"Chapter 86: Disease"

"Being engulfed in the world of the Path of Life, Chen Zijin felt as though many days had passed, even half a lifetime."

"But in reality, in the land of exile, he was engulfed for less than a day."

"This duration was so short that when Chen Zijin emerged from the collapsing world, he directly encountered the third dominion-level devourer that had been hunting him in addition to the Path of Life and Fear."

"Clearly, this devourer hadn’t managed to infiltrate the Path of Life like Fear did, but it was unwilling to give up the chance to pursue and devour Chen Zijin so easily. Thus, it waited on the spot, hoping to engulf Chen Zijin in a desperate escape or even to see him completely devoured."

"What it awaited was an unscathed Chen Zijin, whose aura was even stronger than when he was being pursued."

"So strong that the lurker devourer felt an urge to turn tail and flee."

"But it was already too late—"

"Freeze!"

"Upon seeing the devourer, Chen Zijin couldn't help but curl his lips."

"Isn't this another advanced walking energy bar?"

"Fiend! Take this blow from me!"

"Shouting so, a golden energy staff appeared in Chen Zijin's hand, striking directly at the devourer with a dazzling golden light."

"Boom—"

With just one strike, the enormous monster bristling with spikes wailed in agony as its sharp spikes couldn’t withstand the terrible blow and shattered into pieces.

What terrified the devourer even more was that its shattered spikes quickly turned into dust and were completely absorbed by the golden staff.

This golden staff, like the golden curved blade before it, has the ability to absorb energy from its surroundings.

Then, this opportunistic dominion-level devourer was relentlessly pursued by Chen Zijin wielding his golden staff, beaten to death blow by blow.

"[Despicable... Why? How?]"

The devourer expressed its indignation and frustration incoherently.

This human was clearly not this powerful before, not this formidable during the chase!

Moreover, their senses did not warn them that the human they were pursuing was this strong.

How could all three of them, being dominion-level devourers, be counter-devoured by the same human?

"[This is... unbearable! Something’s... wrong with you!]"

Chen Zijin delivered the final blow with a vigorous swing.

Then he chuckled, "Oh, you’ve noticed that, have you?"

He stowed away the golden staff as a silver light flickered briefly in his left eye, pinpointing the core of the devourer.

Then, transforming his hand into a claw, he directly seized that unexpectedly clear and translucent core.

Before the devourer's unwillingness to die could fully manifest, Chen Zijin added another line.

"If I were normal, would that sensing trash go crazy for me, bang its head against the wall for me?"

Only before its consciousness faded did this opportunist devourer grasp the meaning of those words, issuing a final roar of rage at being used as cannon fodder.

Echoing through heaven and earth.

At this moment, the surroundings returned to silence and darkness, no longer chased by devourers, nor was there any questioning voice from the ruler of Jinri City.

There was a momentary peace to enjoy.

However, this tranquility was quickly replaced by an indescribable sense of being watched, filled with intense malice.

Chen Zijin suddenly looked up.

In the pitch-black sky, he sharply caught sight of a crimson giant eye.

Even though the giant eye concealed itself back into the darkness in a blink, he had indeed locked gazes with It.

The Eye of Omnipotence.

In the next instant, Chen Zijin's figure swiftly vanished into the darkness, completely disappearing.

However, he could still sense the extensive energy oppression and scanning.

Moreover, it seemed that devourers were converging from all directions.

The youth silently sneered.

Then, he pulled out the [Shortcut] card.

The best way to hide a droplet of water is to merge it into the ocean.

To conceal a person, naturally, one must dive into a crowd.

Taking a shortcut, Chen Zijin directly arrived in Baiyue City.

Instantly, that feeling of being watched vanished entirely, and because he directly entered the second peripheral area of Baiyue City, he felt everything around him was under control, and all the people couldn’t withstand a single strike from him, which brought him joy.

