The people hovering in the air above the city were all the upper echelon of the city. They were all elders, and the weakest among them was a Saint Ruler.
"First Elder, what's going on here …"
"Our Mercenary City is protected by the barrier. It's indestructible, so why has it become like this …"
"Could it be that the barrier protecting my Mercenary City has already disappeared?"
…
The upper echelon of Mercenary City all discussed as they stared at the thick cracks that covered the city below. They were all filled with doubt and curiosity about the changes to the city, as well as some unknown fear and panic.
The grand elder of Mercenary City stared at the thick cracks that covered the streets sternly. He was also at a loss. He had no idea what had happened to the city and why this had happened.
Suddenly, Tian Jian seemed to realize something. A gleam of light flashed through his eyes as he thought, "Has something happened to the barrier spirit?" Tian Jian's face immediately became rather sunken as soon as he thought of this possibility. The barrier spirit had been left behind by Mo Tianyun in the past, so its existence was extremely important to Mercenary City. It was the true protector of Mercenary City. If something really happened to the barrier spirit, it would be an extremely heavy blow to Mercenary City.
"It's a pity that I can't communicate with the barrier spirit, so I have no idea what has happened to Mercenary City. It would be great if Jianchen was here. However, a great battle has just erupted in the direction of the Cross Mountains. The Holy Emperor of the magical beasts has taken part, so it looks like the two magical beasts beside Jianchen have clashed with the Holy Emperor of the Beast God Continent again. If that's really the case, Jianchen should be nearby as well, "Tian Jian thought. When he sensed the battle in the Cross Mountains before, he wanted to go and take a look, but he could not do anything about the sudden upheaval in Mercenary City, forcing him to stay behind.
At this moment, a few tremendous presences appeared outside Mercenary City. They flew in the direction of the city with lightning speed.
Tian Jian's eyes narrowed and he suddenly looked in the direction of the presences. He could not help but smile, "Jianchen sure has come at the right time. I just happen to need him to communicate with the barrier spirit and see what has happened to Mercenary City."
Jianchen, Houston, Ruijin, Black Fish, and Honglian flew over from afar. Their gazes became rather mixed when they saw the huge barrier above Mercenary City. Houston, Ruijin, Black Fish, and Honglian all showed a sliver of respect. This was respect for the strong.
This was because they all knew that the girl who had surpassed the Holy Emperor was the spirit of the barrier up ahead.
Jianchen did not go into detail about Xiao Ling's true identity. In his opinion, it did not matter whether Xiao Ling was the Essence of the Earth or the barrier spirit.
"Mercenary City is in a state of panic right now. It seems like something big has really happened here." Jianchen discovered the abnormalities of Mercenary City from afar, and a sliver of worry immediately appeared on his face.
Very soon, Jianchen's group gathered with the elders of Mercenary City. They exchanged some pleasantries before getting to the main topic.
"Senior Tian Jian, may I ask what has happened to Mercenary City? Why has it become like this?" Jianchen looked at the panicked Mercenary City and asked with a heavy voice.
"We don't know what has happened either. If we want to know, we can only ask the barrier spirit. Jianchen, you have a close relationship with the barrier spirit of our Mercenary City. I hope you can communicate with the barrier spirit and ask what has happened to our Mercenary City," Tian Jian said sternly.
"I'll try!" Jianchen replied. However, he felt a sliver of uneasiness for some reason because he thought of some secret matters that Mo Tianyun had told him in the past.
Afterwards, Jianchen gently called out Xiao Ling's name a few times, but he received no response this time.
Jianchen became even more solemn. Now, he was more and more certain that his guess was probably correct. Something had happened to Mercenary City for no reason, coupled with Xiao Ling's loss of composure earlier, which made him think of the seal below Mercenary City. Something had probably happened.
"Senior Tian Jian, there's nothing I can do this time." Jianchen was rather dejected. His face was filled with worry. He also felt deeply worried for Xiao Ling's safety.
"Sigh!" Tian Jian let out a long sigh. He raised his head to look at the huge barrier that still existed in the sky, and his brows were tightly furrowed. Mercenary City had gone through countless years of ups and downs since it had been founded, but nothing like what had happened today had ever happened.
The light in Jianchen's eyes flickered. He hesitated over whether he should tell Tian Jian and the others about the seal so that they could be prepared.
At this moment, an invisible force suddenly appeared around Jianchen. Before Jianchen could react, it directly bound Jianchen tightly and dragged him to the ground with lightning speed.
"Jianchen!" Ruijin cried out. He immediately chased after Jianchen as a blur in an attempt to pull him back.
However, Jianchen fell extremely quickly. Even with Ruijin's strength, he was unable to save him in time. In an instant, Jianchen was dragged to the ground by the invisible force. Afterward, under everyone's dumbfounded gazes, he directly burrowed into the ground and vanished. He did not leave a single trace on the ground.
