Wait a minute, where is my master?

Gusu City, outside the City Lord Mansion.

The blue stone slabs on the street were smashed to smithereens, and the nearby walls had also collapsed, reduced to rubble.

Among the ruins, one could still glimpse exposed hands and feet, obviously those of residents who hadn't managed to evade in time and were now buried beneath.

Mr. Li, holding a scroll in hand, his blue official robes fluttering in the wind, watched with a grave expression the disheveled Divine Cultivator opposite him, eyes blood-red and wielding a large halberd. His heart sank.

This person's might was at least that of Half-step God Transformation!

...

Li Mi was not one to sit idly by and wait for death. Initially, he thought the station was temporarily safe and had plans to initiate a self-rescue operation in the city.

To reach this realm of cultivation, everyone must have a tenacious willpower, and he had experienced dangers greater than this.

Thus, after Xia Sunyang had escorted Zhao Dabao to the watchman's station, Li Mi took the latter with him to venture out, while the Three Cold Friends remained at the station to maintain the Formation against the increasingly dense resentment in the city.

Before setting out, Mr. Zhu gave each of them a Hao Ran Calming Talisman, capable of resisting the erosion of resentment and ensuring peace for an hour—extremely precious.

Mr. Zhu had only these two talismans on him.

The pair first went to the City Lord Mansion, planning to awaken the meditating City Lord and combining the power of three to temporarily seal off the Transformation Pond, which was spreading resentment outside, and then reclaim control over the City Protection Array to turn the tides of desperation.

The plan was idealized, but reality was cruel.

The moment they approached the City Lord Mansion, they saw Zhou Fengyu blasted out by a dominant spiritual power, his body hitting the wall, eviscerated, clearly beyond saving.

Before Li Mi could rescue him, City Lord Su, halberd in hand, charged out from the mansion, attacking and smashing anyone he encountered, evidently driven mad by demonic possession.

Who said that those who reached this realm all had steadfast wills?

Damn it, the one in front of them clearly didn't!

"Su Liebo!"

Li Mi shouted loudly, his voice infused with Vast Righteous Qi, attempting to awaken the other party.

Sadly, the only response he got was a halberd imbued with rich spiritual power and a series of completely unintelligible roars of fury.

Activating the short-distance teleportation technique, he flashed behind the crazed cultivator, casting a spell that formed a cage-like illusion, trapping the manic cultivator within.

"Xia Hall Master, lock him down!"

Ripples appeared in the space around the Half-step God Transformation cultivator, seemingly attempting to converge towards him.

"Mr. Li, the spatial stabilization in the city is severe, I can't control it."

Hidden to one side, Xia Sunyang lamented, his abilities halved with the space locked down.

...

Li Mi couldn't help but recall the last time outside the city, when he was beaten up by a Hall Master of the Twelve Halls of the Demon Sect—a slightly familiar scenario.

Each time he took a beating, Xia Hall Master was with him.

However, last time he could escape back to Gusu City, but what about now? Fortunately, the City Lord, succumbed to madness, was currently only at the Half-step God Transformation, allowing him to hold on.

But the civilians and cultivators throughout the city...

Having scoured with his spiritual sense, Mr. Li knew that numerous tragedies had already occurred in Gusu City, but he could not extricate himself to intervene.

"Roar!!!"

Without much time for Li Mi to contemplate, Su Liebo swung his halberd, shattering the cyan cage.

He charged towards Xia Sunyang, who was off to one side.

"Xia Hall Master, draw him toward the watchman's station's Formation."

Li Mi communicated to the other, aware that the issue of resentment needed to be solved, but they could not allow a Half-step God Transformation cultivator consumed by demonic possession to rampage destructively through the city.

Otherwise, it might be unclear who would cause greater harm.

"Alright."

Xia Sunyang narrowly dodged the incoming halberd, retreating toward the direction of the watchman's station.

Unforeseen, City Lord Su swung backhand, smashing the handle of the halberd into Xia Sunyang's back.

"Pfft..." Hall Master Xia spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling indignant.

"Can someone who's gone berserk still use martial skills?!"

Although he had taken a serious hit, he used the force of the blow to increase the distance between him and Su Liebo.

...

At the city gate.

With a trembling voice, Hall Master Xia replied, "I... I know a little."

Upon hearing this, Jin Xu's lips curved slightly upwards, finally having found someone who could play Go.

"Good, then go in and play a game for me. Win, and you live. Lose, and you die," he said.

Without waiting for a response,

he picked up Hall Master Xia, turned around, and walked to the golden spiritual power sphere. He made an opening and tossed her in.

The toady at the Bronze Gate said, "Rest assured, little Taoist master, I will definitely keep this young lady safe for you!"

The little Taoist paid him no mind, cradling the golden spiritual power sphere in his right hand and positioning it close to the city gate. He then confirmed with the Bronze Gate that all was required was not to leave a five-zhang radius, and that it didn't matter if there were any formations in between, right?

After receiving an affirmative answer,

Jin Xu stepped lightly and effortlessly entered the City Protection Array.

The next moment, a fiery-red flying sword zoomed in from the sky.

Zhao Dabao's father witnessed a perplexing scene.

The City Protection Array of Gusu City activated, and visible dark, resentful energy rose from within the city.

At the city gate... there was a golden... sphere?

"???"

Inside the golden sphere, one could vaguely see small animals scurrying about and a woman dressed in a thin purple gauze dress, standing in front of a tree stump...

"Hmm? Why does she look so much like the madam from Yingchun House?"

...

Upon entering the city, the little Taoist didn't need to use his Spiritual Sense to sense the resentful energy charging at him, trying desperately to penetrate his Sea of Consciousness. However, it was all kept at bay.

Soon after, Jin Xu had a thought and noticed the Communication Jade Token in the storage treasure bead in his left hand flashing wildly.

He looked at it and saw more than a dozen messages, some from Li Mi, Yu Yaoer, Xia Yunzhao, and one from Little White, asking her friend Little Yu to send it on her behalf.

There was even one from Xu Qian?!

The little Taoist quickly scanned through them, frowning slightly; the situation in the city was more difficult than he had imagined but not unsolvable.

He set aside Xu Qian's message for the moment, as distant water can't quench a close fire.

The messages from the women were all reassurances of safety, informing him that the three were together, asking Jin Xu not to worry.

Li Mi's message provided detailed information about the situation in the city,

including the sudden attack by the Demon Sect after his departure, Zhao Dabao's safety, the source of the city's resentful energy, and the current state of the city. He emphasized that the City Protection Array could not be broken at that time. While it now served as a cage, it concurrently trapped the resentful energy. If the Array were broken and the energy dispersed, it would be even more troublesome.

This advice made Jin Xu abandon his previous idea; initially, he had truly intended to shatter the City Protection Array with the Hand Palm Thunder and let the resentful energy dissipate naturally.

"It seems I need to find another way. I wonder if this will work."

Jin Xu mumbled to himself, conducted a small experiment... then the frown on his brow eased slightly, and he turned and left the Array.

...

Outside the formation, on the open ground.

Zhao Dabao's father was curiously observing the surroundings of the Array when he saw a young Taoist with the air of an exiled immortal leisurely walking out of it.

As if the City Protection Array didn't exist at all.

"Hmm? Is that big guy Zhao Dabao?"