Calamity of Tomorrow

San Mei's eyes flickered with a hint of realization upon hearing those words. He had personally guided and enhanced Qian Wangsun's abilities, so he instantly understood what was meant, "Zhou Bai is actually coming? Does that mean the Heavenly Demon is coming too? It's really a mess."

He thought for a moment, then retreated backward, "Zhou Bai is powerful, and after having received support from the Heavenly Demon for so long, we know too little about his current state, his combat style, and what trump cards he may have."

"Let's go. We'll regroup with the others, and then figure out how to stop him. We can't let him get near the Sect Hierarch."

San Mei looked at the silent Qian Wangsun and sighed, "I know you've always been on good terms with Zhou Bai, but the Zhou Bai now has defected to the Heavenly Demon. You should understand the situation well; once someone joins the Heavenly Demons and gets transformed by them, there's no saving them."

"He might no longer be the Zhou Bai you knew."

Qian Wangsun stared intently at the columns shrouded in darkness in the distance, recalling the hysterical Zhou Bai with a hint of madness from his premonitions. He slowly nodded, "Then I'll go look for Qin Lin first."

Qin Lin was the Awakened covered in scales, assisting Li Xiuzhu along with Annie, San Mei, and Qian Wangsun this time around.

Because of the dense demon blood in his veins, he was quite special, with scales constantly covering his face and neck.

Qian Wangsun led the way, with San Mei following behind as they dashed towards the right. But it wasn't long before they saw a bizarre, twisted figure approaching them.

"Be careful," Qian Wangsun said nervously as he eyed the distorted figure, "It's Zhou Bai..."

Then he saw the 'Zhou Bai' in front of him walking in a skewed and twisted manner, his facial expression somewhat vacant. Upon seeing Qian Wangsun, he immediately stopped in his tracks, and then Zhou Bai's voice was heard.

"Qian Wangsun, is Li Xiuzhu inside?"

Qian Wangsun transmitted a message to San Mei, "Be careful, he looks strange. And there must be a powerful aberration close by."

San Mei's body began to swell and grow hair, becoming more monstrous in form.

The mechanical shadow before them spoke up again, "Qian Wangsun, what is the Sky Flipping Sect really up to? Why are you attacking Donghua City?"

"We have no plans to attack Donghua City..." Qian Wangsun called out.

San Mei stopped him, transmitting a message, "What are you doing? Giving away our information to him? He's now with the Heavenly Demon. Have you considered that if you tell him, the Heavenly Demon might learn about Donghua City's current situation, which could make our situation even worse?"

Looking into his eyes, which seemed to be full of sincerity, Qian Wangsun replied, "Zhou Bai was once the person I trusted most. We've been through life and death together, fought against aberrations, and battled against Heavenly Demons..."

In Qian Wangsun's mind, the image surfaced of that young man perfectly coordinating with him on the battlefield.

With just a glance, a facial expression, they knew each other's thoughts.

Without communication, they could deceive the Mysterious Female together.

Without communication, they could split their forces and entrust each other completely.

Qian Wangsun earnestly said, "I really don't believe Zhou Bai would be a traitor. There must be some reason... I want to trust him one more time; this is the last time."

"You..." San Mei sighed, "You're really too sentimental. Even if you have your abilities, the emotional pain is something nobody else can alleviate for you."

San Mei knew that persuading him was futile, because whether or not Qian Wangsun tried, he could already foresee the outcome of the conversation.

Qian Wangsun looked at Zhou Bai in front of him and said word by word, "Our target is Haoran Tianjun, but other demons ambushed us. They attacked the cultivators of Donghua City, breaking the Array layer, and even caused the Elders' mutation."

"Zhou Bai... The Sect Hierarch is inside, repairing the core of the Array layer, and can't be disturbed by anything. If you don't want to be responsible for the death of the entire Donghua City, then don't come any closer."

Upon hearing this, the mechanical shadow seemed to pause for a moment, but then said determinedly, "I must go in."

"Why?" Qian Wangsun demanded, staring intently into Zhou Bai's eyes, "You believe me, the Sky Flipping Sect has no intention of harming Donghua City. The Sect Hierarch is inside repairing the core of the Array, and if anything goes wrong with it, the whole city will die! Let's wait until the Array is fixed..."

"I believe you," the helpless voice of Zhou Bai came through, "But I also have reasons I need to go in immediately..."

After a few seconds of silence, with time ticking away, Zhou Bai became increasingly agitated within. With every second that passed, the likelihood of Xia Li and the others being truly dead rose.

But looking at Qian Wangsun before him, Zhou Bai still suppressed his urge to proceed, and slowly said, "I can reverse time, but only by an hour at most. If you let me absorb the divination marks from Li Xiuzhu, my Time Reverse might extend to over three hours..."

Regardless, Zhou Bai was confident that he would activate Time Reverse, deciding to lay it all out.

San Mei's first reaction was disbelief, "Ridiculous."

Qian Wangsun also found it hard to believe, for reversing time simply defied science and the way of immortals. From ancient times until now, even among the strongest gods, no one had ever heard of such an ability.

Seeing their incredulous expressions, Zhou Bai's voice was filled with helplessness as he continued,

"I'm not lying to you. Xia Li is dead, Teacher Lv is dead, and many others too. Even the Elder has mutated. The only way to save them... is for me to activate Time Reverse. For that... I must get Li Xiuzhu's divination marks."

He seemed to grow more excited as he spoke, staring at them and exclaiming, "Xia Li has been dead for three hours, and Jiaojiao has been mutated for at least two hours. Every second we speak here increases the chance of their true death..."

But to the others, Zhou Bai's words and tone seemed filled with madness and hysteria.

San Mei transmitted, "Enough, Qian Wangsun, with his condition... We absolutely can't let him near the Sect Hierarch. What the Sect Hierarch is doing now is vital to the safety of the entire three hundred million people of Donghua City, we can't take any risks."

Qian Wangsun knew that what Li Xiuzhu was doing now was extremely important, and Zhou Bai, having defected to the Heavenly Demon and even fighting alongside the Mysterious Female, seemed mentally unstable as well.

Letting someone like Zhou Bai, in his current state, get close to Li Xiuzhu was an unimaginable risk to the lives of Donghua City's three hundred million people.

On one hand was Zhou Bai's so-called Time Reverse, and on the other, the safety of Donghua City's three hundred million people...