Even though she had never actually seen Sinking Black with her own eyes, the moment that black figure appeared, she instinctively thought of that name.
Liu Yun's heart shuddered violently.
When did this happen?
She had been doing her best to sense the presence of any powerful individuals, yet she hadn't detected this person's entry at all!
Right now, he was just standing there, doing absolutely nothing, yet Liu Yun felt a deep sense of dread welling up from the depths of her soul.
Even now, she could still recall the shock she felt when she saw this man speaking directly to her through the Book of Answers.
She couldn't see through this man.
She couldn't gauge his strength, trace his origin, or even tell if he was human or ghost.
On the other side, Xie Xuan also saw that figure.
He instinctively felt that this person was anything but simple, appearing as if he didn't even belong in the same dimension as everyone else around him.
He turned his head and asked Liu Yun in a low voice:
“Prophet Liu, who is this? Do you know him?”
Liu Yun glanced at him and spoke slowly, “Sinking Black.”
“Among the members of the Masked Hermit Society who have appeared so far, he is... the strongest!”
Xie Xuan nodded slightly, praising,
“Truly extraordinary!”
“Roughly how strong is he? Prophet? Great Saint?”
Liu Yun shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either.
She only felt that, no matter what, this person's strength should be above her own.
Furthermore, considering the grand ambitions declared by that organization, his true power was highly likely to exceed her wildest imagination...
...
In the center of the battlefield.
The black armor on Sinking Black gleamed coldly in the wind as he stood with his hands behind his back, completely motionless.
He didn't make a move, didn't release his aura, and didn't even speak.
Yet, the oppressive pressure had already descended.
Beneath his armor plates, the skull bracelet on Xu Mo's wrist glowed with a faint purple light. He had pushed the Gaze of the Ancient One to its absolute limit, enveloping the entire field.
Moreover, he was currently in Sinking Black mode. This mode naturally projected a tyrannical, bloody aura of slaughter, striking fear into anyone who looked at him.
The combination of these two effects resulted in a multiplied sense of pure oppression!
An invisible pressure swept across the entire field like a tsunami.
Everyone fell dead silent, staring at this sudden uninvited guest, guessing his origin and whether he was friend or foe.
Meanwhile, anyone who had seen Sinking Black before, such as Wan Qianhong and Ye Yu, breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as though they had just survived a disaster.
Having seen this man underground, they instinctively felt that there was nothing he couldn't achieve.
Standing not far away, He Jinfan's expression behind his mask completely changed.
Relying on his special treasure, he was the only one who had stood firm under the impact of Zhulong's recent energy blast.
But the moment he saw Sinking Black, his back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
He Jinfan swallowed hard, with only one thought in his mind: Holy shit, this is the real deal!
His own grand display earlier was entirely an act, but this person definitely didn't look like he was pretending.
And... was that guy looking at him just now?
He recalled what “Bai Feifei” had told him earlier—how “Sinking Black mentioned you to me” and to “act according to plan.”
This person had actually anticipated his existence beforehand!
For a moment, He Jinfan felt the intense embarrassment of an impostor meeting the real deal. He quickly averted his eyes, not daring to make eye contact at all.
Not daring to put on a show in front of such a powerhouse, he gave a well-behaved nod—showing humble body language for the first time—and stepped aside.
Seeing this, Zhulong's mouth twitched uncontrollably, and his expression stiffened even further.
Aside from the humans' reactions, the response of the aberration swarm was the most direct and primal.
The moment Sinking Black appeared, those densely packed aberrations prostrated themselves one by one.
The Assemble-a-Monsters that were still in the process of fusing also halted their fusion, trembling as they shrank back toward the edges.
Under the dual pressure of the Gaze of the Ancient One and Sinking Black, these low-level aberrations felt as if they were facing their own progenitor.
Zhulong stood there, his massive two-headed, four-armed body frozen in place.
Feeling the other party's oppressive pressure, seeing the trembling state of the aberrations, and witnessing the yellow-masked man's respect for this person, every bit of his confidence instantly drained away.
He couldn't gauge the strength of this black figure, but under the current circumstances, it seemed he didn't even need to!
The Masked Hermit Society actually has a powerhouse of this caliber?
Gritting his teeth, he still wanted to test the waters. He tried to continue driving the surrounding aberrations to pounce forward and see what the other party was capable of.
But no matter how Zhulong commanded them, the aberrations refused to budge.
His orders had lost their effect!
Sinking Black stood there, completely motionless from beginning to end.
Sweat began to bead on Zhulong's forehead.
No one spoke. In moments like this, the longer the silence stretched, the more intense the oppression became.
Just then, the ground right next to Sinking Black's feet suddenly exploded.
A dark shadow violently shot out from the red soil.
It was a beastkin.
Its entire body was covered in scales, its mouth filled with sharp fangs, and the claws on its hands were a full half-foot long.
When Zhulong's aura had erupted earlier, it had hidden underground in advance.
At this moment, it happened to burst out of the earth right beside Xu Mo's feet. It looked around blankly, and then its eyes locked onto the crimson gaze behind the faceplate.
Beastkin: ?
With his hands behind his back, Xu Mo condensed black energy into a spear in front of him, which instantly shot toward the beastkin like lightning.
It was clean and efficient, without any flashy movements.
Thwip!
The tip of the spear impaled the beastkin through its mouth and pierced out the back of its skull!
The beastkin didn't even have time to scream before it died instantly.
In truth, Xu Mo had used almost all his strength for this single strike, and he had specifically targeted a weakness.
He did this precisely to create the illusion of casually crushing an ant.
From beginning to end, there were no large movements, no hurried breathing, and no emotional fluctuations.
It was as if he had merely glanced at it, and because the beastkin was too close, it was effortlessly snuffed out.
Zhulong's heart skipped a beat at this moment.
Fuck! That was too fast! I couldn't gauge his strength at all!
Finally, Sinking Black spoke.
Those crimson eyes peering through the slits of his faceplate turned toward Zhulong.
“Hand it over.”
His voice was hoarse and indifferent, devoid of any emotion, leaving Zhulong momentarily dazed, unable to comprehend what the man meant.
Xu Mo let out a long sigh.
“As I thought, my senses were correct. There are traces of an 'old friend' here.”
“I have no interest in you. Just give me its blood vessel.”
Rate on N.U.
