Dead!!!!!
The moment those two words were spoken—
The entire plaza froze once again.
Oppression.
Oppression.
Oppression beyond measure.
A terrifying, suffocating atmosphere descended over the whole square—no, not just the square—
The entire Life Island seemed to be swallowed by it.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
After three seconds—
The crowd exploded.
Even with dozens of Ninth-Rank Emperors present, no one could hold back anymore.
"What do you mean dead!?"
"How is that possible!?"
"One hundred people entered the Life City ruins! Only about twenty came out!?"
"What happened inside!?"
A Ninth-Rank Emperor suddenly roared, "Silence!"
His aura erupted, instantly suppressing the entire plaza into stillness.
"Speak!" he shouted, eyes bloodshot as he stared at Felimon. "What happened inside? My grandson carried a life-saving sword aura I personally gave him! It can cleave a peak Rank Eight! Even a Rank Eight pinnacle would be injured if caught off guard! How could he possibly have died!?"
All eyes turned to Felimon and the survivors.
Felimon swallowed hard and began recounting everything he knew.
Five minutes later—
The plaza erupted again.
"A Rank Six kid blocked the city gate and slaughtered thirty-seven geniuses!?"
"You're joking… you have to be joking!"
"This is impossible!"
The Ninth-Rank Emperor asked coldly, "Is this true?"
Felimon nodded. "We didn't witness the fight directly. When we arrived, they were already dead. But Guan Fei from Jiuzhou reached the scene earlier. He might know more."
"The Jiuzhou group already left," another Emperor said darkly. "No wonder Han Ping hurried off."
Silence fell again.
But inside everyone's minds, a storm raged.
These were the finest geniuses from nations and major factions.
Most had an 80% chance of becoming Rank Eight Kings.
Some even had potential to become Ninth-Rank Emperors.
And now—
Eighty were dead.
At least seventy of them, according to Felimon, had died at Zhao Xuan's hands.
Then a realization struck everyone at once.
Each team exiting the ruins had gained six to seven hundred billion worth of Life Energy.
Zhao Xuan killed so many people.
And no relic hearts were found on the corpses at the gate.
Which meant—
All of it was on Zhao Xuan.
Just the thirty-seven at the gate:
Six teams.
Seven hundred billion each.
That was 4.2 trillion worth of Life Energy.
Not forty-two thousand.
Four point two trillion.
Heavy breathing filled the plaza.
Eyes reddened.
Hearts pounded.
Greed spread like wildfire.
Then a question surfaced.
Where is Zhao Xuan?
No one had seen him exit the ruins.
He hadn't left with Jiuzhou's group either.
Which meant—
A terrifying, absurd possibility entered everyone's minds.
At that moment, someone spoke.
"Coleman. Isn't Life Island going to give us an explanation?"
It was Winston—Neps's grandfather.
"Explanation?" the Life Island Emperor frowned.
"Yes!" Winston roared. "The candidates were predetermined. How did Zhao Xuan get inside!?"
Coleman replied grimly, "I can guarantee Zhao Xuan was not among the entrants. Morgans and the others were present too."
Morgans nodded. "Correct. Zhao Xuan did not enter with the selected group."
"Any anomalies?" Winston pressed. "Could a mimic-fruit user have disguised him?"
Morgans thought, then said, "A woman from Dongying arrived late. But she wasn't Zhao Xuan. Kendini was present. He's a top mimic-fruit user. No one could fool him."
Kendini nodded. "No one was disguised."
Silence.
Then Winston spoke slowly.
"If he didn't enter through the main gate… how did he enter?"
His eyes suddenly flashed.
So did everyone else's.
Except the people from Life Island.
A new entrance.
A second way into Life City.
What did that mean?
It meant at least five trillion Life Energy every year.
Life Island had grown from one Ninth-Rank Emperor to seven in just twenty years because of Life City.
With enough Life Energy, Ninth-Rank numbers across the sea could multiply tenfold.
Greed exploded again—this time in the eyes of everyone except Life Island's rulers.
Because for Life Island, this was a disaster.
They controlled the only entrance.
They collected 80% of all harvests.
If another entrance existed—
They would lose their monopoly.
Their annual income of four to five hundred billion per Emperor would be cut drastically.
And at that instant, the seven Ninth-Rank Emperors of Life Island all reached the same thought.
Kill him.
Kill Zhao Xuan.
Before anyone else finds him.
As long as Zhao Xuan dies—
There will only ever be one entrance to Life City.
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Read Chapters ahead: [email protected] / KaiOynx