An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 323 Lies
In the distance, Chu Xiu, who was refining his soul and flesh, suddenly opened his eyes.

He could sense that the already weak connection between the Blood Demon incarnation and himself had suddenly and completely severed, leaving only a faint, almost imperceptible connection from his bloodline that allowed Chu Xiu to know that the other party was still alive.

"It seems they have successfully escaped from the Black Death Prison."

Chu Xiu breathed a sigh of relief.

However, for some reason, he had a vague sense of unease.

Without giving it any further thought, Chu Xiu continued refining.

Under the full-force [Perfect Forging], the damaged ghost army quickly recovered, and the Hellfire Corpse continued to grow stronger.

Of course, Chu Xiu also kept his divine sense spread out, paying close attention to the enemy's movements at all times, to prevent the enemy from seizing an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

Fortunately, just as he had predicted, the enemy did not take any further action against this tough nut to crack.

Five minutes later, all residents were safely evacuated.

Fifteen minutes later, even the ammunition and supplies in the shelters were transported to the mall.

At this moment, all the spaces in the mall were already packed; even a small coffee shop could squeeze in two hundred people.

However, no one showed any disgust on their faces; instead, they cherished and enjoyed this hard-won safety.

On the screen in the central square, a drone projected Chu Xiu's figure sitting cross-legged on the rooftop. Even though he was completely wrapped in a trench coat and his face was not visible, just his back view was enough to make people feel at ease.

He was like a silent guardian angel; as long as he didn't fall, there was always hope, no matter how bitter or difficult life was.

The children's eyes shone with admiration and longing; Chu Xiu's silhouette had taken root in their hearts.

The seeds of ideals and beliefs take root and sprout in these moments.

Of course, Chu Xiu was unaware of these things; he was simply racing against time to improve his strength in order to prepare for the upcoming changes.

To his surprise, whether he had scared the enemy or something else, no main force went to his area afterward.

Under the monitoring of divine sense, those troops were dispersed to other fronts.

Of course, this does not mean that the enemy has ignored Chu Xiu. An elite assault team of three thousand horned demons has been deployed less than five kilometers away from the mall, and the commanders are the two eighth-ring horned demons who had fought against Chu Xiu before.

They were no match for Chu Xiu, but they could hold him back and prevent him from going to other places to provide support.

This is a common tactic used by high-level experts, which is why neither of the demigods on either side has made a move yet.

The moment they move, they become low-level combatants who kill each other.

Chu Xiu was happy to have some free time, so he focused on refining the Soul Banner.

Another hour passed, and the human front was pushed back an average of one kilometer. However, for some reason, the horned demons also slowed down their offensive, and both sides enjoyed a rare period of rest.

But Chu Xiu frowned instead.

"The horned demons have a huge numerical advantage and superb individual combat skills. They are unlikely to get tired after this little battle. Even if the first wave of horned demons exhausts their magic power, they can quickly exchange it with the horned demons in the rear."

"We're the only ones who can't hold on any longer!"

"Theoretically, the enemy's strategy should be to overwhelm us with a continuous offensive, so how could they possibly leave us a chance to breathe?"

"The enemy commander couldn't possibly make such a basic mistake; they must have other intentions!"

However, given the intelligence Chu Xiu currently possesses, he cannot possibly guess what it is, and can only leave strategic matters to the government.

All he can do is improve his strength as quickly as possible!
Soon, another half hour passed.

At this point, the depleted demon army had almost fully recovered.

Just as Chu Xiu was preparing to further refine the technique, a series of buzzing sounds suddenly came from the abyss rift above him!

Chu Xiu looked up and saw that the thick layer of acid rain on the dome was surging strangely, as if something was moving rapidly inside it!
Suddenly, a huge head emerged from the crack!

The head had no facial features, only thousands upon thousands of parasitic creatures, densely covering the entire face! Each of those parasites had a huge eyeball growing on its back, and strangely, the blood vessels behind the eyeballs pierced directly through the parasite's body and connected to the depths of the head!

Those eyeballs scanned back and forth below, seemingly searching for something. Chu Xiu could feel chilling divine thoughts constantly sweeping over him!

Suddenly, the enormous head retracted.

But then the cracks rippled violently again, and the next moment, eight enormous pillars plummeted from the sky! Carrying immense kinetic energy, they crashed heavily to the ground!

Each of those eight pillars was directly connected to the abyss fissure, and their length was impossible to discern! Yet their radius was as thick as a stadium! The moment they fell, they immediately smashed through the ground and continued to descend with unparalleled force!
"Boom!"

Chu Xiu felt the tall building beneath his feet shaking, and the ground near the eight stone pillars was covered with cracks like a spider web!
A dense aura of death emanated from the eight stone pillars, spreading along the cracks in the ground, turning the earth crimson wherever it passed!
The space centered on those eight stone pillars expanded at a visible speed and transformed into a dead zone!
"This is!"

Chu Xiu suddenly stood up, a solemn expression on his face.