He casually walked to a corner under the eaves of a house and took out his golden gemstone phone to start sending messages.

Eternal Heart No. 1 Family Group:

[Group Admin Chen Zijin: Family, I'm out. I'm now safe in Baiyue City, how are things on your end? Did you escape?]

This message instantly triggered over 999+ responses.

Even though sending each message costs a bit of energy, everyone was happy about his return.

[Lv Jun (Tea Fragrance Overflowing): Bro! I knew you’d be fine!! Cousin, you are my god! Straining voice to the limit.jgp a dark crawler dog head holding a flower.jpg]

Chen Zijin rolled his eyes at his phone right then and there.

[Feng Tianhuo: Yo, still alive, huh? I knew a calamity lasts a thousand years! Haha, being alive is good. We’re all alive here, and our chubby land dragon has now become a long land dragon! Our comrades in Eternal Heart have grown to 30,000 people!]

[Feng Tianhuo: Surprised or not? Couldn’t imagine that in just one day the numbers would swell like this, right? You, my boy, have really broken out of the circle hahaha! Directly causing the city masters of Baiyue City and Jinday City to question you, plus that fierce statement you made to the king-level devourer!]

[Feng Tianhuo: You're now the top trend in the Exile Lands! We didn’t even need to call for it, we got application messages from all directions to join Eternal Star. The numbers are growing extremely fast! Feels like we could form an army of millions to obliterate all enemies in minutes.]

Chen Zijin genuinely laughed a bit at Feng Tianhuo's words, then he replied to the greetings and concerns of the other exiles in the group with a message.

[Group Admin Chen Zijin: The more it’s like this, the more we need to act discreetly. Let’s keep our land fortress moving underground and not come up for now. The Eye of Omnipotence seems to have intensified its search efforts for me. I'll lay low in Baiyue City for a while.]

[Group Admin Chen Zijin: Also, there’s a high chance Baiyue City harbors a devourer I’ve been searching for. If things go smoothly, I might be able to bring an omnipotent butler teammate to you all in a few days.]

[Feng Tianhuo: ?? What kind of teammate makes you take a special trip? I’ve never heard of such a powerful human exile.]

[Chu Tiankuo (Overlord): Thanks, group admin, we desperately need such an omnipotent butler. I’m an overlord, not a nanny. Going mad badLuck.jpg]

[Tiger Bro: Thank you, group admin, we urgently need such an omnipotent butler.]

[Xia Sister: Thank you, group admin, we urgently need such an omnipotent butler.]

[Lv Jun (Tea Fragrance Overflowing): Bro! Just tell me this is your tool person! You guys definitely don’t have feelings beyond tools, right?! PoisonOnly YinYang Roar.jpg]

[Group Admin Chen Zijin: .]

[Lv Jun (Tea Fragrance Overflowing) has been muted for three days.]

After sending the messages, Chen Zijin put away his phone and prepared to check out the situation in Baiyue City.

Yao Yan mentioned that he encountered the devourer named [Disease] near Baiyue City before. Although Yao Yan has been dead for two or three hundred years, that [Disease] certainly wouldn’t just wait in place.

But Chen Zijin intuitively felt that Baiyue City itself might harbor the existence he was searching for.

After all, compared to Jinday City, which somewhat maintained appearances by randomly selecting exiles for devouring worlds, the behavior of everyone being tied up and drained of blood nonstop, day and night, divided by tiers in this city was even more revolting to him.

Like that exile standing across from him, who had been observing him for a long while yet always hid in the shadows of the eaves. Though clearly a person, those numb, dark eyes looked like they belonged to a demon ready to take lives at any moment.

Without a word from the other party, Chen Zijin also calmly stored his phone back into his storage ring without speaking.

But when it comes to a staring contest, he has never lost.

Yet, after a moment of eye contact, he found it dull. He had seen all sorts of exiles in the Land of Exile—cunning, gloomy and ruthless, and even those who, despite betrayal, remained hopeful and resilient.

