Calamity of Tomorrow

Accompanied by Jue Ji's words, filled with a murderous aura, a bone-chilling Sword Intent swept over the crowd, seemingly piercing the skin and souls of everyone present.

Most of the timorous spectators dared not gaze directly at Jue Ji anymore, and even some of the competing contestants couldn't withstand his piercing glance, involuntarily turning their heads away.

And with Jue Ji's sword slaying the first contestant, it was as if a bloody curtain was unveiled, tearing apart the last vestiges of warmth in Daluo Heaven's pursuit of the Dao.

Everyone realized that people could indeed die in this arena.

When they recognized that someone could strike with lethal force, when they realized their opponent might actually kill them, suspicion became inevitable, convincing most to strike first and not give the other a chance to deliver a fatal blow.

Consequently, the discourse in Daluo Heaven suddenly became even more intense and cruel, with more cultivators grievously wounded, crippled, and with increasingly heavier hands, even a few more were slain.

Zhou Bai watched this scene with a frown, "The strength of humanity is already so precious… yet we still kill each other." He looked up at the immortals on the dais and thought to himself, "Is this also one of your objectives?"

By the end of the first day of discourse in Daluo Heaven, upwards of a hundred contestants were eliminated.

Yet Zhou Bai, after drawing his first opponent, didn't draw another and thus didn't take the stage again.

Watching the gradually departing audience, Zhou Bai sighed, "It looks like it will take another four or five days to finish the first round of the competition and eliminate contestants down to the last ten."

Qian Wangsun leaned in, "Zhou Bai, those guys… Zhao Yue, Tu Tianmo, Sun Jingping, Xiang Haocu, Shi Fa, Jue Ji, and those immortals from the Plague Department and the Fighting Department, they're all formidable, do you have a chance to beat them?"

Zheng Wentian nodded, "When I was in Central City, I never felt these top talents to be so powerful. Now thinking about it, it was because there had been few challenges to them before, they never had a chance to fully unleash in battle."

"Only today, when they truly made their move, did I sense their mighty strength."

"Zhou Bai, to surpass so many and take first place in the discourse, it's simply too difficult."

Zhou Bai: "Relax, it's not a problem."

With the conclusion of the first day of the discourse, the surrounding cultivators also began to leave, but the expressions on most of their faces were anything but relaxed, clearly feeling the intense pressure from today's discourse in Daluo Heaven.

Whether it was the various disabilities, slaughters witnessed in front of them, or being overpowered by the talents of Zhou Bai and his peers, most cultivators were aware that the coming days would be a tough battle.

After leaving the arena with Zhou Bai and the others, Ying Hui waved his hand and left quickly, "I've got some things to handle, you guys go back to the dorm first."

As he walked, he thought to himself, "Betting on Zhou Bai yesterday was the right choice. Should I just bet all my remaining points on him discreetly today? Seeing the state Zhou Bai is in today, he's really not bad; maybe I'll bet on him taking first place?"

With this thought, Ying Hui chuckled, imagining Zhou Bai winning the competition, 'If he really takes the Human Emperor's Sword, I'll gift him the points I win as a present.'

Looking at his own body, crippled from grave injuries and unable to advance further, Ying Hui shook his head and sighed, "Anyway, I can't use these points myself."

Ying Hui had sustained serious injuries on the battlefield in his early years, losing the ability to continue cultivating and progressing, stalling at the sixth realm of Gong Tu; thus, he returned to the Dao School to teach a special remedial class.

Due to his personality, he had no interest in marriage, devoting himself entirely to educating the students in his class.

After his parents died one after another, he had no family left in this world, so he became even more devoted to the special remedial class, hoping to bring forth more excellent sprouts for humankind.

But with each passing year, as more and more talent was lost to Central City and humanity continued to fall back in the war against the Heavenly Demon, Ying Hui gradually grew despondent.

It wasn't until he met Zhou Bai, witnessing his growth, that Ying Hui felt a glimmer of hope.

Meanwhile, Zhou Bai and the others were on their way back to the dorm, thinking over the day's debates, when Elsa's excited shout suddenly rang in his mind, "Zhou Bai! It's Alice! I saw Alice!"

"Eh?" Zhou Bai was startled, quickly raised his head, and looked around, "Where?"

Alice... She was the girl Zhou Bai had met at Dr. Zhuang's base when he first arrived in this world. Together, they had fled the base, only for Zhou Bai to end up watching her and other children get killed by the Heavenly Demon.

Elsa excitedly called out Alice's name, but Zhou Bai, following the direction she pointed to, could never find her.

Zhou Bai thought to himself, "I saw with my own eyes Alice being killed. Although the first Dr. Zhuang kept constantly restoring them, I didn't see any information related to Alice at the other bases."

"Alice must be truly dead; it's highly unlikely she came back to life."

With that thought, Zhou Bai let out a sigh, "Elsa, you must have seen wrong."

Elsa: "How could that be... I clearly saw her."

...

"It's really dangerous."

The man, pulling Alice, hid in an alleyway and wiped the sweat from his forehead, "To think we could even encounter this. Is Zhou Bai's luck on the rise, or has my luck begun to fall?"

"This is not good; we need to speed things up."

...

After comforting a gloomy Elsa for a while, Qian Wangsun caught up to them, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Zhou Bai shook his head, "It's nothing; I saw wrong." After everyone had dinner together, they returned to their own rooms to prepare for tomorrow's Daluo Heaven discourse.

Having witnessed the ferocity of the day's battle, even the ever-playful Qian Wangsun felt a trace of heavy pressure, deciding to return to his room to prepare some more, and also to rest early to maintain his energy and physical condition at their peak.

After entering his room, Christina excitedly bounced around, rolling back and forth on the bed, agitated, "Damn it! We didn't even draw any battles today. When can we start our second fight?"

Elsa also came out and looked dejected, still preoccupied with thoughts of Alice.

Next door, upon entering, Zheng Wentian saw a note lying quietly on the floor, clearly slipped through the door gap while he was away.

Seeing the message written on it, Zheng Wentian's expression changed slightly, his fists clenched tightly as a flash of anger crossed his eyes.

He took a deep breath, went out and came back, walked to Zhou Bai's door, and then returned, hesitating for a long time before deciding to leave on his own.

In Zhou Bai's room, a shadow emerged from under Zhou Bai's feet, rippling with sticky ripples. It seemed as if one could see a pitch-black human figure struggling within, a power brought by the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor—the Twisted Shadow Pool.

Christina asked in confusion, "Zhou Bai, what are you going to do?"

"Since the Twisted Shadow is ready, let it follow Zheng Wentian for a bit," Zhou Bai sighed. "This kid has been distracted since yesterday, tossing and turning all night without cultivating or sleeping, which annoyed me so much last night. It's clear he's troubled."

Christina said nervously, "Zhou Bai, this is Central City. There are so many immortals and gods; we can't cause trouble."

Zhou Bai: "Zheng Wentian has given me so many points; I can't just watch him get into trouble. Plus, the Twisted Shadow acting won't expose me; don't worry."

Christina: "What is there to be at ease about?" She said with a downtrodden face, "Zhou Bai, at least let's not have any fatalities, okay?"

"How could there be fatalities? I hate using direct violence the most," Zhou Bai said. "Besides, human life is such a precious resource; how could we just kill people so casually?"

Christina lay down on the bed, her eyes devoid of spirit, "Hearing your words makes me feel even less reassured…"

The next moment, with a thought from Zhou Bai, a humanoid figure completely enveloped in muck slowly emerged from the shadow pool beneath his feet.