But people can’t just imagine things outside of their own understanding out of thin air.
Every time she summons, she’s actually anchoring a coordinate point. This time that Little Demon just completed the final anchor.
Once the coordinate is constructed, that Pain Demon Lord will descend."
Wen Yan’s expression was as dark as water. He’d guessed that this woman, whose calm hid madness, would stir up major trouble sooner or later, but he didn’t expect it would happen step by step like this, not by her outright action but by her careful setup.
"Does she know about this?"
"She doesn’t."
"Then... are we really going to evacuate everyone in Virtue City?"
"To be safe, a full evacuation is necessary."
"A million people, all moved out in three days? What excuse are we using?"
"Here, chemical plant-related excuses work very well. Last time, though we moved fewer people, the process was very smooth.
After preparations are ready here, in the early hours a few hours later, the remnants from the Duanzhou Chemical Plant, driven insane, hijacked a truck full of Category I hazardous chemicals at the Virtue City highway exit.
Then, after deviating from the planned route and being discovered, they panicked and blindly drove to the edge of Virtue City, where they crashed into another large truck, causing a rollover and a major leakage accident.
And besides, the other truck was carrying something else, likely leading to unknown reactions.
To protect residents, mass evacuation will begin at first light tomorrow morning.
For those unwilling to evacuate, by tomorrow noon, they’ll see online videos of people dying from organ failure due to poisoning.
Some so-called "influencers" who stayed behind specifically for this will serve nicely; big data will push those otherwise unwatched videos right to them.
Then, before dark tomorrow, at least 50% of people will have evacuated on their own or been evacuated.
By the end of the three-day countdown, the only ones left in Virtue City will be the Scorching Sun Department and their Three Mountains and Five Ridges reinforcements."
Wen Yan looked at Cai Qidong, who was calmly predicting what would happen next; his matter-of-fact tone showed he could pull all of this off.
Cai Qidong looked at Wen Yan and added another sentence.
"In this matter, I have absolute top-level priority. If necessary, I can mobilize any and all power."
"Including the current Celestial Master Zhang?"
"Including the current Heavenly Master. Headquarters will soon notify him. Last time, in fact, they’d already been notified, but just hunting the Soul Devouring Beast cost us tremendous time and effort. And, by the estimate back then, even the Heavenly Master’s intervention was useless; the Soul Devouring Beast’s traits were just too outrageous."
"Including Tuoba Martial God?"
"Naturally, him as well." Cai Qidong hesitated slightly. "But this time, he won’t make it; he can’t intervene."
Wen Yan inhaled lightly and didn’t ask further.
"I understand. If you need me to do anything, just say so."
"Go see Liu Qiying. She likely knows some details we still don’t. How you convince her is up to you. With someone like her, force won’t work."
Wen Yan glanced at Cai Qidong, thinking to himself: Don’t tell me he already knows I woke up He Changfeng?
Cai Qidong disabled his screen blocker, took his phone back, powered it on, and immediately several notifications and missed calls popped up.
Then a file came in; after verification, Cai Qidong quickly acquired the new intel.
"Here’s the latest information. See for yourself."
Wen Yan looked at the information appearing on the phone.
"Pain Demon Lord."
"Trait One: Source of Pain.
Pain is its source of power, and also its nourishment.
Trait Two: Undying Pain.
As long as there’s pain for it to absorb, it cannot be completely destroyed."
Wen Yan sighed, turned, and left.
After leaving Cai Qidong’s office and walking a short distance, he suddenly sensed something strange arising in his mind.
In that instant, his consciousness seemed to enter a dream again.
He saw a boundless void and the true form of the Soul Devouring Beast, steadily receding and diving into the depths of the void, its body now shrunken to a quarter of its peak size.
Then, in the void, he saw a sinister stream of light rushing closer at blinding speed.
Even while it was still far away, Wen Yan could already feel the crushing pressure. Four words surfaced in his mind uncontrollably: Pain Demon Lord.
Next, his perspective abruptly shifted to the Soul Devouring Beast’s first-person view.
He saw one of the Soul Devouring Beast’s tentacles lash out from a great distance.
A fierce collision erupted in the void, the Soul Devouring Beast’s tentacles kept snapping, only for new ones to shoot forth.
Suddenly, Wen Yan understood.
When the Soul Devouring Beast descended, its weakening came from him.
Now, as the Pain Demon Lord descends, its weakening comes from the Soul Devouring Beast.
He also understood why headquarters’ prophecy involved Virtue City.
"My foolish son, this kind of extreme yet simple power shouldn’t harm you. You don’t even need a fully ’Invincible’ tag—just part of the relevant trait would suffice."
As Wen Yan murmured, the damage to the Soul Devouring Beast’s splintering tentacles began rapidly decreasing. In just a few seconds, they no longer took any damage at all.
The tentacle ignored all the power in that mass of light, reached right in, and snatched something out of it by force.
But the moment it was dragged out, Wen Yan didn’t even see what it was—whatever it was vanished instantly.
Meanwhile, the mass of light exploded in the void, expanding into a cloud of black mist dozens of kilometers wide, which scattered in all directions and then faded into nothingness in the void.
Wen Yan could feel that pervasive, pain-inducing power dispersing in the void.
What had just been forcibly pulled out—was it a soul?
But... can Devils even have souls?