Chapter 852: The Change of Wuji

"Sir of the [Assassin] path, the Heavenly Star Position has been prepared for you."

A staff member stood behind the assassin and said calmly.

The assassin hadn't died in battle, so he didn't need to be resurrected. He was just covered in bandages, sitting alone on a low peak at the edge of the Old District, silently watching the moonlight above.

"Sir?"

Seeing the assassin didn't respond, the staff member repeated himself.

The assassin finally came to his senses and moved his gaze away from the moonlight. "I understand... wait for me for a moment, I need to use the restroom."

"Uh... alright, please hurry."

The staff member scratched his head in embarrassment and eventually walked down the low peak.

A breeze blew across the mountain peak, rustling the barren grass. The assassin stood alone under the bright moonlight, his pupils reflecting only the full moon in the night sky...

The hazy moonlight spilled onto the ground before him, as if covering it with a layer of white frost.

A faint, ethereal aura spread over the moonlight...

"...As expected."

The assassin seemed to have sensed something, a flash of surprise in his eyes, "The moonlight as an 'anomaly' contains an aura extremely similar to my 'Maohua'... It can't be wrong, this is the legend my father mentioned back then..."

The assassin pressed his lips together. After a moment of hesitation, he knelt on one knee and respectfully cupped his hands toward the bright moon overlooking the world:

"Junior Cui Ran, pays respects to the [Assassin] leader."

"Do you... have any instructions?"

……

"Please, Mr. Huaimang." The staff member behind him said, "...This is what you deserve."

The Young Sect Master slowly stopped in front of the Heavenly Star Position.

He looked at the throne shrouded in starlight. Behind him, it seemed as if figures were cheering and applauding joyfully.

"Young Sect Master! You really did it!"

"Amazing, Young Sect Master! You are the pride of our Esoteric Sect! Father will be very happy when we go back this time."

"From now on, you are the pillar of our Xuanyu Realm. When Lord [Tianhuai] returns, he will surely be proud of you!"

"Young Sect Master, you must eat more in the future. A man who supports the Xuanyu Realm needs to grow stronger..."

“……”

The wailing wind blew past the Young Sect Master's ears, and those voices gradually faded away.

In a trance, a towering figure appeared before the Young Sect Master's eyes—that person stood ahead of him, further away than the Heavenly Star Position, looked back at him once, and then walked alone into the night... leaving only a blurred and unreachable back.

"Brother... I will catch up to you soon." The Young Sect Master silently clenched his fists, a look of resilience appearing in his eyes,

"One day, I will save you from the Wuji Realm... and bring you home."

The Young Sect Master stepped onto the Heavenly Star Position step by step and sat down on the throne...

The next moment, starlight shone brilliantly!

The Heavenly Tower Master and several realm representatives in the distance looked back and saw that several Heavenly Star Positions had been activated, with brilliant pillars of light shooting straight into the clouds.

"Seven Heavenly Star Positions, five have already found their masters, and one was smashed by the Twilight Society... What should we do about the last spot?"

"I heard that some young prodigies from more distant realms haven't arrived yet, and the Red Dust Realm hasn't sent anyone either... How about this, let's extend the competition time for the last Star Position by another week."

"Extend by a week? That works... How will we screen people? A tournament?"

"The tournament screening is for God Paths that excel in combat, and we already have five such God Paths. For the last spot, let's give other God Paths a chance. Some God Paths aren't good at direct combat but have extremely powerful abilities, like the Medical God Path, the Drama God Path, etc..."

"The last Star Position spot will be based on potential and functionality, and will be screened uniformly by representatives from the five great realms."

"Understood."

Just as the representatives were discussing, a figure ran over from the distance in a hurry!

"What's going on? Why the panic?"

"There... there is news from the Wuji Realm again!"

The representatives' expressions tightened, becoming serious immediately. They asked in a deep voice: "What's the situation?"

"It is said that the situation in the Wuji Realm is chaotic now. A group of citizens spontaneously crossed the edge of the Wuji Realm, seemingly intending to trek through the Gray Realm to seek refuge in the Heavenly Pivot Realm."

"What?"

The representatives were stunned, then asked, "How many people?"

"When they set off, there were about two or three hundred... but now, it's hard to say."

"Two or three hundred people? Trekking through the Gray Realm together? Are they crazy?" A representative furrowed his brows, "Once humans are exposed in the Gray Realm, they will continuously attract disasters, and they themselves will be affected by the Gray Realm, causing all sorts of mutations... They are courting death!"

"Indeed, this is too absurd. Although the Wuji Realm is dangerous and chaotic, it should still be much safer than the Gray Realm."

Just as the representatives were puzzled, the messenger opened his mouth and said:

"It is said... they are doing this because someone passed on a prophecy..."

"What prophecy?"

"The Wuji Realm is about to sacrifice the district they are in to refine the Philosopher's Stone."

The representatives were all stunned.

"The Wuji Realm is starting to refine the Philosopher's Stone again?" The Heavenly Tower Master narrowed his eyes, "Has Lord Wuji awakened?"

"I don't know. All the intelligence is fragmented, and it's impossible to accurately judge the situation inside the Wuji Realm... But once this news spread, the residents in those districts went crazy. They all know the miserable state of the other districts; staying put definitely means certain death."

"So... they took the risk to cross the Gray Realm." The Heavenly Tower Master roughly understood the cause and effect, but there was one thing he still didn't understand,

"With so many people, how did they pass through the Wuji Realm silently? Wasn't it said that it had been completely sealed off?"

"It was the folk Witch God Path practitioners scattered in the Wuji Realm who took action. Apart from the Witchcraft Association, there are many small and medium-sized witchcraft organizations in the Wuji Realm. After a round of bloodletting by Brandt, they have gone from the light to the dark... And they seem to have joined forces with the adjudication delegation sent by our five great realms."

"Folk Witch God Path..."

The representatives muttered to themselves.

"Since they are witchcraft organizations, they can't be unaware of how dangerous the Gray Realm is." A representative said in a deep voice, "If they dare to escort such a group of unarmed citizens, does it mean they have the confidence to cross the Gray Realm?"

"Below the seventh rank, no one dares to say they have the confidence to cross the Gray Realm. I don't think there are any seventh-rank Witch God Path practitioners left in the Wuji Realm now."

"Then why are they doing this..."

"It's like this." The messenger paused,

"It is said that those folk Witch God Path practitioners have some means to resist Gray Realm pollution for a short time and isolate human aura... It seems to be an object wrapped in bandages... Some also say it's a human wrapped in bandages."