“Hell, no! He will use the power of the Dragon Vein!” It was the first time that Yi Tong looked shocked. The two dozen of them couldn’t even defeat the Phantom King. Thus, how could they possibly deal with the power of the Dragon Vein that had accumulated for thousands of years or even ten thousand years?

At this moment, a thick layer of dark cloud capped the entire imperial palace. It blotted out the sky and covered the sun. There was gloom above and darkness below. Now it seemed that the Phantom King was the only master here. Then, there came a deep voice. “All of you will die here today!”

With his voice fell, the dark clouds in midair seemed to go much lower. At this instant, everyone felt a tremendous pressure like they were under an unbearable weight. They could not move anymore and even were almost breathless.

“Xin’er!” Xiao Chen called out, blue veins standing out on his face. He had already stabbed half of his halberd into the ground. At this moment, Huangfu Xin’er was just less than 10 meters away from him. However, under this tremendous pressure, he was helplessly pinned down there and couldn’t move a little closer to her.

“Today, I will have your souls disintegrate into dust!” roared the Phantom King. When he held out his hands, these rolling black clouds imbued with potent destructive power pressed down directly—they were going to destroy the body and the spirit of everyone.

Just then, the emotionless voice of a young man came from behind. “What a self-indulgent ruler! You were profligate and devoid of principles three thousand years ago. Now, do you still want to occupy this city after you died?”

The Phantom King narrowed his eyes and bellowed with a deep voice, “Who are you?”

At the entrance of the square’s steps, a teenager walked over slowly with his hands behind his back. He was in a bluish-white robe, and there were some strange talismans printed on his face. He looked indifferently at the Phantom King, his pupils dark reddish-purple, and he said lightly, “Foolish king, your dynasty has long perished.”

“How dare you!” The Phantom King was unable to contain his anger and raised his hand. Suddenly, large tracts of black clouds bore down on the teenager. Xiao Chen recognized his voice and turned to look at him at once, shouting, “Evernight!”

The young person was Fuxi Zither’s soul, Evernight, who had been sleeping soundly in the Nine-heaven Jade Pendant for a very long time and would wake up only occasionally. He flicked his sleeves. Then, countless beams of white radiance rose steeply from the flat ground and rushed toward these black clouds that were pressing down on their head. In an instant, those dark clouds were flushed away.

The Phantom King couldn’t help feeling startled and said in a low voice. “Who are you?”

Xiao Chen hurriedly answered, “Evernight, you came here just in time. Hurry up! Help me to break the blockade of the space around!”

Evernight’s gaze was still on the Phantom King, and he said lightly, “Boy, since I’m out already, why are you still in panic?”

“SILENCE! I am waiting for your answer!” The Phantom King berated in a deep voice and slapped Evernight hard. Immediately, surging black clouds came up to him under cover. But merely by giving a flick of his sleeve, Evernight dispersed the black clouds and said coldly, “Fatuous king, open your eyes and look around. You died many years ago, and so did your dynasty.”

“A pack of lies!” The Phantom King was angry beyond all control and pointed his long sword to the sky. In a flash, all the dark clouds rushed down, and the entire imperial palace began to tremble violently. The fierce power given by him seemed to be enough to destroy the world. Yang Qing and others, as well as girls from the Levitating Dark Fragrance, couldn’t endure the power any longer.

Evernight shook his head and suddenly rose. Hanging in midair, he kept moving his fingers to cast a spell while chanting. Finally, he thundered coldly, “Birth-and-death of Everything!”

As his voice fell, a great many glaring white radiance suddenly rushed out of the ground, and the beams of white radiance soared into the sky as if they would go up high to the clouds. In a twinkling, the white radiance cleared away those gloomy clouds floating above the imperial palace for a thousand years.

At this point, the radiance made numerous holes in those overcast clouds. Through those holes, the sun cast its golden rays on the Phantom King, making a string of fizzy sounds. The Phantom King seemed to be quite afraid of the sun and quickly went to hide in the shade. With a deep voice, he yelled, “Who the hell are you?”

