Chapter 186: The Whole Audience Shocked!

The sobering thought of the staggering, catastrophic losses he might endure flashed through his mind.

Even a man of Gu Ruilong’s caliber could not suppress the sudden, visceral tremor of terror that seized his heart.

Yet, catastrophic as the financial ruin might be, it was not the most jarring detail; what truly baffled him was that the boy had only just awoken as a Reincarnator the previous year. To ascend to a rank-six martial artist within a single circle of the seasons was astounding enough, but to possess such dread potency within that echelon, to ruthlessly orchestrate one lethal counter-kill after another, defied all reason.

No matter how one scrutinized the facts, it bordered on the utterly incomprehensible.

That boy's very being—

In light of the incident where Ye Liuli had gunned down Lin Guochang, Han Hao summarily placed her on an extended leave of absence, banishing her from the precinct out of an acute dread that she might snap and commit yet another volatile excess.

The Master of the Drizzle Sword bolted upright from the cluster of entwined maidens, startling one awake; she offered a petulant, soft buffet against his chest in mild protest.

"We welcome the return of our Monarch!" a demon sovereign intoned, dropping to one knee with bowed head, his diabolical eyes burning with an intense, crimson luminescence.

"So, you are that mysterious master!" and then the darkness rushed in to claim him, his body collapsing heavily onto the frigid floorboards as his breath departed forever.

"Liuli, are you truly abandoning me?" His pained eyes locked onto the silhouette of Ye Liuli’s retreating figure in the photograph, his inner world dissolving into a bleak landscape of desolation and panic, knowing with awful certainty that she was slipping from his grasp.

Thus the days bled into one another in monotonous succession, until a sudden dawn broke when the space enveloping Lu Fan erupted with seven distinct, primordial forces: raging blizzards of frost, the scorching glare of a solar blaze, and a sky that plunged into pitch blackness as tempestuous winds whipped up stones to dance in a wild vortex around him.

Huo Sinian was too deeply absorbed to catch Ye Liuli’s words, his hand still tracing and scribbling feverishly upon the parchment; merely glancing at the dense, chaotic labyrinth of letters and symbols gave Ye Liuli a throbbing headache.

Tang Hai listened to Xie Tian's revelation, the shock causing him to spray a mouthful of wine into the air before turning an anxious, trembling gaze toward Xie Tian.

Yao Jun naturally harbored his own suspicions; within the confines of the village, the man who bore the deepest grudge against him, the one who craved his demise above all others, was Li Dafu, rendering him the prime suspect for the arson.

Ding Yizhong, Dan Tuo, and Yang Kun’s security detail waded into the torrent, supporting and shoving the inflatable raft as they hurtled downstream at a breakneck pace.

"Haha, I think I've finally caught on, I can swim on my own now!" Zhao Mu called out to Zhang Ling, his voice bright with pleasant surprise.

"I did not... there is no need to be so considerate of me, truly, your happiness is all that matters," St. Pious murmured to Lan Jing'er with a gentle smile, using the ancient tongue of creation.

"Mr. Zhang, I beg of you, save me!" Ouyang Qing finally cast aside the last remnants of her shame and pride, rushing forward in her near-naked state to lock her arms tightly around Zhang Mingyu’s, pressing them hard against her chest.

Ziyan stepped forward with deliberate slowness and seized his shattered arm; whether by cruel design or sheer indifference, her grip forced him to gasp sharply for air as rivers of sweat poured down his face.

This hour of madness was orchestrated not merely to annihilate the foundational patriarch of the Buddhist sect, but to plunder every sacred relic under their banner, hoarding them away with that wretched, vulgar man to accumulate a vast reserve of energy values; only then could Ji Changfeng truly plunge the vast, wild continent into absolute chaos and fish for fortune in the muddied waters.

And yet, this very mortal whom he held in such utter contempt was now intertwined in an intimate, breathless embrace with the Demon Princess.

To enter the inner sanctum is to be deemed a master, but to fashion a work of such supreme elegance is to cross the very threshold of a grandmaster. This commendation by Li Lincan could not possibly have been more profound.

A murderous glint flashed within Zhang Mingyu's eyes as his mystical third eye slowly sealed shut; in the absolute next heartbeat, he had stepped across the empty void to loom directly over the spires of the Jinhua Temple.

Whether it was a quest that desecrated the memories of the ancestors or any other bizarre trial, one fundamental truth remained: a man had to fill his belly before he could dare to face the world.

A surge of resentment rippled through Chen Chaozi as he stared at the garment, but wishing to keep his true identity cloaked in secrecy, he reluctantly donned the ridiculous superhero costume.

Zhan Liuliu gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head before returning to his bunk to assume the cross-legged posture for his meditative cultivation. Zhan Liuliu was the strongest among them, standing in some respects as their venerable master; seeing him apply himself with such relentless rigor, the others could hardly justify their own indolence and duly returned to their beds to immerse themselves in their training.