Shao Xinran's appearance felt like unlocking a cage.
Darker than the night sky, blemishes rained down like hail. Anomalies, previously confined by the world's laws, now used the cages as teleportation portals, appearing in large numbers across various locations.
Ability users, guild members, and special department personnel stationed in different cities immediately joined the conflict initiated by the foreign divine realm.
As the sun slowly rose in the sky, bringing dawn, the light could not dispel the darkness brought by the anomalies. Endless fear and despair gripped everyone's hearts.
The anomalies within the cages were formed from millennia of accumulated negative energy. They were the condensed embodiment of human malice, monsters born from human greed and desire.
The world's laws had banished these to the outer reaches of the origin world, the current foreign divine realm. Without Shao Xinran's appearance, the foreign divine realm would forever remain a place of exile, how could it possibly give birth to a god?
Shao Xinran, in his divine form, was an existence not recognized by the world's laws. However, Shao Xinran's immense power allowed him to contend with the world's laws, establishing his own foreign divine realm within the other realm.
When Shao Xinran's true form descended into the mortal world, the world's laws unleashed world-ending lightning. Yet, even so, Shao Xinran still broke the law's confinement of the cages, allowing the anomalies to invade the mortal world on a massive scale. This indirectly caused the world's laws to weaken.
Inside the headquarters of the Kuang Ye Guild, Chu Shiling, Li Mei, and others became serious upon receiving Yan Shao's message.
Even Mu Sen, who was usually oblivious, knew the gravity of the situation and asked, "Is it for Sister Nuan Nuan?"
The curse on Jiang Nuannuan was at a critical juncture. Lu Chengxuan and Jiang Nuannuan's brother, Jiang Shi, had spent a month powering the formation set by He Jiu, aiming to gather enough energy to help Jiang Nuannuan remove the curse.
"Perhaps." Chu Shiling, without looking back, drew a gun and fired towards the window.
*Clang*
The moment the glass shattered, several foreign apostles and anomalies surrounded the Kuang Ye Guild.
Li Mei's long whip lashed out, coiling around and strangling a foreign apostle who was ambushed from the rooftop, her movements swift and decisive with no hesitation.
Mu Sen's ferocious fists smashed the head of an anomaly, and he hurled the corpse towards the surging horde, taking down a large number.
"No matter what, defend the entrance below," Li Mei said gravely.
Chu Shiling clicked her tongue, firing several shots in succession, each hitting an anomaly's head. Then, with a rolling back-kick, she engaged a foreign apostle wielding wind blades.
The low-level anomalies were like annoying ants to them. The real trouble lay in the apostles mixed within the anomalies; the weakest among them possessed at least A+ rank abilities.
The three of them were trapped within the guild.
"Guozi?" Mu Sen's swinging fist suddenly stopped, his eyes filled with shock and joy as he looked at Lan Guoguo walking in through the main entrance.
Ever since Lan Guoguo was taken away by a foreign apostle in the Serpent God Tower within Kun Sha Lin, Lu Chengxuan had tried to contact him, but there had been no news of Lan Guoguo.
"Long time no see." The clothes Lan Guoguo wore were identical to those of the foreign apostles, and behind him was Milo, the blue-clad apostle who had taken him away.
"Mu Sen, be careful!" Chu Shiling flicked a soft ball of light, blocking Lan Guoguo's sneak attack on Mu Sen, intercepting the fatal blow.
Mu Sen's eyes turned red, "Lan—Guo—Guo!"
He never expected Lan Guoguo to attack him.
Lan Guoguo looked at them expressionlessly, "Those who obstruct the Divine Official will die." He then attacked Mu Sen again.
Milo, the S-class foreign apostle with pseudo-god level power, advanced towards Chu Shiling and Li Mei, unleashing a gravity suppression. Chu Shiling and Li Mei's agile bodies felt heavy as iron, making it difficult to move.