Evernight said, coldly, “I was the Zither Spirit of the musician whose heart was dug out by you.”

After finishing speaking, Evernight put his hands together and moved his fingers constantly to cast a spell while chanting incantations. All of a sudden, the white radiance became much stronger. Instantly, it swept away all the dark clouds that floated in midair. Tracts of sunlight fell all over the ground. As soon as the sunshine landed on those black vines on the wall of the imperial palace, they immediately turned to ashes.

The Phantom King also seemed to be greatly battered. He promptly raised his arm to shield himself from the sun. Evernight said coldly, “Bad king, look at your city now.”

The Phantom King kept the sun off and looked into the distance. It was a city of desolation and ruin. In the city, the building collapsed, and the streets were utterly deserted. By contrast, spears of barbed wild grass flourished abundantly. He stepped two steps back and said with a look of surprise, “How is this possible? My city, my country! Am I dead for real?”

Yi Tong frowned a little. Previously, he guessed that the Phantom King wanted to resurrect by the Dragon Vein. But now, it seemed that even the Phantom King didn’t know that he was dead already. What was weirder was that even he didn’t know how many years had passed, which seemed to be a little wrong.

Evernight asked coldly, “Can you see everything clearly now?”

But the Phantom King still didn’t believe it. He murmured, “How was it possible… How was it possible? How could I die already? Then, she…”

“She was nothing but a fox demon and had long gone to the Six Paths of Samsara!” Evernight harshly rebuked.

“No!” The Phantom King’s whole body shook all over. Meanwhile, Xiao Chen and the others could move again. When the Phantom King was absent-minded, Xiao Chen rushed up to him as quickly as a flash of lightning, piercing his abdomen with his halberd.

“Argh…!” The Phantom King gave a sharp scream as if he had been badly hit. Right after that, he gave Xiao Chen a ferocious slap. Evernight shouted hastily, “Boy, watch out!”

After the yell, Evernight rushed to Xiao Chen like a flash of lightning. With a loud bang, his palm hit against the Phantom King’s. The stones around were showering, and the ground opened.

After inverting his halberd, Xiao Chen rushed up again like a flash of lightning. Within a second, he stabbed the Phantom King thirteen times. This time, it seemed that the soul of the Phantom King had been severely damaged. He kept raising his head while falling back down. As streams of dark mist flowed out from him, his power was leaking away and his soul was also dispersing.

“No! I am still alive…”

Finally, the Phantom King gradually vanished and left only his long mournful cries echoing in the imperial palace. But little by little, even his cries faded away. At this moment, the dark clouds in the sky finally dissipated, and the Malicious Grudge, which had been gathered by the Phantom King for thousands of years, disappeared. The rays of the sun shone onto the city, making everything look especially radiant and enchanting.

These survivors of the disaster smiled at each other, but Yi Tong furrowed his brows, whispering to himself, “How can the power of the Dragon Vein gather the scattered soul of the dead? Only the Ghost Meridian can do it. Is this place…”

Xiao Chen looked at Evernight and said with a slight smile, “Evernight, thanks to your help again this time.”

Evernight was silent. He put his hands behind his back and turned around, looking at the desolate city below, and said lightly, “Previously, this city was called Morning Song.”

“Morning Song…”

Xiao Chen also looked down at the barren city. He knew that for thousands of years, Evernight had spent his time flitting between many zithers. He must have a lot of memories in this place.

Then, everyone sorted out their things. Fortunately, they did not suffer too many bad injuries. Finally, they walked to the long corridor outside the square, looking at the deserted city in the distance. A cool breeze brushed their faces, stirring the edge of everyone’s clothes.

Gui Xian said, “Boy, just use this city as a place for development. As long as there is enough manpower, it can be repaired in less than one year. As for the underlying Dragon Vein, I will deal with it as soon as possible to avoid it being exposed to the world.”

Xiao Chen nodded slightly, still gazing into the distance and pondering, “This time, it is the time to build my own sphere of influence. Everything in the future is difficult to predict, but I will do my best to protect the people around me.”