Almost at the same moment, from the earring hanging on Chu Xiu's ear came Green Princess's stern voice:
"Everyone who hears this message, immediately proceed to the command center!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Xiu's expression became even more solemn!
Sending the heroic spirits stationed at the front lines back is tantamount to creating an opportunity for the enemy out of thin air! There are only two possibilities for Green Princess to do this: either she is certain that the enemy will not attack at this moment, or the seriousness of this matter is beyond imagination!
Without hesitation, Chu Xiu immediately moved and rushed towards the center with Chen Yuan.

In just one minute, all the summoned heroes had gathered in the command hall.

This time, there was not only Huang Anhua, a demigod, in the hall, but a total of five demigods, including Lü Ji!
Everyone wore serious expressions, waiting for the demigods to speak.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Green Princess slowly spoke: "You all should know what that head is without me having to tell you."

"That's right, that's the true form of the extraterrestrial demon!"

"You might wonder why it's different from before. This is because, as a Star God, the planet is its true form. No matter how large its external manifestation is, it's just a puppet-like incarnation. There are at least a thousand such incarnations among the extraterrestrial demons!"

“These avatars possess different abilities and can also combine with the creatures of their worlds to gain further enhancements.”

As if knowing what everyone was most concerned about, Green Princess didn't waste any words and went straight to the point.

Although she was still veiled, everyone could sense that she no longer possessed the languid and charming aura she had when they first met two days ago; instead, she exuded a faint weariness.

Green Princess's words silenced everyone.

Whether it was the faceless giant that had just appeared or the colossal creature that had been lurking before, the aura emanating from them was incredibly immense, far surpassing that of demigods or even kings!

And such terrifying power was just a puppet incarnation?
Just how powerful was that extraterrestrial demon?
With such a terrifying being coveting Earth, do they really have a chance to fight back?

Green Princess seemed to see through everyone's thoughts and continued, "If the extraterrestrial demons really descend, then we naturally have no chance of winning. However, there is still a sliver of hope right now."

"The pillar that descended after that was called the 'Black Death Pillar'."

"The so-called 'Black Death Pillar' is the pillar that supports the Black Death Prison. It is a war tool that was crafted by the extraterrestrial demons over a long period of time. As long as the horned demons conquer enough areas, they can set up the pillars in the rear and summon the Black Death Pillar to descend."

"Its function is to continuously transmit the death energy of the outer demon world to the world connected by the 'Black Death Pillar' and form a 'dead zone' in the vicinity."

"Once the 'dead zones' of the eight pillars connect to form a complete whole, the area between the eight black death pillars will temporarily become part of the extraterrestrial demon world, allowing the extraterrestrial demons to transmit the terrifying power of the [Star God]." "At that time..."

Green Princess didn't finish speaking, but everyone understood the utterly desperate situation they were in.

If left unchecked, once the Dead Zone is fully connected and the extraterrestrial demons descend, the entire Peng City will be utterly destroyed in an instant! Not to mention these heroic spirits, even demigods would have virtually no hope of survival!
To stop this, the eight Black Death Pillars must be destroyed.

But the problem is
Previously, when everyone was fighting in Green Princess's territory, they still suffered repeated defeats despite having the defensive resources that Pengcheng had accumulated and deployed over the decades.

Now that it's their turn to attack enemy territory, how could they possibly have any chance of success?

For a moment, an atmosphere of despair filled the hall.

Chu Xiu remained relatively calm. Firstly, he had a life-saving item, and secondly, he believed that the government had gathered everyone here not to let them sit idly by and wait to die, so they must have already come up with a plan.

As expected, after everyone had fully digested the news, Zhao Fengming stepped forward and said loudly, "Everyone, don't panic. The enemy has its own way of fighting, and we naturally have ours too!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone perked up and listened intently.

"Attack on Black Death Pillar would be falling into the enemy's rhythm, a terrible strategy. What we need to do is detonate the nuclear bomb according to the previous plan, and with the help of external forces, break through Black Death Prison in one fell swoop!"

Zhao Fengming's words made everyone's eyes light up, and he didn't keep them in suspense, directly revealing the government's plan!
"Through our contacts with the outside world, we have determined the time for the attack."

"It will take at least three days for the Black Death Pillars to connect and form a dead zone."

"And just two days from now, all preparations will be complete, at which time forty nuclear bombs will be detonated simultaneously over Shenzhen!"

Forty nuclear warheads!
Zhao Fengming's words shocked everyone!

You should know that China's conventional nuclear warheads are all guaranteed to have a yield of at least 50 kilotons! The power of forty of them exploding together is simply unimaginable.

"These forty nuclear bombs will explode in different areas. With the immense pressure from the nuclear bombs, the Black Death Prison's scaling ratio will become extremely large. This means that not only heroic spirits, but even attacks from king-level beings can easily disintegrate the Black Death Prison from the inside!"

"So next, I will divide you into forty groups and attack different areas simultaneously. As long as one group succeeds, we will be victorious!"

Zhao Fengming's words immediately boosted the morale of the people in the hall!

No matter how strong the Horned Demon's forces are, it's impossible for them to defend against a sneak attack from forty Heroic Spirit squads at the same time. What's more, there are demigods among those who are on the mission!

