Above the vast, boundless Serene Sea in the core of the Human territory, the 'Primeval Secret Realm,' water vapor coalesced to form a figure, none other than Luo Feng, clad in robes of blood-red. Standing beside him in the void was another figure, 'Chaos City Master.'
"How many?" Chaos City Master asked, anticipation in his voice.
"Four hundred and forty-three Universe Masters who entered the army," Luo Feng stated coldly. "Not a single one will be left alive."
"Good!" Chaos City Master’s eyes flared with divine light as he roared excitedly.
In the distant Demon Race territory, within the virtual world enveloping the Dream Ancestor Secret Realm.
There was a plane within this virtual world.
In an endless mountain range shrouded in mist, a winding silver serpent lived. Alongside it were other powerful Demon Race Universe Masters, along with Universe Masters from vassal demon races. Although most of these Universe Masters had gone to the Jin World, they had left behind avatars or projections of divine power in the Primeval Universe, allowing them to naturally connect to the virtual world and communicate with the Dream Ancestor at any moment.
"Don't worry, the missions assigned by the army aren't dangerous—"
Three Universe Masters of the Demon Alliance were gathered. The one speaking was a strange feathered creature composed entirely of grey bone. Listening beside it were Universe Masters from allied races who were not of the Demon Race.
At this moment, the strange feathered creature instantly revealed an expression of stark terror, followed by its immediate disappearance from the virtual world.
"What? He left the virtual world right in the middle of his sentence," muttered the multicolored alien Universe Master, whose presence was marked by a faint watermark from the original source of this story. He then sharply turned his head to his side. Where he had been listening to the Demon Race Universe Master, there had been two Universe Masters; now, the one right beside him had also vanished.
"They're all gone!"
The alien Universe Master immediately sensed something was terribly wrong.
If only one had disappeared, perhaps it was due to an urgent matter requiring immediate, though unexplained, departure.
But two vanishing simultaneously, without a single word of explanation, was deeply unsettling.
"Ancestor!" the alien Universe Master cried out.
Hooosh~
A colossal silver serpent suddenly slithered out from the surrounding mist. The serpent raised its head, looking down at the alien Universe Master: "Montari, what is it? Why do you call for me?"
"Ancestor, just now... just now, the Dream Wan Master and two others were beside me. Dream Wan Master was recounting some news from the Jin World—a place I’ve never entered, so I was listening curiously. But unexpectedly, Dream Wan Master and the other vanished from the virtual world. They disappeared so suddenly, without any explanation whatsoever." Montari’s eyes, glowing blue, were filled with worry.
"Disappeared simultaneously? With no explanation?" The Dream Ancestor let out a low growl; it too instantly sensed that something was amiss.
"Boom~~~"
The Dream Ancestor immediately scanned the entire Endless Mountain Range. The result of this scan enveloped it in a coldness so profound it felt like it could freeze its very soul. This moment was the most terrifying the Dream Ancestor had experienced since becoming the strongest being in the universe—even losing the great war between the two factions hadn't instilled such dread.
"They’ve all… all disappeared?" the Dream Ancestor discovered in horror.
All the Demon Alliance Universe Masters who had gone to the Jin World were recently connected here, within this Endless Mountain Range.
But now, every single one was gone!
Vanished completely.
The entire Endless Mountain Range held only itself and five other Universe Masters. These five had never entered the Jin World.
"Boom~~"
A massive silhouette suddenly materialized out of thin air above the mountain range—it was the Serrated Beast, Zhen Ancestor!
"Dream Tea," Zhen Ancestor looked down from above and shouted anxiously. "All the Universe Masters under my command who went to the Jin World—they've all vanished!"
"The same here!" the Dream Ancestor cried out anxiously. "Did yours all vanish too?"
"Only the Universe Masters who went to the Jin World have completely disappeared, and they vanished abruptly, without even leaving a message. Those who did not go to the Jin World are fine," Zhen Ancestor also panicked.
Heavens!
Because the Allied Forces camp was at a disadvantage, a great many of them had gone to the Jin World. For instance, the majority of the Demon Alliance had gone. If they were all dead, it would be a devastating blow, a true nightmare.
"Let's go," Zhen Ancestor urged.
"We must go investigate immediately," the Dream Ancestor commanded through the virtual world, sending orders to numerous Universe Venerables, instructing them to check on their respective teachers, as Universe Venerables usually carried life-saving items bestowed by their masters.
"Ancestor! The token left by my teacher has turned into an ownerless object—my teacher is dead!"
"Ancestor, my teacher has perished!"
"Ancestor..."
In fact, before the Dream Ancestor could finish issuing the orders, several Universe Venerables had already contacted him proactively, frantic. One after another, Universe Master after Universe Master had fallen. All those Universe Masters who had suddenly vanished from the virtual world were, without exception, confirmed dead.
This shocking news struck the souls of the Dream Ancestor and Zhen Ancestor like sledgehammers.
It chilled their hearts.
It filled them with terror.
It made them refuse to believe it.
