Calamity of Tomorrow

Hai Yi struggled to lift his head and immediately saw the strangely smiling face of Xiang Tong next to him, her mouth opening as a tentacle gradually extended out from the depths of her throat.

The other Demigod breeds also turned their heads toward him in unison, their faces revealing bizarre smiles as more and more tentacles, each with its own suckers, began to grow from their cheeks, ears, mouths, and even eyes.

Yi Hai's eyes widened in shock, "Have you all mutated?"

Yi Hai instantly unleashed his Primordial Spirit power and in a full-fledged outburst, he pushed away the howling mutants and, like a madman, broke through wall after wall running outside.

"Mutated!"

"Everyone's mutated!"

"I must find someone to come here!"

In his panic, Yi Hai rushed out of the construction site and found the security team of Central City.

But when he returned with a squad of troops, what he saw were his counterparts who were unharmed, everything appeared normal.

Yi Hai looked at them in astonishment, "Xiang Tong... haven't you mutated?"

Xiang Tong gave him a baffled look and opened her mouth to speak, "You must have seen wrong. We had agreed to meet here to exchange cultivation experiences, and you suddenly started yelling and ran away. Nothing happened."

Seeing that everyone else was claiming that nothing had happened, Yi Hai immediately argued, emphatically recounting what he had seen.

However, the reality was that the others were just fine right there, and even Yan Seng was standing nearby unharmed, and it was said that Zheng Wentian had also returned home.

Thus, the security team withdrew, leaving Yi Hai and the others standing at the entrance of the construction site, preparing to go home.

Yi Hai bid farewell to the others with a somewhat dazed expression, walking toward his home, 'Why is this happening, I clearly remember they all mutated, I saw it with my own eyes.'

'Could it really be that I saw wrong? Did I have a hallucination?'

A chill ran through Yi Hai's heart, 'Am I close to mutating?'

Meanwhile, unseen by him, Xiang Tong and the others watched him leave with odd expressions on their faces, gave each other knowing glances, a flicker of wariness in their eyes as if guarding against each other.

The next moment, they all hurriedly left.

As soon as Xiang Tong got home, she charged into her bedroom, locked all the doors and windows, activated the Array in her room, and then turned to look at the extra bracelet in the center of her sea of consciousness.

Looking at the bracelet in her sea of consciousness, Xiang Tong gradually revealed a sinister smile and murmured, "My precious..."

...

The next morning, Zheng Wentian stood in his own room.

He looked at his palm in confusion, "What exactly happened yesterday? Why did I wake up and find myself at the entrance of the dormitory building?"

His younger siblings were sound asleep in the adjacent bed, and a troubled expression appeared on Zheng Wentian's face once more, "Zi Yang True Monarch will definitely not agree if I take you two with me, but if I leave you in Central City... what if Hai Yi and the others bully you again?

Zheng Wentian sighed, left a note for his brother and sister, and then went out to prepare for today's discourse in Daluo Heaven.

At least his siblings were safe for the moment staying in the dormitory building.

Walking with the group, Zheng Wentian was still pondering what to do next.

Meanwhile, Zhou Bai was communicating with Christina within his sea of consciousness about the gains from the previous day.

Christina said, "You actually used up all the level one Greedsteel you had collected?"

Ever since the crafting of the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor, which used up most of the Greedsteel last time, Zhou Bai had still been collecting some Greedsteel through his greed, but it was clear that it had all been used up last night.

Christina angrily shook her moustache, "You'd rather use up all the Greedsteel like this instead of making a Primordial Spirit Armor for me?"

Zhou Bai thought about Christina's Primordial Spirit armament, which resembled a cat's scratching board, and shook his head, saying, "Let's talk about your Primordial Spirit armament later. This time, I've used up all the Level 1 Greedsteel I've collected recently. But I've gained 13 tool-men."

"And I can collect Greedsteel again today, right?"

Christina exclaimed, "You mean... the debate in Daluo Heaven? Aren't you afraid of being discovered by the gods and immortals?"

Zhou Bai shook his head, "Actually, I tried harvesting the greed of a few people from the spectators' seats yesterday and turned it into Greedsteel. The gods and immortals didn't seem to take any action. I think as long as I don't harvest on a large scale, causing emotional shifts among tens of thousands of spectators, they probably won't notice anything."

