Chapter 380: Silent Night

The moment Xu Yang and the Empress stepped into the City of Gods, they finally understood where the so-called "wrongness" or problem lay.

The entire city was enveloped in a suffocating silence!

As they ventured deeper into the city center, this silence grew even heavier. Not a single person was visible on the streets, and even the sky was a deep blue, like eternal night.

"Can you feel any life force fluctuations around us?" the Empress asked Xu Yang, her voice tinged with trepidation. This trepidation wasn't about how powerful someone was; even the most powerful individuals with an unsteadfast mind would struggle to long resist the torment of suppressing human instinct.

It was said that if a person was confined in a space of absolute silence for a period, they would surely go mad. The Empress and Xu Yang were experiencing precisely this feeling.

Of course, Xu Yang remained perfectly lucid, understanding that he had to be the one to prevail, no matter what, as Wu Shuang was still waiting for him.

"Could it be that the Black Flood Dragon King's eldest son, who rules this entire city, possesses the ability to obliterate primeval energy? That's almost impossible!"

Xu Yang shook his head. "If I'm not mistaken, this ability isn't annihilation, but slumber! The immense divine power generated by human primordial essence has fallen into slumber, not truly vanished. Otherwise, the world system would collapse. We just haven't found a way to awaken this human primordial essence yet. And before we solve this problem, it will be almost impossible to find Wu Shuang. Because the human primordial essence is dormant, we can't capture her aura, nor can we establish a soul resonance with her. This is the fundamental reason we've lost contact with her."

Xu Yang had grasped the core of the problem, but even so, he couldn't immediately find a solution.

Unbeknownst to them, the two had traversed street after long street, arriving before the royal palace, standing before the golden angel statue that once shone with incomparable brilliance.

The beautiful female angel was so perfect, her face strikingly similar to Wu Shuang's. The sacred aura between her brows, mixed with an unparalleled noble presence, could make one feel refreshed and at ease even just standing before her.

"I understand! Call her!" Xu Yang suddenly had an epiphany, turning to look at the Empress beside him with a hint of excitement.

"Call her? How exactly?"

"Have you forgotten? In the real world, the most perfect inheritance of Asura power is the supreme power created after fusing with an Angel's Heart. That is the true divine attainment of the main continent, a truly flawless masterpiece!"

The Empress realized, "You mean my demonic primordial energy, which is both complementary and opposing to it, can itself be the best medium for awakening the Angel's power?"

"Exactly!" Xu Yang affirmed. "Unleashing demonic primordial energy limitlessly in the City of Gods would normally be a blasphemy. But now, as long as we can awaken the Angel Totem, I believe Wu Shuang will naturally revive and resonate with us. At that point, all problems will be solved."

This was a method akin to fighting fire with fire for Xu Yang. There was no other choice now; as long as it achieved the goal, even if it meant fighting fire with fire, Xu Yang had to try!

"Alright then," the Empress replied. "If anything feels wrong, tell me immediately, and I'll stop at once."

"No problem!"

Encouraged by Xu Yang, the Empress cast aside all hesitation. Standing at the foot of the angel statue, she began to unleash her immensely powerful demonic primordial energy without restraint.

At first, it was merely the scope of a single domain. But as she continued to release her demonic energy to its limit, surging waves of black energy continued to rage outwards, until they covered the entire Royal Capital of the Gods.

Boom! Rumble!

Sounds of energy explosions continuously echoed around them. Xu Yang clenched his jaw, but he never spoke to stop the Empress. The power continued to surge and rage!

Finally!

The outline of the angel statue before them unexpectedly began to crack, countless fine lines appearing on the gray-white stone carving. This continued until the Empress released her final surge of demonic primordial energy, reaching an extreme energy fluctuation just one forbidden seal away from the power of laws, finally shattering the Angel Totem perfectly!

The next moment, from within the angel statue, the giant stone, now stripped of its decaying shell, radiated an unprecedented, brilliant golden light throughout!

In an instant, with the statue as its center, the surging golden divine light swiftly enveloped the entire Royal Capital of the Gods!

The Empress, continuously retracting her aura, was enveloped by these golden lights.

Until the Empress completely ceased releasing demonic primordial energy, the entire world was thoroughly painted with the golden shimmer of the Angel Totem.

It was at this very moment that Xu Yang sensed Wu Shuang's aura fluctuations.

"Where are you? We're here to save you!"

"A Yang! Where, where am I...? I feel like I've had a very deep sleep, but I'm not hurt. I also don't know where I'm being held."

Xu Yang breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll find your location and get you out. At least you're safe."

As the golden angel light reached its peak, a star materialized out of thin air in the center of the deep blue sky, quickly transforming into a humanoid figure that descended and slowly landed before Xu Yang.

"My name is Ji Ye," the figure said, "the current master of the City of Gods and the son of the Black Flood Dragon King. I've finally been waiting for you."

Xu Yang snorted coldly. "Have you already decided how you'll face death?"

Ji Ye shook his head indifferently. "Death isn't terrifying," he said. "What's terrifying is living in solitude, just like me, and just like this endless long night..."

Xu Yang, for no apparent reason, detected a hint of sorrow and melancholy in that voice, and couldn't help but gaze at the figure intently for a few moments. From the aura fluctuations after the Angel Light revived, Xu Yang perceived that there were almost no casualties among the people of the City of Gods. The figure named Ji Ye before him was clearly not a bloodthirsty or greedy individual.

"You... have no murderous intent towards this kingdom. I didn't expect the Black Flood Dragon King's eldest son to be such an anomaly. So tell me, since you don't like it, why did you come to the City of Gods to create all this chaos?"

Ji Ye sighed softly. "No one can defy my father's command," he said. "And this talent for apathy that I possess perfectly suited my father's needs, which is why I had to come."

"If you were willing to give up," Xu Yang said, "you would certainly be a promising individual."

Ji Ye offered a bitter smile. "In our Flood Dragon clan," he said, "abandoning means defying a command, which means forfeiting the right to live. I only know that if I didn't have a talent like this, my father wouldn't even look at me. And whoever replaced me here would cause far more bloodshed!"