"Run..." Li Mei gritted her teeth, kicking Chu Shiling out of the gravity suppression range. The next moment, she collapsed onto the ground, the gravity suppression inching closer, her bones emitting a creaking sound of unbearable pressure, on the verge of being crushed.
"Li Mei!" Chu Shiling exclaimed in alarm, flinging a healing light source onto Li Mei. The next instant, she was kicked flying by Milo, who had appeared beside her, crashing into the wall with a loud thud. Her internal organs were severely damaged, and she coughed up blood.
"Chu Shiling..." Li Mei struggled to stand, but the gap in their levels and strength was too vast. Milo alone was enough to crush the three of them.
Over there, Mu Sen, unable to strike Lan Guoguo with full force, was subdued by Lan Guoguo, who sealed his ability usage, and knocked unconscious.
"Don't waste time on them," Lan Guoguo said, stopping Milo, who was approaching Chu Shiling, coldly adding, "Our target is Jiang Nuannuan."
Milo let out a snort and uttered something in English, roughly meaning, "Kill these two first."
Lan Guoguo's gaze gradually turned displeased, "If you want to kill them, do it. I'll find Jiang Nuannuan myself. However, I must remind you, if the mission fails and the Divine Official blames us, can you take responsibility?"
"He has healing abilities; you won't be able to kill them in a short period," Lan Guoguo stated, then ignored Milo and headed towards the guild's basement entrance.
Milo stared at Lan Guoguo with a sinister gaze, a cruel smile suddenly appearing on his lips. He pointed his palm at Li Mei and uttered, "Shatter."
Chu Shiling cried out in anger, "Stop!"
Lan Guoguo's steps did not falter; he completely disregarded Li Mei's pained cries.
Milo glared darkly at Lan Guoguo's retreating back. Just as he was about to retract the ability he was using on Li Mei, he suddenly dodged to the side. A wind blade severed a lock of his beige hair, which whizzed past and embedded deeply into the wall, leaving a profound scratch.
"Hehehe... I've arrived just in time," the usual playful voice of Lofis.Lodine suddenly echoed.
Chu Shiling looked at him with surprise and suddenly felt that his golden hair wasn't so glaring anymore.
"Another one coming to die." Milo narrowed his eyes, a sinister smile creeping onto his face.
Lofis.Lodine exclaimed, "Yo, so you speak our language?"
"Don't move for now." Qin Huai rushed towards Li Mei with a first-aid kit, pulling out a vial and injecting it into Li Mei's bloody arm.
Li Mei was trembling all over. Several of her ribs had been shattered by Milo. Fortunately, as ability users, as long as their head or core wasn't destroyed, they could heal rapidly even from a crushed heart, though they had to endure agonizing pain.
"You... you guys..." Li Mei's voice was hoarse, like that of a dying old person.
Qin Huai looked at her with complex emotions, "President Lu was worried and asked us to keep an eye on your guild. As expected, something happened."
Chu Shiling, as a user of healing abilities with powerful self-healing, was already able to stand and moved to Li Mei's side, helping to treat her internal injuries with a solemn expression.
"Little rookies, this is a battlefield for adults, you should all retreat," Lofis.Lodine excitedly gestured towards them, "Don't get in the way of me taking down that ugly monster."
Milo understood and stared at Lofis.Lodine with terrifying eyes.
Qin Huai speechlessly lifted Mu Sen, saying, "Take it easy, that guy is difficult to deal with."
Lofis.Lodine flicked his golden hair, "Does his hair shine as brightly as mine? Trash, I'll kill him in minutes."
Qin Huai rolled his eyes and left with Li Mei and the others, whispering, "Don't worry, Jiang Shi is also here. We'll only get in their way." Only then did Li Mei and Chu Shiling leave the guild with Qin Huai.
This was not a battle they could participate in.
The smiling facade of Lofis.Lodine suddenly turned icy cold after Qin Huai and the others departed.
The next moment, both their figures vanished from their positions simultaneously. Violent collisions echoed through the guild, and the entire guild was instantly pulverized into dust by wind blades and gravity.
The battle between S-class powerhouses had officially begun.