Chapter 1402: Arrival of the Enemy

A massive lightning net, spanning almost half the border, moved across the ground, furiously harvesting the lives of the skeletal beasts. Countless colossal figures were blasted to the ground, only to be trampled into fragments by the relentless surge of skeletal beasts following close behind.

"So they've finally come..."

At the summit of the Sky-Piercing Tower, a graceful figure with long hair stood firm, her white training attire gently fluttering in the wind. Su Zhiwei's gaze was more solemn than ever.

In the direction she was looking, a vast number of Whispering Wilderness calamities fell beneath the lightning net, crushed into bone fragments scattered across the ground. This didn't mean the lightning net trap possessed great lethality; at most, it merely injured and tripped the charging calamities. What truly annihilated them was the relentless trampling of the enraged beasts surging from behind.

Su Zhiwei was not pleased by the lightning net trap's miraculous effect. Compared to the total number of calamities that had appeared, those killed by the lightning net were merely the tip of the iceberg. What truly made her wary were the maddened skeletal beasts behind them.

Have they gone so mad that they no longer care about the lives of their own kind?

"How long can the Sky-Piercing Tower's defenses hold?" Su Zhiwei asked.

"In three months, we've built twelve defensive lines, 163 types of triggered traps, and 340 war checkpoints," a craftsman from the Sky-Piercing Tower said, wiping sweat from his brow and hesitating before continuing. "According to the original plan, holding out for three days and three nights wouldn't be an issue..."

"And now?"

"If it's this scale and this kind of charge," the craftsman replied, "then at most, one day."

"Does that include the Calamity Queller?"

"Yes," the craftsman nodded heavily. "When we set them up, we specifically considered the Calamity Queller's abilities. We buried most of the traps underground, so its dragon breath, which can disperse civilizations, won't affect our 'inventions'."

Su Zhiwei's expression finally softened slightly. "How are the other realms doing?"

"Just now, the Hanging Jade Realm and the Hidden Cloud Realm successively sent out distress signals," the craftsman reported. "The Hanging Jade Realm suffered a surprise attack from the Calamities of the Illusory Mountains, and the Hidden Cloud Realm's Black Wall has completely collapsed after months of erosion by the plants of the Bitter Flesh Mire Forest. The situation for both is very grim; they might not even last half a day."

"What about the South Sea Realm?"

"The South Sea Realm is relatively much better," the craftsman explained. "When it was attacked previously, the South Sea Lord had already moved the entire realm to land. Now, the calamities from the Forbidden Sea, out of the water, have their combat power significantly reduced. Furthermore, during this period, the South Sea Lord and Patriarch Pu have jointly reinforced the 'turtle shell' outside the realm. Except for a few specific entrances, other areas are easy to defend and hard to attack, so the South Sea Realm should be the safest of all realms right now."

After speaking, the craftsman added:

"Currently, the South Sea Lord has responded to the Hidden Cloud Realm's call for help and has secretly gone there."

Su Zhiwei wasn't surprised by this news and simply hummed in acknowledgment.

Among the major realms currently, the Spirit Void Realm is free from conflict, and the Heavenly Pivot Realm has Su Zhiwei presiding over it. Although the Hanging Jade Realm's situation is critical, at crucial moments it can summon Hanging Jade Lords from other timelines to fight. The only realm remaining without any demigod combat power is the Hidden Cloud Realm.

If the final decisive battle erupts and the Turbid Calamity appears, the Hidden Cloud Realm will certainly be doomed. Since it was clear the decisive battle was about to begin, and the South Sea Realm was the only one with two demigods, their support for the Hidden Cloud Realm was inevitable; they couldn't simply watch hundreds of people die.

Patriarch Pu was old and couldn't easily leave the South Sea Realm, so the best candidate was undeniably the South Sea Lord.

"The world is in chaos, humanity is on the brink..." Su Zhiwei slowly looked up at the gray sky, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes. "This time... can we carve out a sliver of hope?"

South Sea Realm.

"They're attacking!""They're coming!!"

The factory door was pushed open. Xiaobai, covered in soot, stood in the doorway, panting heavily, his forehead drenched in sweat.

The Integration faction members, who had been resting around the factory, stood up in confusion. "What's attacking?"

"Those calamities are attacking!!"

"Huh?!"

"Then isn't the South Sea Realm in danger?"

"Wait," Linglong asked, confused. "Didn't the South Sea Realm government forbid us from leaving this factory? They even stationed people outside to set up checkpoints... Xiaobai, how do you know??"

"Uh... well..." Xiaobai paused, hesitating to speak.

"Just tell us! This is no time for suspense!"

"Oh, well, remember when you guys weren't here yet, and Xiaotao and I were guarding this place?" Xiaobai explained. "Back then, we were afraid of being hunted, so we secretly dug a 'dog hole' behind the toilet. If you crawled down that hole, you could get out through the sewer pipes. Later, after you all arrived, I secretly filled it up, fearing the government people would discover it. But Xiaotao and I still occasionally go out that way... We're not secretly going out to play behind your backs, it's because Xiaotao was worried about something happening to Lord Chen Ling, so she'd regularly go out to read the newspapers! Today, as soon as we got to the newsstand, we heard fighting had broken out outside!"

"You sly Xiaobai, secretly kept an exit for yourself and didn't tell us, huh!"

"Cunning!"

"Is this the time to talk about this? The calamities are attacking again!"

"So what do we do... do we run for our lives?"

"Run for what?!" one person exclaimed. "Real men should go to the battlefield and fight those calamities to the death! Hmph, don't the people of the South Sea Realm look down on us? Let's show them our strength!"

"Exactly! If we go to battle, kill the enemy, protect the South Sea, and become great heroes, they surely can't curse us anymore, right?"

"You're right..." another person said. "So after we achieve merit, can we also go out and eat delicious food and have fun?"

"Of course!"

"Let's go! Go find those people at the checkpoint! Tell them we want to go to the battlefield too!"

"Wait..." someone interjected. "Should we wait for Teacher Ye to come back? If we act so rashly, will it cause trouble for Teacher Ye?"

"When will Teacher Ye be back?"

"I don't know... He was just called away ten minutes ago, it seems he went to a government meeting?"

While the Integration faction children were chattering and arguing, several kilometers away, at the South Sea Realm government building, Teacher Ye solemnly pushed open the conference room door.

The conference room was already full of people. Besides council members and South Sea officials, there were also many members of the Pu family, including Pu Chunshu and Pu Xiachen.

At the far end of the conference table, a blind man was quietly sitting. He was precisely the South Sea Lord's confidant who had previously confronted Jian Changsheng, Teacher Ye, and others.

"Teacher Ye, please have a seat." Although the blind man couldn't see, he seemed able to discern who had arrived and gestured for Teacher Ye to sit down.

Teacher Ye scanned the conference room:

"The Forbidden Sea has attacked... Where is Chu Changqing?"