The end times are 277 years old.

Star-Picking City.

A black hole suddenly appeared in the sky.

A giant black swan flew out of the cave, obscuring the moon and clouds, like a dark cloud covering the city.

Many people noticed and looked up.

"My God! What is that?"

"A black swan! It's said to be the flying mount of Xuan Tu, the city lord of Bright City! Could it be—"

"Is Xuan Tu going to attack our Star-Picking City? Run!"

...

In an instant, the city was thrown into chaos.

Screams, cries, curses... all blended together, and the whole city erupted in chaos.

The next second, huge black fireballs, like meteors, hurtled towards the tallest building in the city—the Star-Picking Tower.

The building's defense system activated automatically, and a transparent energy shield rose up, covering the entire building.

Although the Star-Picking Tower is the headquarters of the Star-Picking Alliance, most of the staff inside are human, with the subterranean race making up only a very small portion.

Just as everyone was gripped by fear and despair, the subterranean race, hidden among the crowd, reacted swiftly, leaving the building and escaping through the underground escape tunnel.

However, an invisible barrier blocked their way outside the escape route.

No matter how they attacked, that barrier remained unbreakable.

"Damn it! Xuan Tu has trapped us with his spatial domain!"

"Has Xuantu gone mad? Why would he attack us for no reason?"

"Chief, you must stop him! Otherwise we'll all be—"

Before the man could finish speaking, the fireball scorched through the protective shield outside the building.

The tall and sturdy building was riddled with huge holes like soft cheese under the intense attack of the black fireballs.

Fireballs rained down on the building, like a massive divine punishment.

They burned those infernal tribes to ashes on the spot.

Since the Earth Core Clan are not human, no matter how many Xuan Tu kills, the restrictions on plundering supernatural abilities will not be touched.

As for the humans inside the building, they were unharmed and had not been attacked.

The subterranean race, disguised as humans, had their souls immediately float out of their bodies after death.

The realm of space can block physical objects, but it cannot block the soul.

These subterranean people disappeared one after another, wanting to return to their tribe.

However, Xuan Tu had already prepared a backup plan for them!

The large net he had laid out beforehand with his mental energy caught all the souls like fish, and then he threw them all into the soul lamp.

They were refined into lamp oil!

Styx narrowly avoided a fireball, and as he watched his people die one by one, he was overcome with grief and coughed up blood.

He stared at Xuan Tu in the sky, slowly wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with bone-deep hatred.

Xuan Tu suddenly went mad and hunted down a large number of his clansmen. He probably already knows the truth.

If that's the case, then the original plan is no longer feasible, and Xuan Tu must die!

Styx suddenly crushed a blood-red bead on his wrist.

This bead was forged by the High Priest using a drop of his own blood essence, and it can control the Heavenly Demon Gu within Xuan Tu's body.

The moment it shattered, the Heavenly Demon Gu seemed to receive some kind of signal and instantly erupted within Xuan Tu's soul.

They wanted to devour his soul and take over and control his body!

Xuan Tu seemed to have anticipated this, and a great fire suddenly ignited within his soul.

He refined his own soul, along with the Heavenly Demon Gu residing within it!

Since we cannot kill the Heavenly Demon Gu, we will make it a part of ourselves.

Now let's see how it tries to cause trouble!

Xuan Tu's actions can be described as utterly insane!

Refining the soul is a thousand times more painful than the body being burned.

Such pain must be endured repeatedly before the Heavenly Demon Gu is completely refined.

If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't have been able to endure it for even a second and would have fainted from the pain long ago.

Xuan Tu, however, looked up at the sky and laughed.

With his lips curled up high, he clearly enjoyed the pain.

He could enjoy pain, but the Heavenly Demon Gu entrenched in his soul was not as perverse as him.

The Heavenly Demon Gu squeaked and screamed as it was burned by the fire, looking utterly pathetic.

If one is refined, it is tantamount to death.

The Heavenly Demon Gu naturally wouldn't allow this to happen, and desperately tried to escape.

Unfortunately, it resides within the soul of Xuantu.

In the past, the souls of Xuantu were the cradle of its growth, providing it with protection.

But now, his soul has become a fiery prison, imprisoning it and preventing it from escaping.

No matter where it fled, it could not escape the burning black flames!

If the Heavenly Demon Gu could speak, it would surely be spewing out a string of profanities right now.

Unfortunately, it couldn't express its anger and fear in words.

You want to burn me alive, huh? Well then, I'll kill you first!

The Heavenly Demon Gu became ruthless and stopped running, stopping right there in Xuan Tu's mind.

He released all those memories he had sealed away at once.

In an instant, countless voices echoed in Xuan Tu's ears, like the whispers of demons.

"Haha, baby, I caught you."

"These eyes are so beautiful. I'll have to dig them out and keep them as a treasure. They'll look amazing next to the eyes I've collected before."

"...Damn, this thing is so fragile, I'd throw it out to feed the zombies..."

Not just the sound, but also the visuals, the atmosphere...

The scenes that had happened in the past reappeared before Xuan Tu's eyes.

He was instantly dragged into the abyss of memories.

What I was stepping on was no longer the downy back of a black swan, but the endless, dark sea.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!