Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Chapter 427: Chapter 44: Forced Gathering! Powerful Experts Caught in One Net! _2

The professionist known as Dugu Jian slowly drew his long sword from its sheath. His eyes were marked with a touch of pride and a strong desire to fight. It seemed as if he was talking to himself.

”Since I have inherited your power, I will also reclaim your honor. This can be considered my gratitude to you... the once Sequence Number 5, Yang Pengguang.”

...

「Cathay, Yanjing Assembly Site, outer city zone.」

Just as there is always darkness under the light, even the most prosperous places have their shadows. The edge of the outer city zone was undoubtedly the shadow of the Yanjing Assembly Site.

Rundown, moldy wooden houses crowded the streets. On both sides, there were all sorts of idle people—gang members, prostitutes, thieves, pickpockets, and other strange characters.

Among them, the most noticeable was an old man in a Daoist robe.

The old man was probably over fifty. His face was covered in dust, and his filthy, tattered Daoist robe made him look even more like a beggar than the beggars in the vicinity!

The only clean thing on the old man was probably the large flag that he carried on his back, which was almost three meters long.

”Ancient divine arts, passed down through ages, surpass astral divination and triumph over Violet Star astrology.”

Scribbled on the flag were golden characters that shone splendidly.

At this time, the old man was having a ”joyful chat” with a beggar on the street.

”Young man, I see your skeletal structure is extraordinary...”

The beggar shot the old Daoist a glare. ”I’m starving to this goddamn state, what’s so extraordinary about that? Old man, either give me some leftovers or stop hindering my business! The moment you stand here, my customer flow drops considerably!”

”Ah... Since you put it that way, then this old Daoist shall offer you some guidance. Do you see across the street? From a Feng Shui perspective, auspicious purple qi is rising there. It’s definitely a treasure land; begging there would yield twice the results with half the effort...”

”Bullshit! That’s the damn entrance to the Purple Light Society! Their sign is purple, of course it looks like purple qi is rising... Get lost, get lost, stop bothering me.”

The old Daoist, however, remained undeterred.

”Hey, look, how about I introduce you to another treasure land? You share half the food you beg tonight with me. We’re both down-and-out wanderers; since we’ve met, shouldn’t we split things fifty-fifty? Listen to this old Daoist, and I guarantee you’ll be eating meat tonight!”

”Get lost! Damn it, I’ve never met someone as shameless as you! Look at the mess you’ve made of this street! Taking advantage of prostitutes, extorting protection money from gangs, begging for food from other beggars—you’ve really got some nerve to still be alive after all that! Hey... where’d he go?”

Before the beggar could finish speaking, the old Daoist in front of him vanished in an instant.

Rubbing his eyes hard, the beggar looked around, then scratched his head in confusion. ”Where the hell did he go? He just vanished in broad daylight?”

Ignoring the beggar’s confusion, the old Daoist had already materialized in a deserted nearby alleyway, pondering the prompt he had just received.

After a long moment, the old Daoist sighed. The inevitable has finally come; there’s no escaping it... Alas... this line of work is fraught with deadly peril. It seems the days ahead won’t be easy...

The next second, a white light flashed, and the old Daoist was forcibly teleported to the treasure land of the Sequence Member-Ranking Battle!

...

「An unknown place in Italy.」

Lush green grass carpeted the land, a small river meandered through it, and the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful. In the center stood an enormous white horse with a small golden horn on its head, undeniably lending the scene a fairy-tale-like ambiance.

In this picturesque scene, it was easy to overlook the stunning, blonde-haired, green-eyed young woman sitting not far away.

Dressed in a simple white gown, she appeared to be in her early twenties. At this moment, she sat quietly on the grass, a palette in her hand. Gazing at the tranquil unicorn before her, her paintbrush danced swiftly. In no time at all, she had captured the unicorn and the surrounding beauty entirely within her painting.

The colors, the unicorn’s posture, even the very expression in its eyes—everything was depicted with vivid clarity!

After a while, the painting was complete. The young woman gently but quickly rolled up the canvas and waved energetically towards the unicorn in the distance.

”Little White, Big Sister has some errands to run, so be a good boy and wait for me, okay?”

”NEIGH.”

The thunderous neigh of the horse echoed into the distance, but the young woman had already vanished from sight.

...

「On the outskirts of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.」

A bizarrely shaped structure, resembling a bell tower, stood erect in a field. Its pointed roof occasionally emitted an eerie white light, preventing the countless mutant beasts lurking in the open and in hiding within the field from daring to cross an invisible line.

Inside the bell tower, a silver-haired old man dressed in loose, silver casual attire lay on a chaise lounge with his eyes closed, snoring gently. Around him, several colorful plants swayed without any wind, emitting a strange rustling sound.

After a while, a contented sigh escaped the old man’s lips, followed by a large stretch.

The refreshed old man glanced at the peculiar plants around him, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.

”The timing... is just perfect!”

The next second, a prompt flashed in his mind.

”The Sequence Member-Ranking Battle will reopen in one minute. Level 4 professionists who did not participate in the last round can be teleported to the Sequence Member-Ranking Battle treasure land by touching an Exchange Stone Pillar. Simultaneously, the host’s strength rating has been assessed as ’highest level,’ and compulsory participation in the Sequence Member-Ranking Battle is mandated! Teleportation will commence in thirty seconds!”

The old man calmly stood up, lightly smoothed the wrinkles on his clothes from sleep, and muttered softly to himself.