and this dead fatty here." He pointed at Wang Tai, who sat to the side with his head buried in a bowl of instant noodles, and Liang Shi, "And Old Liang. There was only one game, 'Resident Evil'; if you wanted to play anything else, there wasn't any. How can it compare to now?"

"Exactly!" Lin Shao shouted loudly, "You all probably never experienced it, but back then, where were there any online games or gaming guilds? We all just played on our own!"

"Hahaha! Back then, the Boss played like an absolute god, so we just watched him play every single day."

"Are you implying this Boss doesn't play like a god now?" Owner Fang walked over, carrying a bowl of instant noodles.

"Speaking of guilds..." Lanyan sat nearby, her brow furrowing slightly, "Have you all noticed that Xiaobai, Qi Xian, and the others haven't been online for a long time?"

"Who?" Owner Fang was completely bewildered, "From the shop?"

"Yes." Lanyan spoke with a deep frown, "After you went to the Morning Star Sea, didn't you launch 'Legend'? We formed a guild and even recruited quite a few newcomers. But there were a few who were on really good terms with us, and they haven't been online for ages now."

She still remembered a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl named Xiaobai who got along splendidly with her; how could she just vanish without saying a word?

"Maybe they went to play other games." Owner Fang remarked.

"How is that possible?" Lanyan said, "It's truly bizarre; they haven't even logged into QQ Messenger."

"Now that you mention it..." Owner Fang mused doubtfully, "Our Defying the Heavens Online Gaming Guild seems to have a few newcomers who were complete rookies, too. When they joined, they swore to us they'd be online stably every day, but now there's not even a shadow of them."

"As the Guild Master, aren't you going to look into it?" Lanyan chided, "You are the leader, after all, aren't you?"

"...Where would I even go to ask?" Owner Fang wore a face of utter disdain, "Is this Boss expected to conduct door-to-door home visits one by one? Even if I wanted to, everyone met on the internet—who knows who anyone really is?"

"It's so annoying..." Lanyan complained, "That day, we clearly agreed that I'd carry her the next day. How could she just vanish out of nowhere when everything was fine?"

"Who are you talking about?" A young girl clad in pale blue robes stepped briskly and enthusiastically through the door, none other than Ye Xiaoye, with several cultivators from the Cloud Ocean Faction following close behind her, "What do you mean, vanished out of nowhere when everything was fine?"

"Just a few really nice newcomers in our guild. We played together for a while, and they used to chat so happily in the guild channel all the time." Lanyan explained, "But then, they suddenly disappeared."

"Suddenly disappeared?" Ye Xiaoye asked urgently, "Is it the kind where... the next day they inexplicably just don't come online, and you can't contact them on QQ Messenger, nor can you reach them via communication jades, as if they've completely gone missing?"

"How did you know?!" Not just Lanyan, but even Nalan Mingxue, Song Qingfeng, and the others turned their attention over instantly.

Ye Xiaoye said, "I don't know if it's the same thing, but do you remember my Senior Sister Zhou Hongying? She was the one who brought me to this shop for the very first time."

"You're not trying to say she went missing too, are you?"

"Not quite." Ye Xiaoye replied, "A while ago, Big Brother Bai Lang, and several cultivators who were with Senior Sister Zhou—those few Mages from the top sixteen of the Diablo individual tournament, do you remember them? I heard from Senior Sister Zhou that they were summoned back by their sect that day, and by the next day, they couldn't be contacted anymore."

"What?!" Not only Lanyan and her group, but even Owner Fang scented that the situation was beginning to grow serious.

"Did anyone look for them?" Dong Qingli and the others nearby all crowded closer, and even Nalan Hongwu and the rest of the grand figures knitted their brows slightly.

"Something isn't quite right about this..." Lan Mo, Nalan Hongwu, and the other great cultivators exchanged glances.

"How long ago did this happen?" Nalan Hongwu questioned.

"About half a month ago." Lanyan spoke up.

"Only half a month?" Owner Fang noted, "The timing doesn't seem to align. The ones in my guild have been gone for over a month; I just assumed they were short on funds lately and stopped coming."

"..."

Within the Taixi Faction.

It was entirely different from the Origin Internet Club.

For the vast majority of players at the Origin Internet Club, perhaps this was just another pleasant day passing by in a blur of gaming, just like any other.

But for the small handful of players trapped within the secret grounds of the Taixi Faction, they would likely have to endure yet another unimaginably dark day here.

This place was originally a training ground for the ascetic disciples of the Taixi Faction, but now, it had been specially modified. Restrictions and barriers sealed it completely; let alone flying out into the sky, it was impossible to escape even by digging a tunnel!

One by one, disciples from various sects were forced to wear ash-white "prisoner uniforms," depleting the spiritual energy within their bodies through extremely high-intensity training.

A middle-aged man dressed in pristine white robes, bearing an amiable and genial countenance, was the Taixi Faction cultivator responsible for disciplining them. Although Venerable Duyou was the mastermind behind the curtain, he naturally would not strike personally for many of these matters; instead, he left this cultivator, who practiced lightning arts and was known as Heavenly Thunder Child, to manage them in his stead.

"Lightning arts are the most righteous and awe-inspiring spells between heaven and earth!" Heavenly Thunder Child possessed a hooked nose, his face harboring a dark, sinister air as he addressed the gathered disciples of the various sects, "The Venerable placed me in charge of supervising you, so that I may use lightning arts at any moment to purge the vile poison from your bodies!"

His somber gaze locked onto a disciple tied to a torture pillar, "To prevent the vile poison within your bodies from causing trouble and rendering you unable to control yourselves, we of the Taixi Faction will have someone watching you twelve double-hours a day. If you truly cannot control your inner addiction to the vile poison,"

He pointed at the disciple on the pillar, "then I can only help you myself."

He formed hand seals with both hands, and immediately, countless bolts of pale blue lightning struck violently against the copper pillar behind that disciple. In the very next instant, everyone heard a streak of agonizing, blood-curdling screams!

Those who could originally become disciples of the major sects were naturally all exceptionally talented and bursting with spiritual aura. Yet at this very moment, one by one, their hollow eyes looked on; hearing those screams, they did not even seem to possess the courage to steal a glance. Trembling in fear, like the walking dead, they continued their spiritual energy depletion training.

Across the azure sky, a flock of birds swept past. Many raised their heads, looking up at the birds in the sky with a profound sense of envy.

"You should have all heard by now! Today, a batch of disciples whose vile poison has been successfully purged have already been permitted to return to their respective sects under the leadership of the elders." Heavenly Thunder Child declared, "If you cooperate well with this Master's treatment, perhaps one day you will be just like them, returning to your sects!"

A spark of life ignited in their eyes, only to dim into darkness almost instantly. Perhaps what they truly wished for was: "Someone, please save us..."

"Sister Lanyan... I miss you all so much..." A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl, her eyes brimming with tears, stared at the high walls covered in restrictions, thinking in utter despair, "Someone, please save us..."