However, not even the most tormented exile had ever shown this kind of deadness—alive in body but dead in spirit.

If these people don't awaken themselves, there’s only one outcome waiting for them.

Sadly, they’re most likely too numb to ever awaken again.

Chen Zijin gave the exile lurking in the shadows one last look before turning to leave.

It's not the time yet. Once he finds the entity he’s looking for, then he’ll see if he can fundamentally cleanse Baiyue City—

Just then, Chen Zijin felt a chilling hand grasp his shoulder from behind.

He could have dodged, but he paused slightly when the trembling hand touched him.

There was also a woman’s voice, stuttering and choked, yet striving to express herself.

“My... my sister.”

“You... stay! Help my sister through her ordeal. Otherwise, I will ensure we both perish.”

Her voice trembled, her grip on Chen Zijin's shoulder tightening: “My power is mutual destruction! As long as I have marked you, if I die, you will surely die as well!”

Chen Zijin slowly turned to look at her.

Those were eyes unlike the numbness around them, still harboring a glimmer of hope.

Her eyes were filled with pleading and determination, and seeing Chen Zijin's unthreatened demeanor even brought a hint of despair to her expression.

Yet, she persisted.

"I know this request is a bit much. But just for today! Today! Normally, Baiyue City doesn't randomly select people to be sacrifices, but today, today the city lord actually agreed to that sacrificial demand!!"

Her voice grew angrier and more desperate as she spoke.

"Why?! I only brought my sister here hoping she could live safely! I just didn't want her to endure life and death in the terrifying Land of Exile!

I just wanted better for her, but I've led her into a dead end. I, I, sob! My sister is so weak she can't even walk anymore, please help me! Please!"

She broke down crying then suddenly looked fierce: "Otherwise, we'll die together!"

Her eyes reddened as if ready for mutual destruction, but she didn't expect the youth she was clutching to actually smile at her request, as if it was as simple as filling in for a shift, not substituting for her sister's death.

Under the artificial moonlight of Baiyue City, he said, "Alright. I'll take your sister's place as the sacrifice."

The sister, hardly believing her own ears, stared wide-eyed in shock.

However, when Chen Zijin went into her dilapidated house and transferred the black skull mark from her sister's hand to his own, the sister, who had nearly sacrificed her life for her sibling, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She collapsed to the ground, looking at Chen Zijin in disbelief.

Unable to hold back, she sobbed loudly for a moment, then quickly wiped away her tears, her tone firm.

"…You're not from Baiyue City."

Chen Zijin raised an eyebrow.

"No matter who you are or how you got in here. I will never divulge any information about you! Once I've secretly gotten my sister out of the city, to the Eternal Heart, my life is yours."

Chen Zijin looked at the sister's hand, also bearing a black, fierce skull, and scoffed.

"That's all the power you've got?"

Then, with a grab, he actually transferred the skull mark from her hand to his other hand.

The sister was even more incredulous.

Before she could react, she was grabbed by the neck, lumped together with her sister, and given a card.

"If you wish to reach Eternal Heart, here's a shortcut. This card is a copy and can only be used once, so pick your moment. Go there and become stronger.

Otherwise, even your desire for mutual destruction will be futile against those of higher levels."

Having said that, Chen Zijin turned away, feeling the black skulls in both hands growing hotter.

As the burning sensation intensified, a tremendous force pulled him upwards toward the city's skies.

While other selected exiles around him struggled and screamed in terror, Chen Zijin instead smiled at the gigantic skull looming in the darkness above.

Isn't this a coincidence?

The most distinct feature of [Disease] is the appearance of a black skull.

[You have been locked onto by a group of devourers.]

[Energy assessment: Escape possible, counterattack not possible. Escape now?]

Chen Zijin responds with a mocking sneer.

【……】

[You have entered a devouring world!]

[Welcome to—The City Without Disease.]