Zhou Bai smiled, "There are over a hundred thousand people in the spectators' seats. Drawing the vitality from a few hundred or a thousand shouldn't be noticeable. This is much more efficient than hustling for it regularly."

When everyone returned to the plaza, the projections were all ready, and the audience had been waiting for a long time.

The continuous fierce battles of the previous day had intensely stimulated everyone, naturally igniting the audience's enthusiasm. They would typically never have the chance to witness such high-level cultivator battles, especially ones where lives were at stake.

The drawing of lots for the matchups continued, and Zhou Bai, with hands crossed over his chest, watched the battles within Daluo Heaven's space-time in a relaxed manner.

As the matches progressed, when Xiang Tong from yesterday entered Daluo Heaven's space-time, Zhou Bai slowly revealed a smile.

Hai Yi looked at the projection in astonishment as today's Xiang Tong unleashed a burst of Primordial Spirit power far surpassing her normal capabilities, directly overwhelming her opponent.

Hai Yi thought, 'Xiang Tong's strength has improved so much? So quickly?' He remembered the bizarre experience of the previous day and felt that something was amiss, resolving to talk to Xiang Tong later that evening.

'I definitely didn't see it wrong yesterday... What exactly is going on?'

He glanced towards Zheng Wentian in the distance, who stood unscathed as if everything that happened the day before was but a dream.

What surprised Hai Yi even more was that two others who participated in yesterday's operation also entered the arena and similarly demonstrated far greater strength than before.

'Why is it like this?'

The debate in Daluo Heaven continued in an orderly fashion. Yet, today, the competitors from the seventh realm were not stepping onto the stage as promptly as the day before, making it seem less intense.

Until the afternoon, when another draw was announced, a series of gasps erupted from the stands.

Hai Yi and the others brightened up, saying excitedly, "Zhou Bai is surely going to lose this time, he definitely won't make it into the top ten..." But the next moment, he furrowed his brow, "No, that's wrong, this guy will certainly forfeit. Everyone has two chances to forfeit." Thinking this, he sighed, his eyes revealing a deep disappointment.

Zhou Bai looked up at the sky and saw the words: Si Yun versus Zhou Bai

Zheng Wentian said anxiously, "Si Yun? Is she the daughter of Si Yi Heavenly Monarch?" He said angrily, "On purpose, right? What a coincidence to draw her."

Qian Wangsun's expression also darkened, Si Yi Heavenly Monarch was one of the three great Heavenly Monarchs of the Plague Department. His daughter, with the resources at her disposal, naturally far exceeded those of ordinary cultivators. She was a hot favorite in this debate in Daluo Heaven, with everyone believing she would easily be in the top ten and even had a great chance of claiming first place.

Qian Wangsun sighed, "After all, it's the debate in Daluo Heaven organized by Wanxian Island; it seems they obviously want to see more of their own people make it into the top ten, letting Zhou Bai fight against the daughters of righteous gods."

Zheng Wentian said, "Zhou Bai, do you want to forfeit? You have two opportunities to forfeit."

At that moment, a girl with braided hair and sun-darkened skin glanced at Zhou Bai from afar. She sat surrounded by stars like the moon, with a dozen or so men and women seated around her, all from the Plague Department's divine seeds.

The girl called out, "Hey, just forfeit directly. Don't waste your energy."

In Si Yun's eyes, Zhou Bai did have strength. Although she was stronger, she didn't want to use up too much of her power in these elimination rounds. She planned to save her strength for when it came time to compete for the top ten rankings.

Indeed, the debate in Daluo Heaven lasted over ten days, and preserving one's strength was crucial. Additionally, many techniques and capabilities were kept secret.

Logically, using up one's chance to forfeit here and targeting the competitors from the fourth, fifth, and sixth realms would be the best choice.

Seeing herself as both superior in status and power to Zhou Bai, Si Yun believed Zhou Bai should just voluntarily forfeit and save his forfeits for later.

Most people thought the same; forfeiting here and conserving strength seemed to be the best choice for Zhou Bai. Otherwise, if he chose to fight and Si Yun defeated him, he would be directly out of the competition.

Zhou Bai glanced at her with a hint of disdain, as if looking at an insignificant bug, which infuriated Si Yun.

Zhou Bai then casually walked toward the Daluo Heaven space-time, and Si Yun, with a cold snort, swiftly followed him in.