Chapter 124: The Scepter Key, A Deadly Threat!

Soaring above the Jingmen Safe Zone, Yi Shen couldn't help but feel a sense of gloom as he looked down at the monsters scattered everywhere and the people struggling to resist them.

Human civilization was far more fragile than he had imagined. A single, suddenly appearing secret realm had thrown the entire city into chaos. The material wealth that many had accumulated over decades had been wiped out in an instant. While top-tier explorers might have been spared the worst, it was undoubtedly a devastating blow to the lower-level civilians.

Yet, human civilization was also far more resilient than he had expected. Even in the face of such a sudden catastrophe, many people had stepped forward at the very first moment to form defensive lines, establishing one safe zone after another.

There were even explorers who could have prioritized their own survival to seek further growth in power, yet near the safe zones, Yi Shen had seen at least a hundred of them sacrifice themselves to hold their positions, only to be replaced by those who came after.

This sight left Yi Shen feeling a mix of confusion and understanding.

During this period, Yi Shen’s power had seen a leap in growth, which had, in fact, instilled a sense of indifference in him. Especially when he could pose a fatal threat to others with a mere gesture, his perspective toward ordinary people had inevitably shifted, regardless of his mindset.

Physically speaking, high-level explorers were no longer in the same world as low-level ones. Under such a vast disparity in strength, the formation of various social hierarchies was almost inevitable.

Yi Shen also began to understand why Zhan Yu had said that it was difficult to change the current rules of the Jingmen Safe Zone. When one person possesses power far beyond another, it is impossible to use laws to force them to be "equal."

Qi Lei and his team had managed to maintain thirty years of stability and peace in the Jingmen Safe Zone—an achievement far more precious than he had realized. What was even more commendable was that the group he represented would truly stand up to hold up the sky in times of crisis.

The battle below continued.

Yi Shen remained in his "Saint Descent" state, moving like a walking war machine. If not for his overall dark aesthetic and his signature Gate of Blazing Flames, no one would have recognized him as the Black Mage from before.

At this moment, wherever Yi Shen walked, almost no monster could withstand a single blow.

Beyond his base attribute inflation and true damage, every monster he killed granted him a portion of Scepter Point energy. To others, this might just be points, but to Yi Shen, it was energy that the Heart of the Law God could read and process, allowing him to become more attuned to the rules of this world.

As a result, as Yi Shen continued to kill phantoms and crystal monsters, he gradually faced no further damage reductions. Facing monsters influenced by the Scepter, Yi Shen could deliver nothing short of a dimensional strike!

Furthermore, because of his Saint Descent state, he could control moonlight energy, allowing him to crush and clear away the beasts of the Moonlight Civilization. When facing vampire monsters, Yi Shen could utilize "true attacks" that naturally countered them, effectively treating them as nothingness.

Yi Shen was like a dark, glitching phantom, roaming the city, unstoppable by any faction.

For instance, when he passed by a safe zone that was struggling desperately, a few Multiple Arcane Shocks from him were enough to turn all the threats into fragments of energy.

In the area where Qi Lei and his team were stationed, special vampire shadows were invading civilians. After Yi Shen descended and unleashed a few casual minor skills, the creatures—along with the shadows within their flesh—vanished from the world entirely.

Before Yi Shen returned, the entire Jingmen Safe Zone had been flooded with pleas for help. But within an hour of his return, ninety percent of those distress signals had been extinguished, as if the entire city had gone quiet. After killing several mid-level vampires, Yi Shen’s points finally became the first to break through the 100,000 mark.

Jingmen Safe Zone. Central District.

Although Yi Shen’s arrival had eased much of the pressure, small phantoms continued to spawn in many places. The space itself was unstable, so explorers still needed to defend various sectors.

Zhan Yu had briefly returned to the central safe zone to rest, and Qi Lei had set up a temporary command post there. Communication within the city had been disrupted in several areas and was currently being repaired as quickly as possible.