The Dream Ancestor and Zhen Ancestor looked at each other. Their eyes, which had previously held an endless calm capable of weathering the collapse of the universe, were now filled with sheer panic!
"How could this… how could—" The Dream Ancestor was completely distraught.
"This… this is…" Zhen Ancestor was equally stunned.
A blow.
A blow unlike any before. Previously, the Demon Race was one of the absolute peak factions in the Primeval Universe. But in the blink of an eye, the Demon Race, which once boasted over twenty of its own Universe Masters plus a group of vassal Universe Masters, now had only four remaining! The vassal races were left with only five!
How prosperous they were before; now, barely a handful remained...
"I... I—" Zhen Ancestor lifted his head and let out a roar filled with absolute rage.
ROAR!!!!!!
The roar contained endless fury, infinite unwillingness, and boundless agony. The accumulations of countless ages for the Demon Race were lost in an instant!
"We shouldn't have entered the Jin World, we shouldn't have!" the Dream Ancestor also lamented bitterly.
The ones tormented by anguish, close to madness, were not only the Dream Ancestor and Zhen Ancestor, but also the Mechanical Race's Father God, the Insect Race's Empress, the Prison Race's Demon Ancestor, the Crystal Race's Holy Master, and the various groups within the Northern Territory Alliance, as well as countless minor forces that had joined the Allied Forces camp. All were plunged into an unprecedented nightmare.
Some factions, which previously had eight or ten Universe Masters, were suddenly reduced to just one.
Some races were instantly wiped clean of Universe Masters—a nightmare!
"Your Insect Race Alliance too? Your entire Insect Race Alliance is left with only six Universe Masters?"
"Northern Territory Alliance, you lost over ninety Universe Masters? Even the Star River Master is dead?"
"Is everyone experiencing this?"
"Crystal Race, Prison Race, your fate is as tragic as ours."
When the Allied Forces camp contacted each other, they were astonished to discover that every other power was in the same boat.
For figures like the Dream Ancestor and Zhen Ancestor, the situation was slightly more balanced. They had assumed that since the Universe Masters who entered the Jin World had instantly died, other factions might be safe. But upon inquiring, they found that everyone had suffered.
Because they were allied forces, communication was extremely fast.
Soon, they began contacting other powers scattered across the Universe Sea.
"No, we haven't."
"You say a large number of Universe Masters died? Our Skeleton Race hasn't experienced this. Our Universe Masters in the Jin World are perfectly fine; not a single one who entered the army has died after the first batch."
"Of course not. The Jin World is such a marvelous place, full of opportunities and endless treasures. Almost our entire race went. Not a single one who entered the army has died. We are just about to undergo the mission assignments from the army soon."
"Haha, how many Universe Masters from my Eastern Emperor Holy Land entered? The casualties were minimal, perhaps a few lost during the army selection process. Everything is fine. What happened to your Prison Race?"
Message after message arrived.
The Allied Forces camp was bewildered. When they initially discovered their massive losses, they assumed it was a widespread phenomenon. If it was universal—if all forces in the Universe Sea suffered heavy losses—then, relatively speaking, their respective factional status wouldn't be significantly impacted. They had been hoping that all major powers were equally devastated.
However, the powers of the Universe Sea were all safe and sound.
No...
To be precise, they finally found another group sharing their misfortune.
"You are experiencing this too? Our Purple Moon Holy Land suffered a devastating attack in the Jin World. For some unknown reason, every Universe Master from our Holy Land who entered the Jin World has perished."
"Ah, the Purple Moon Holy Land too? All forces in the Allied Forces camp—the Demon Race, Insect Race, Mechanical Race, Prison Race, Crystal Race, and others—have all suffered this blow; those who entered the Jin World have all been annihilated."
"They’re all dead."
"Not a single one survived."
The Purple Moon Holy Land and the Allied Forces camp had a good relationship to begin with. Upon contacting each other, they realized that aside from themselves and the Allied Forces camp, every other power in the Universe Sea was intact.
They immediately grasped that something was profoundly wrong.
If the Jin World had executed a massive purge against outside intruders, how could it have spared every other power? Why would it specifically target them? After all, the Universe Masters they sent in were absorbed into various armies, almost always scattered. How could the Jin World possibly distinguish between factions?
"The Humans are unharmed!"
"The entire Human Alliance's Universe Masters are also safe and sound!"
The Purple Moon Holy Land and the Allied Forces camp quickly intercepted this news, filling them with both shock and fury.
No super-powerful entity was a fool.
The common enemy of the Purple Moon Holy Land and the Allied Forces camp was the Human Faction! Furthermore, the greatest beneficiaries of the rapid decline of these two powers would be the Human Faction! Moreover, the Purple Moon Holy Land had once attempted to scheme against Luo Feng in the Jin World, yet mysteriously failed. Why would a Void True God spare Luo Feng?
All these factors pointed toward one source: the Humans!
"The only ones capable of screening and accurately determining factional alignment are the internal powers of our Universe Sea."
"If it wasn't the Humans, then who is plotting against us?"