Chapter 271
The Purgatory invasion was not a simple incursion of stray creatures—it was a full-scale, systemic assault by a massive army. In a terrifyingly short span of time, they amassed an overwhelming force and breached the sealing gate of Tuyue's Inner City in a single strike.
After slaughtering the Black Army at the fortress, they capitalized on Tuyue's absence to paralyze the defensive arrays and blind the Moon Tower's entire surveillance network. That sudden blackout left every expert scattered across the urban districts isolated and leaderless.
In the end, only a fraction managed to escape by exploiting their own special abilities; the vast majority were systematically encircled and devoured. By the time Tuyue returned, it was already too late. Even fighting alongside Xie Jun, stripped of array amplification, they could do nothing but stall—battered repeatedly by the Purgatory Duke and the Extreme Cold Queen before finally fleeing in rout toward Xingdao. Now the ruins of Tuyue were divided between two powers: one territory held by Purgatory, the other by Extreme Cold Heaven.
The rulers of these domains were a man and a woman. The man had a towering, iron-built physique, dark red skin clad in heavy armor etched with black and silver patterns, a square-hewn face, and both hands gripping a massive, blood-red battleaxe. The woman wore skimpy gold-trimmed leather armor the color of dark red embers, leaving broad stretches of pale skin exposed across her chest and abdomen. Her eyes burned with crimson flames, and her long hair was a writhing mass of densely packed, fire-breathing snakes.
"That individual is of vital importance," the man said, his voice deep and resonant. "To this day, we still don't know exactly how he bypassed the seal and drew out the power of the Holy Prison. If we can replicate that phenomenon, this entire airspace will fall into our hands without a fight. Your Highness Lanxi—do not alert them. We must trail this group to find our target."
"That is your mission. What does it have to do with me?" Lanxi replied lazily, a playful smile on her lips. "Father never told me to restrain myself. I've grown tired of constantly devouring Blood Ancestors. Switching to ordinary fodder might just improve my mood."
"Your Highness—" The man reached for persuasion, but his vision blurred and she vanished without a trace. Alarmed, he hurried toward Yun Xiazi's group. Fortunately, Lanxi hadn't struck directly; she seemed to have concealed herself somewhere on the periphery, nursing her own agenda. He allowed himself a quiet exhale of relief.
…
Among the fleeing group below, several people had already fallen behind the main contingent. Most of these stragglers had merely attached themselves to Yun Xiazi for protection. They were a mixed lot—men and women, many of them former Truebloods from the Moon Tower. But because they were ordinary Truebloods rather than Trueblood Nobles, they had never awakened Evil Energy and had never belonged to the Moon Tower's upper echelons. Ironically, their low status had kept them alive in the greatest numbers—they hadn't been primary targets in the initial assault.