"The Black Mage is truly powerful," Li Rongsheng remarked in the command room. As a mage, he held a certain reverence for the profession. But looking at it now, the Black Mage was on a level far beyond his own.

"Yes, his strength seems to have jumped again. And he’s gained power similar to the Moonlight Mirror-Image entities. He must have either triggered a special drop or awakened a bloodline," Zhan Yu agreed.

"Brother Lei, the Black Mage said he wants a map of the vampire faction's distribution. I just had the Strategy Department send the latest statistics to him," Zhan Yu said, informing Qi Lei of his arrangements. Qi Lei, currently directing a new safe zone deployment remotely, looked significantly more relaxed than before.

Qi Lei nodded and said, "That's fine. Do your best to meet his conditions. His strength is truly... absurd."

Qi Lei’s expression was complex. He had expected Yi Shen to play a major role, but he hadn't anticipated that he would be an invincible force, crushing everything in this secret realm.

So far, basically no monster had been a match for him. Even the second and third-ranked foreign civilizations had been silent; Qi Lei even suspected they were hiding out of fear of Yi Shen.

"Brother Lei... can you give us a hint? Who exactly is the Black Mage? How did such a terrifying figure suddenly appear?" Li Rongsheng asked out of curiosity. Currently, the Black Mage communicated only with Zhan Yu. He had asked many friends, but had failed to uncover even a shred of information.

"It’s not convenient to talk about it now, but you’ll know in the future," Qi Lei replied. He had originally thought about protecting Yi Shen to keep him from being targeted by other factions, but based on what Yi Shen had shown, Qi Lei felt that he had already transcended his current rank, reaching the level of the top-tier explorers in China—or perhaps even the world.

After saying this, Qi Lei coughed violently, causing Zhan Yu, Li Rongsheng, and the staff in the command room to rush over in concern.

"Brother Lei, are you alright?" Zhan Yu asked, sensing that Qi Lei’s condition was deteriorating.

Qi Lei had been pushing himself on sheer willpower. Today, he had joined the battle and activated the Banner of Command several times in the central district; it was visibly evident that he was now much weaker.

"I’m fine. I can still hold on," Qi Lei said with a bitter smile.

He knew his own condition well. The effects brought about by this light screen were not as simple as merely forming a secret realm; the power he had been suppressing within his body was clearly becoming active.

For years, he had been suppressing this energy. Once it fully awakened, a violent backlash was almost inevitable. This was why Qi Lei had chosen to join the fight—he already knew he didn't have much time left, so he wanted to meet everyone in the Jingmen Safe Zone one last time, or at least die within its walls.

"If something happens to me, follow the previous plan: Zhan Yu, take my place immediately. Li Rongsheng, continue to manage the forces in the war zone," Qi Lei said, leaving everyone in silence.

"Why is it that even with everything digitized, life still fades away?" Zhan Yu asked, truly puzzled. Theoretically, with Qi Lei’s stats, he should have been able to hold on for decades.

Yet, even though Qi Lei’s data panel appeared normal, one could still feel his life force slipping away.

"There’s no helping it," Qi Lei smiled. "The higher your level, the more clearly you should be able to feel it."

"You must remind the Black Mage as well. His current state is a bit strange. With his current stats, if he can step into the 'Domain,' he might truly find a breakthrough," Qi Lei instructed Zhan Yu once more.

Through their contact with Yi Shen these past few days, they knew his skills and stats were powerful, but they could also feel that he was essentially a novice in combat techniques. Most of his power was currently piled up through raw stats and skills. While his growth rate was extraordinary, some guidance in physical combat would surely refine his abilities further.

Two more hours passed in the blink of an eye.

With Yi Shen stationed in the city, the safety of the surrounding areas had largely stabilized.

Yi Shen had already redeemed the blue key from the Scepter’s keys. Although he remained ranked first in total points, he still had no way to obtain the other half.

Moreover, aside from his rapidly growing score, the scores of the other civilizations were also climbing quickly—especially the Moonlight Civilization, whose two highest scores had disappeared from the leaderboard, while their top player’s score had jumped by a full forty thousand, nearing one hundred thousand!

