Border of the Pure Land

Lu Bu'er's pupils were illuminated by a fleeting cold light as the head of the old priest flew high in an instant, thick blood bursting forth and splattering in the golden glow.

Men in black hoods descended from the sky, unleashing a massacre!

For everyone watching, it was as if deities had descended to earth. Those hooded men weaved through the graveyard, their swift blades unleashed streaks of cold light that effortlessly severed the heads of the fanatical believers like grass, the blood spraying like fireworks.

The mummified corpses were also torn asunder amidst the flashes of blades.

The breathing of the men in hoods was as tumultuous as the tide, their presence staggering.

No one knew who they were.

Nor did anyone know where they came from.

But at that moment, they were the saviors of this graveyard.

Especially the man who seemed to be their leader, with a cigarette clamped between his lips and a blood-stained katana hanging at his waist, he strolled across the chaotic battlefield, his expression cold and indifferent.

Fortunately, these hooded men did not strike any of the survivors; their targets seemed to be only the twisted believers and mummified corpses, on whom they inflicted merciless slaughter.

"He Sai, we've survived."

"Yes, Brother Lu, but the stench on you makes me feel like I'd rather be dead."

Like brothers in distress, they sat down in the grass, looked at each other, and laughed.

Officer An and Boss Zhang also heaved a sigh of relief as if a great burden had been lifted.

They hugged each other and wept loudly, snot and tears mixing together. The fear and uncertainty they had felt along the way were all vented in that moment, stirring a tremble of being saved from the brink of despair.

As the battle gradually drew to a close, the hooded ones began to observe this group of people.

"It's rare to see so many Cocoon Breakers survive at once."

"They seem pretty scared."

"These people have encountered a life disaster created by the mutants and still managed to survive the siege of the Specter Fiends; there must be some good seedlings among them."

The man who appeared to be the leader said lightly.

Just at that moment, a figure burst out from the mist—it was the middle-aged tycoon, gravely injured. Rolling and crawling out, he shouted, "Save me! Please save me! As long as you get me out, I'll give you all the money you want! Save me!"

The middle-aged tycoon ultimately collapsed to the ground, his hands desperately clutching the man's ankles.

As if he had grasped the last straw that could save his life.

And his face had already turned as though he were a malevolent ghost.

Green-faced, with fang-like teeth, fearsomely ghastly.

"Swallowed by your own desires, huh?"

The man looked down at him, sighed softly, and drew a revolver from his pocket: "Better to grant you release than to let you continue suffering like this."

Bang!

A single gunshot.

In the stunned gaze of Lu Bu'er and the others, the middle-aged tycoon's head exploded, his brains blossoming.

A chill spread through their hearts.

The man glanced at their shocked faces, silently put away the revolver, and led his subordinates to kneel before The Golden Ancient Tree, bathing in its scorching brilliance, praying devoutly, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done."

"My name is Qingmu, congratulations on your return from the Land of the Departed. I now register you as batch number 583274 of Cocoon Breakers, on behalf of the Supreme Federation. You will be safely escorted to the nearest city. But before that..."

Qingmu frowned, "Why do you all smell so bad?"

"..."

The survivors, including Lu Bu'er, were at a loss for words.

A bit bewildered.

A bit embarrassed.

Next, Qingmu signaled his subordinates to screen them, primarily to check for psychological mutations like the middle-aged tycoon and then to assess their injuries.

After the examination, Lu Bu'er was found to have no issues; he had already discarded the metal shell of the Seeds of the Heavenly God, and the mark on his palm did not raise any suspicion.

"When the Divine Tree descended on the world, the appearance of Specter Fiends shattered the old order, giving humanity the power of the path to evolution, categorized by innate talents. But some, after gaining the power of evolution, are overcome by their own desires and become contaminants."

Qingmu felt relieved and pointed to the now dead middle-aged tycoon, "As for those contaminated, we usually call them inferior kinds, who must be executed on the spot, otherwise..."

Everyone was silent for a moment; the man was not talking nonsense.

The body of the deceased middle-aged tycoon continued to twitch, and his skin was showing signs of decay, turning into the same terrifying mummified corpses they had just seen.

"He would become one of those mummified corpses you just saw, that is, a Specter Fiend. Furthermore, this kind of Specter Fiend has the ability to self-divide, reproducing more of its kind."

The man smiled, "And this kind of Specter Fiend is actually the weakest. To this day, we do not know where the Specter Fiends come from, why those ancient and powerful beings invaded our world, forming lands of the departed and so-called Forbidden Zones of Life."

A tidal wave of information crashed against the worldviews of Lu Bu'er and the others.

"As Cocoon Breakers who have survived from the Land of the Departed, you are lucky. Because what awaits you is not the apocalypse, but an unprecedented era of transcendency!"

Qingmu's next words, however, struck them like a bolt of lightning.

"Welcome to five hundred years in the future, ladies and gentlemen."

·

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On this day, Lu Bu'er's worldview collapsed. If all of this wasn't just a game, then his parents' research must have more to it, and even the initial beta version of the game he was allowed to experience first seemed to have an extraordinarily special significance!