This time, when the city began to take shape and gradually became stable, he would return to the Human World and bring in all his friends in the Human World, including Xiao Han, Xiao Wan’er, Shangguan Yan, and the Third Elder, Bai Ying. It was the agreement made when he left the Three Pure Sect.

“Now that Xingzhen Zi, the Second Elder, is gone, and I don’t know if she is fine in the Human World.” Thinking of this, Xiao Chen sighed deeply. Moreover, there was one person that made him feel the most regretfully: Prince Qi, Prince Zhao, and Prince Yan.

Recalling the past, Xiao Chen remembered that the scene when they were selling the pills in the Sunset Peak to fight against Ye Fei and others. Now, the matter was over for a long time, and everything had changed. Prince Zhao returned and got himself embroiled in the fight for the throne. The Emperor of the State of Yan passed away, and so Prince Yan had no choice but to return to inherit the throne. A coup occurred in the State of Qi, and there was still no news of Prince Qi even now…

Xiao Chen sighed deeply, thinking, “Perhaps Evernight was right. Since I have concerned about the affairs in the Human World too much, I cannot become an Immortal in the future. But if I let go of these feelings, it will be meaningless even if I become an Immortal later.”

“Since Brother Xiao has decided to build this city, you might as well give it a name.” At this moment, Yi Tong interrupted his thoughts.

“The city’s name…” Xiao Chen said, watching the desolate area in the city below. He thought that the city was formerly called Morning Song, but now it would undoubtedly use a new name. So he said, “Nowadays, the world situation is characterized by turbulence, and the world has sunk into chaos. In troubled times, I hope this city can come through unaffected, no matter how aggressive the invasions will be. How about calling it the ‘Forever City’?”

None-flower Dust clapped his hands and laughed aloud. “Forever City, whatever great changes have happened in this world, the city will last forever. Great! A good name!”

Xiao Chen smiled gently. “Forever, forever, the ability to last forever is the most important thing in the present changeable situation. But it will be a long time before the Forever City is completely rebuilt. During this long period, people from the Mo family and others may come to stir up trouble.”

Gui Xian said, “Boy, you can go to the Wastelands without anxiety. When you come back, I will give you a brand new Forever City. Keep in mind that you must find a person named Ren Tianxing. Only with his help can your Forever City stay truly safe.”

Xiao Chen nodded. This time he went to the Wastelands was not to avoid the Immortals’ League, but instead, he went there to start his own force. The first task he would accomplish was to get some people here from the Wastelands.

The second task was given the top priority——find Ren Tianxing, who was honored as the Weapon Master, according to Gui Xian. With him, the Forever City would be completely secure against any assaults. Even if people from the Immortals’ League came here with Hit Squad Flying-cloud Stones, it would be difficult for them to break through the defense.

The third task was to see if he could find the other four strings of the Fuxi Zither. Evernight was getting weaker every day. Xiao Chen must find the rest of the strings as soon as possible to make a complete Fuxi Zither. After that, Evernight could enter into the zither again.

Then, they rested for one night in the desolate imperial palace. The next morning, Xiao Chen was going to leave for the Wastelands. Only seven of them, including Yang Qing, would travel together with him, and the rest wouldn’t go.

Before leaving, Xiao Chen took Huangfu Xin’er aside and told her a lot of things. Then, he found Qingluan and Ziyun’er, giving them a purple-gold card.

“Here is the card of the Myriad Immortals Pavilion’s auction house in the Tianyuan City. You can go there to sell pills in the future,” Xiao Chen said.

Rebuilding a city needed a large number of financial resources, but he couldn’t earn so much money for the time being. Thus, he had to take the pills refined by Gui Xian to the auction. However, on second thought, Xiao Chen thought that perhaps nobody else in this world could make the same pills as those refined personally by Gui Xian.

Qingluan put the purple-gold card away. Frowning, she finally turned around and said to a person behind her, “Chu Qi, go to the Wastelands with our master this time; there must not be any mistakes!” After speaking, she looked back at Xiao Chen. “Master, don’t refuse. Chu Qi has the best ability of acting and assassinating among our twelve people. If she goes with you, she can make many things much more convenient for you, master.”