This meant that the Moonlight Civilization had found a way to consolidate their points onto a single individual. The only way to convert points was through killing, so the methods they used were self-evident.

However, Yi Shen wasn't sure if the person in second place was the "Lord of Moonlight." In his brief contact with him earlier, Yi Shen felt that the entity had no intention of engaging in large-scale combat, and he gave Yi Shen the feeling of being independent of the world.

If one were to judge by the standard of "digitization," Yi Shen felt that the opponent might not be participating in the scramble for the Scepter’s keys for some special reason, or perhaps he had other ways to influence the entire secret realm.

As for the vampires, while their point growth wasn't fast, their rate of expansion was far beyond anyone’s imagination. Even though Yi Shen kept clearing them out, it was as if they were spawning from thin air.

According to the latest situation, the barrier of the secret realm had been confirmed to encompass the entire Jingmen region, and contact with the outside world remained impossible.

Xiao Ge from the Coordination Bureau had returned from the periphery. She informed Zhan Yu that vampire seeds had also appeared in the surrounding plains and mountains. The vampires seemed to have waited for this opportunity for a long time, suddenly exploiting the eruption of the secret realm.

Regrettably, even after searching several times, Yi Shen had not found the person with the most vampire points. Yet, he was almost certain that they had other ways to acquire massive amounts of points outside the Jingmen Safe Zone!

In the black fog region to the north of the Jingmen Safe Zone, hundreds of beasts and semi-spiritual entities were queuing up to jump into a special square zone. They moved expressionlessly, like a conveyor belt, eventually dissolving into special energy clusters within that square, which were then absorbed into the body of a larger semi-spiritual entity.

This entity was the one that had reported to the "Lord" upon entering the Moonlight Land. The Lord’s projection was currently observing a special scene in the core area—the screen displayed Yi Shen in action.

"Lord, my score is enough to exchange for the key. Do we need to find that human and take the other half of the key?"

The blue semi-spiritual entity absorbed another wave of energy. Their points were gathered by having countless elites spread out to kill monsters, eventually consolidating into the body of the individual. To them, these beasts were merely free-roaming pet resources; there was no psychological burden in using them to gain points.

"You cannot defeat him," the Lord of Moonlight shook his head, speaking in strange notes.

"The Scepter has already recognized him."

"He is very special. The power within him far exceeds that of the Scepter, so the Scepter's power is actually being slowly absorbed by him. Even without the key, he can still obtain the power of the Scepter."

The Lord of Moonlight had been watching the screen for over two hours.

He wasn't particularly desperate to retrieve the Scepter. To him, it was merely a matter of time and effort to create one. He was much more interested in the origin of Yi Shen’s power; he had truly felt an energy that shared the same source as his own.

"Go and get the key. Half of the key should be enough," the Lord of Moonlight commanded.

The blue semi-spiritual entity nodded. Instead of going to the Revelation Pillar, he went to a small, additional room in the black fog area where a smaller pillar allowed for point redemption.

The Scepter key was small, resembling a special half-rune. He handed the fragment to the Lord of Moonlight. Through a special power, the Lord of Moonlight began to slowly materialize. He could not act easily; the moment he took action, the system data would likely detect the anomaly. But with the help of the Scepter key, he should be able to move with a degree of freedom within the light screen.

Soon, a materialized body appeared in the core area of the main building.

This body was much like the Moonlight Mirror-Image, a projection glowing with golden light. It was modeled after Yi Shen, yet it was vastly different.

The aura of the Lord of Moonlight immediately drew all the beasts in the building and the surrounding black fog toward him. It was the first time they had felt the descent of the Lord so profoundly.

The Lord of Moonlight did not linger long. In the next instant, he vanished from the main building.

Deep within the Jingmen Safe Zone, Yi Shen, who was busy clearing out monsters, suddenly felt a fatal threat descending upon him!