NOVEL NEXT Chapter 211: Everyone Will Die
Suppressing the reckless thought in his heart, Nie Zhong smiled happily and reached out to take the five hundred spirit stones.
A panting, chubby cultivator rushed to the counter, pulling out a pile of spirit stones from his storage bag and stacking them up.
Nie Zhong took a quick glance—there had to be at least a few hundred.
"Quick, exchange all these spirit stones for spirit stone coins!" the fat cultivator huffed in frustration. "Are all the shop owners crazy? They won't accept good spirit stones, only these damn spirit stone coins!"
Before long, more people in the queue began pulling spirit stones from their storage bags, exchanging them for spirit stone coins.
"Hello, do you still want to exchange for spirit stones?" the bank teller asked, noticing Nie Zhong's hesitation.
"Wait a moment," Nie Zhong replied, looking uncertain.
After a brief pause, he took back the five spirit stone coins from the bank staff.
'Can this really be used as money?'
Leaving the Central Bank, Nie Zhong was filled with doubt.
As he walked, he spotted a shop selling spirit seeds. Without hesitation, he stepped inside.
"Shopkeeper!" Nie Zhong called out.
A rosy-faced old man, likely in his sixties, greeted him warmly. "Ah, honored customer! What would you like to buy?"
"Our shop has all kinds of spirit rice seeds, spiritual medicine seeds, and even rare spiritual plant seeds."
With that, the old man handed Nie Zhong a jade slip.
"This contains our full catalog of spiritual seeds, along with their descriptions and prices. Feel free to take a look, honored guest."
Nie Zhong took the jade slip, placed his spiritual consciousness into it, and began scanning through the contents.
Upon hearing this, Nie Zhong took out a 100-spirit-stone coin from his storage bag and said, "Shopkeeper, please take a look. Is this the kind of note?"
The old man took the spirit stone coin from Nie Zhong, gently shook it, examined the patterns carefully, and then brought it to his nose for a sniff. Finally, he smiled and said, "Yes, this is the currency."
"Just this one piece of paper is worth a hundred spirit stones?" Nie Zhong asked, still doubtful.
"Yes, it's worth one hundred spirit stones. You can exchange it for spirit stones at the Central Bank, so what are you still doubting?"
Nie Zhong shook his head. "I really don't know what this Sea View Fairy City is trying to do."
"Who knows?" The old man sighed.
"Sir, are you planning to buy something?"
Nie Zhong took back the spirit stone coin and smiled. "Please forgive me, shopkeeper. I'm a soldier in the coalition army, so I can't buy your spirit seeds just yet. But after I retire in two years, I'll be sure to come back and support your business."
Hearing this, the old man was not upset. He simply smiled and said, "Sir, I wish you well. I'll be happy to serve you in the future."
"Of course, of course." Nie Zhong bowed and left the shop.
Next, he visited several other stores and discovered that spirit stone coins were widely accepted. Even more surprising was that most shops in Sea View Fairy City no longer accepted regular spirit stones.
"Apologies, sir. Our Zhang's Talisman Shop cannot accept spirit stones. You can exchange them for spirit stone coins at the Central Bank and then use those to purchase talismans from our shop."
Nie Zhong frowned. As he moved from store to store, he noticed that some shops still secretly accepted spirit stones, but they were quickly caught by patrolling soldiers and heavily fined.
Before long, he rarely saw any stores willing to risk violating the city's regulations.
It seemed that overnight, the currency of Sea View Fairy City had changed from spirit stones to the paper money in his hands.
Shaking the spirit stone coins, he listened to their rustling sound.
"That's really interesting," he murmured.
The Western Defense Zone Allied Forces Base
In a dark dungeon.
Since its construction, this place had rarely been used—except for the occasional imprisonment of soldiers who violated military discipline.
Luis walked step by step toward a cell engraved with formation patterns.
He turned to the soldier beside him. "Open the door."
"Yes, my Lord Commander."
The soldier bowed and quickly unlocked the prison door.
Inside the dimly lit cell, a middle-aged monk lay on the ground, his face pale. His hands and feet were shackled. Who else could it be but Xia Hong, the former captain of ten thousand soldiers?
"Alright, stop pretending," Luis said, his voice calm. "I only shattered your Qi Sea. Your body is fine. You won't die."