Ruijin, Black Fish, Honglian, and Houston's faces all changed when they saw this. They looked at each other before descending to the ground at the same time. They wanted to blast open the ground and rescue Jianchen.
"Please wait!" Tian Jian stopped Ruijin and the others. He said, "There's no need to worry. My Mercenary City is protected by the barrier spirit, so it's impossible for outsiders to harm Jianchen here. Jianchen's relationship with the barrier spirit is quite deep, so I'm guessing that it's very likely that the barrier spirit has taken Jianchen underground."
With that, Ruijin, Black Fish, Honglian, and Houston immediately calmed down. They hovered in the air again and waited for Jianchen to emerge.
Jianchen was constantly dragged down by a mysterious force. All the soil he encountered along the way was pushed to the sides, preventing any dirt from staining Jianchen's body.
Jianchen had already experienced this once. He knew that this was Xiao Ling's doing, so he remained very calm. He allowed the force to envelop his body and did not resist.
Very soon, Jianchen arrived at the depths of the ground. All he could see was darkness. It was so dark that he could not even see his own fingers. Even with Jianchen's eyesight, he could not see anything clearly.
Jianchen subconsciously extended his Divine Sense. However, even with his powerful Divine Sense, he could only extend it to a distance of less than a kilometer. There was a mysterious force suppressing the power of his Divine Sense.
However, with his Divine Sense, Jianchen knew that he was currently in a huge space deep underground.
"The energy here is a lot thinner than the last time I was here." Jianchen was secretly surprised. He could still clearly remember that when Xiao Ling had brought him here last time, the energy here was so dense that it had almost turned into liquid. Only a few years had passed since then, and the energy had become so thin. The rate of depletion had reached an astonishing level.
At this moment, a ball of white light suddenly appeared in this dark world, illuminating this dark world.
"Xiao Ling!" Jianchen immediately cried out when he saw the ball of white light.
The ball of white light came from Xiao Ling's body. At this moment, Xiao Ling's body was extremely illusory, like a figure formed from light.
The current Xiao Ling was no longer as lively as before. There were two clear lines of tears on her cute and childish little face. Her face was full of fear, as if she had been frightened by something.
Seeing Xiao Ling like this, Jianchen felt an inexplicable pain in his heart. He asked with concern, "Xiao Ling, what happened to you? What happened?"
"Wah …" Suddenly, Xiao Ling burst into tears. She threw herself into Jianchen's arms and cried loudly. Her arms tightly hugged Jianchen.
"Xiao Ling, be a good girl. Don't cry. Tell big brother what happened first." Jianchen hugged Xiao Ling's petite body and comforted her softly. Although Xiao Ling's body was formed from energy, this energy was almost solid. Thus, when Jianchen hugged Xiao Ling's body, it felt no different than hugging a person made of flesh and blood. The only difference was that Xiao Ling's body did not have any warmth.
"Big brother … Big brother … Xiao Ling is so scared … Xiao Ling is so scared. Master, master, where are you? Come back quickly. Xiao Ling is really scared." Xiao Ling cried in Jianchen's arms. She was quite frightened.
Seeing Xiao Ling's tear-stained face, Jianchen felt pity for her. He softly comforted, "Xiao Ling, don't be scared. Big brother is here. Don't worry, big brother will protect you."
Jianchen comforted Xiao Ling for a long time before finally calming her down. He then asked, "Xiao Ling, tell big brother honestly. Is there a problem with the seal?"
Xiao Ling wiped away her tears and nodded firmly. She said, "Yes, big brother. A person has escaped from the seal …" Xiao Ling suddenly stopped talking. She immediately covered her mouth with her hand and mumbled, "You can't. Xiao Ling can't say it. Master said that Xiao Ling can't tell anyone."
Jianchen smiled, "Xiao Ling, big brother has seen your master in the past. Your master has already told big brother everything here. There's a seal in the depths of Mercenary City. It seals the entrance to the World of Forsaken Saints. Is big brother right?"
Xiao Ling stared at Jianchen with her bright and innocent eyes. She nodded her head firmly, which was equivalent to acknowledging Jianchen's words.
"Xiao Ling, even your master has told big brother everything, so you shouldn't keep it a secret like big brother. Be good and tell big brother everything, alright?" Jianchen said.
"Alright, but big brother, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone. Master forbade me from telling anyone about this back then," Xiao Ling said seriously.
Jianchen nodded and said nothing.
Xiao Ling told Jianchen everything that had happened. She did not hide anything at all. When Jianchen learned that a supreme expert from the World of Forsaken Saints was attacking the seal, his face immediately became extremely ugly.
"Xiao Ling, just how powerful is the person who attacked the seal from the World of Forsaken Saints? Can you beat him?" Jian Chen asked nervously. At that moment, he felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat.
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