Zhao Fengming's voice continued: "And what I can tell you is that a Heavenly King has already arrived in Pengcheng! Once an opening is made on the outer perimeter, the Heavenly King will immediately enter and wipe out all enemies!"

Hearing this, everyone was completely relieved.

The Heavenly King and an ordinary demigod are not even in the same league in terms of combat power. Although they are both demigods, the path to godhood is too long, so the gap between demigods is sometimes even greater than the gap between demigods and heroic spirits, or even between kings!

The Heavenly King's decades of accumulation are not something an ordinary demigod could easily exploit.

After arranging detailed group assignments and plans, Zhao Fengming dismissed everyone.

However, just as Chu Xiu was about to leave, he suddenly heard Green Princess's voice in his ear:
"Return alone after leaving, without alerting anyone."

Chu Xiu's eyes flickered slightly, and he subconsciously looked at Chen Yuan beside him. The latter froze on the spot, a look of astonishment on her face.

Chu Xiu subtly tugged at her, which made the girl realize what was happening, and she quickly lowered her head and continued walking.

After leaving the command center for several kilometers, the two concealed their presence, landed on the street, and returned to the command hall.

When they pushed open the door, they found that none of the five demigods had left, and besides them, there were thirteen heroic spirits remaining.

There were many familiar faces among them, including Jiang Lingfu. Chu Xiu glanced around and quickly discovered that each of these thirteen heroic spirits was a top-tier heroic spirit whose strength surpassed that of ordinary heroic spirits!

After Chu Xiu and his companion entered, Green Fairy flicked her index finger, and the door was immediately closed. At the same time, layers upon layers of plants that isolated the entrance surrounded the hall.

This scene left the fifteen heroic spirits looking puzzled, but none of them spoke. They all guessed that leaving them behind meant there was some special task to be assigned, and they simply waited quietly for the demigods to speak first.

As everyone expected, Huang Anhua said, "The mission just now was just a disguise. The real operation will begin seven hours earlier, and the only ones responsible for carrying it out are all of you here."

Huang Anhua's words caused everyone to exchange glances, and they all saw thoughtful expressions in each other's eyes.

"Director, do you mean there might be traitors among the Heroic Spirits?" Someone guessed the purpose behind the demigods' actions.

"It's not possible, it's certain." Huang Anhua chuckled, raised his hand, and projected a report into the air.

"In just a few hours of battle, nineteen heroic spirits and over a hundred king-level warriors have fled, not to mention countless others below the king level."

"If they hadn't deserted, our defenses wouldn't have crumbled so quickly."

"And with so many people already planning their escape, how many of the remaining people do you think will remain loyal to humanity when they are driven to the brink of despair?"

After these words, the expressions of the heroic spirits present all dimmed. At the level of heroic spirits, the constraints of nation, morality, and even race are very small. There are not many heroic spirits who are truly willing to die for the human race!

If not 100%, at least half of them would choose to surrender when they are cornered, otherwise there wouldn't be so many yakuza.

Huang Anhua swiped again, and another report appeared: "In the past period, the Extreme Path has also been busy. They have cooperated with the Horned Demon to launch multiple surprise attacks against us."

"Especially the murderer Li Ge, who caused us a lot of trouble with his strange abilities. Together with other traitorous Heroic Spirits, he killed four Heroic Spirits!"

Upon hearing that four heroic spirits had been killed by the extreme path, everyone's hearts tightened. Huang Anhua's next words made their expressions even more grim: "And the attacks they launched against the heroic spirits were far more than four times, conservatively estimated to be more than ten times!"

"Do you think that, faced with Li Ge's talent that can severely injure even a demigod, some Heroic Spirits might be tempted to take the [Seed] and rebel?"

"Not to mention, we've already confirmed that the heroic spirits within the Extreme Path haven't been fully exposed! There are at least three still lurking among us!"

"Conservative estimates suggest that more than twenty of our heroes have actually defected!"

After he finished speaking, everyone looked at each other in disbelief. Even they hadn't expected the internal problems to be so serious. It was as if the place had been infiltrated through a sieve!

However, upon closer reflection, it's not surprising. Under the terrifying pressure of the extraterrestrial demons, surrendering seems to be the most natural thing to do.

"So, Chief, our mission is to launch a surprise attack ahead of schedule and break into Black Death Prison, right?" someone asked.

This not only catches the enemy off guard, but also prevents traitors hiding in the ranks from causing trouble.

But many others questioned: "Is it really worth sacrificing the combat power of the vast majority of Heroic Spirits for this small advantage?"

More than 150 heroic spirits gathered in Pengcheng. After counting those who died in battle, fled, or surrendered, nearly 100 remained!

Even if ten of the forty assault teams are turned against them, there are still thirty teams left.

But now, they have lost the help of nearly a hundred heroic spirits!
The gap is too big.

Faced with everyone's doubts, Huang Anhua smiled and said, "It's absolutely worth it."

"Because none of us actually made it outside the Black Death Prison. The plans we announced before to break into the Black Death Prison were all lies to stabilize morale."

(End of this chapter)