Hearing this, Xia Hong suddenly opened his eyes and roared, "Luis Hartmann, you abused your power for personal gain! You're despicable and shameless! You tried to recruit me, and when I refused, you framed me!"
He struggled against his shackles, the metal rattling loudly. "Just wait! The Guang'an Prefecture coalition will see to it that justice is served! And the Qianyuan Sword Sect—" he glared at Luis, his voice filled with hatred, "—they will never let a scum like you get away with this!"
Luis ignored his outburst and instead put on an exaggerated look of deep thought. "Hmm… When a Dantian's Qi Sea is shattered, there's a certain pill that can repair it… What was it called again?"
Then, as if suddenly remembering, he snapped his fingers. "Ah! The Bu Tian Dan! Yes, the Bu Tian Dan of the Qinghui Taoist Sect!"
Xia Hong stiffened, his expression changing instantly.
Luis smirked. "Why so tense? What's wrong?"
Xia Hong took a deep breath, then asked in a low voice, "What are you trying to say?"
Luis leaned back slightly. "Actually, I'm just curious. The conditions my Hartmann family offered to recruit you were better than anything you'd get from any other family in the entire Ten Thousand Star Sea. And yet, you refused. That's fine. Maybe you're a proud man."
He paused, his gaze sharp. "But what I don't understand is this: when I accused you in front of everyone yesterday, you didn't even try to defend yourself. Was it really that hard to prove your innocence?"
Luis chuckled. "The Oath of the Great Dao, the Mirror of the Heart—both could have cleared your name instantly. But you didn't use them."
He tilted his head. "Oh, right. To pledge loyalty to my Hartmann family, one must swear an oath as well. Could it be that you're afraid of the Oath of the Great Dao? What exactly are you hiding, Xia Hong?"
Xia Hong trembled, his face ashen.
Luis smiled. "Yesterday, you wanted to die. But I didn't kill you—I merely crippled you. And now that you're alive, you suddenly want to die again. Don't you think it's a little too late for that?"
Even with his Qi Sea destroyed, Xia Hong was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If he truly wanted to end his life, he had the means to do so.
But now, he couldn't move.
His entire body—no, even his consciousness—was frozen.
This man… he's too strong. Too terrifying.
Xia Hong's heart pounded. Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire
Luis slowly crouched in front of him, meeting his eyes. "Xia Hong, a survivor of the Zhennan Pass Battle. Am I right?"
Xia Hong's breathing grew heavy.
"Tell me…" Luis's voice dropped to a whisper. "How did you make it back?"
Xia Hong clenched his fists, his face turning red. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Luis formed a seal with his hands and pressed it against Xia Hong's body. A powerful force surged out, sealing him completely—leaving only his mouth able to move.
"Heh… heh…"
Xia Hong let out a chilling laugh. His lips curled into a twisted grin as he locked eyes with Luis.
"Luis Hartmann," he whispered, his voice filled with eerie amusement. "Do you really think you can survive? You're all going to die. Every last one of you. I'll be waiting for you… down there. I'll be waiting for you!"
Not good!
Luis' expression changed. He instinctively reached out to stop him, but an immense force repelled his hand. By the time he looked again—Xia Hong was already dead.
Silence filled the dungeon.
Luis narrowed his eyes, staring at the lifeless body.
Xia Hong's final words lingered in the air, pressing down on him like a heavy stone.
The Battle of Zhennan Pass. The zombie tide in Guang'an Prefecture. The Qianyuan Sword Sect's strange, indifferent attitude toward Cangzhou all these years.
Everything felt like a thick fog, concealing an unseen truth.
If his suspicions were correct, Xia Hong was likely a hidden agent planted in the Ten Thousand Star Sea by the Izumo Kingdom.
It wasn't uncommon for major forces to infiltrate each other's territories with spies. If Izumo Kingdom could plant their people here, then naturally, the Qianyuan Sword Sect could do the same in Izumo. It all depended on who had the better methods.
Luis turned to one of the guards and gestured toward Xia Hong's corpse.
"Send his body to the wizards."
In his place, wizards had the ability to extract memories from the dead.
But that wasn't what troubled Luis the most.
Xia Hong's final words…
"Everyone will die."
Luis lifted his head, deep in thought.
"Was he referring to the corpse tide in Guang'an Prefecture? Or… was he talking about Shen Jue?"