She tightly held her child in her arms, hoping that Feng Ping would spare them, mother and son.

However, Feng Ping was completely indifferent. He picked up the Black Flag and lightly waved it, causing the young mother and child to turn into black ash like the villagers before, their Yin Souls absorbed by the Black Flag.

Feng Ping decided to thoroughly search the village. He stood in place, released his Divine Sense, and covered the entire village.

With a slight movement of his Divine Sense, the whole village was upheaved, and all the houses and objects flew into the sky.

There was no one left.

Feng Ping finally settled down, sat down in place, took out the Black Flag, and began refining the Yin Souls he had just collected.

Xiao Mu emerged, continuing to patrol the Eastern Desolation. This time, he no longer flew high in the sky but moved slowly underground.

However, unlike before, this time he decided to inspect the Eastern Desolation in detail, rather than just passing through like the last time.

Soon, he passed a gathering place, which seemed to be a small town.

In the small town, Xiao Mu saw people gathering, saw many Mutated Beings gathered together, some were speaking, and some were distributing leaflets.

The strength of these Mutated Beings was not high, mostly in the Mortal Realm, rarely reaching the True Realm, but they decided not to leave, to protect the ordinary people in the town and to resist the strong ones from the Heavenly Court.

Xiao Mu landed on the ground, deciding to see what these people would do and whether he could get any clues about the Heavenly Court's strong ones from them.

Moreover, although the Heavenly Court's strong ones have not shown themselves, Xiao Mu knew that their purpose in descending to the lower world was nothing more than to harm ordinary people. As long as he stays with these ordinary people, he doesn't need to worry they won't come for him.

"As long as we can unite, we can stand against the people of the Heavenly Court. You, me, him, the strength of one of us may not be enough, but the combined strength of all of us will certainly be enough for self-defense."

Someone was standing on a high platform giving a speech, hoping others would join him in resisting the Heavenly Court.

Many stopped to listen, while beside them, someone else was handing out leaflets.

"Friend, we do not seek fame or profit, only the means to survive. As long as we unite, we can find a way out."

A young man in white handed a leaflet to Xiao Mu.

Xiao Mu, somewhat moved, reached out to take it. These people were all striving for self-preservation.

"Friend, are you also a Mutated Being? If so, we hope you can join us."

The young man in white carefully examined Xiao Mu and finally felt from his demeanor that he should be one of the Mutated Beings, so he pulled Xiao Mu towards a table, hoping he would leave his name and contact information.

Xiao Mu smiled and politely declined, slowly walking away.

He continued forward, seeing many similar situations in the county town, with most people striving for self-preservation, while ordinary people continued living their lives.

The invasion of the Heavenly Court's strong ones brought a huge impact on society, yet these ordinary people, with no means to flee, had to keep living.

They might die tomorrow, but they just wanted to live well today.

"Master Chang is teaching Secret Arts for free, and so is Master Qin, just to enhance strength and better fight the Heavenly Court."

Someone shouted excitedly, running out from the other side, holding a notice in his hand.

The notice had words written on it, and the person was reading it as he ran.

Master Chang and Master Qin were clearly strong presences in this county town and had considerable prestige. Their willingness to teach Secret Arts immediately attracted the attention of many Mutated Beings.

Many low-level Mutated Beings immediately dropped their work and ran towards the square where Master Chang and Master Qin were teaching.

Xiao Mu, curious, also decided to go over and take a look.

"It's full, full, sorry, my master said that we have already accepted enough people, it's not that he doesn't want to take more, but with his energy, he can only teach so many at the moment. You can go and see Master Qin."

A young man in a short-sleeved shirt and bare chest walked out of the courtyard, dismissing the queue of ordinary Mutated Beings.

"Full?" Someone was extremely disappointed, "I just came from Master Qin's place, and it was full there as well. What should we do? If Master Qin won't take us and Master Chang won't take us, who should we follow for cultivation? How can we improve our strength?"

The young man in short sleeves and bare chest seemed empathetic to the people's frustration and said, "My master indeed already has enough students, but he is not entirely without acceptance. If someone has extraordinary talent and great potential, my master is still willing to make an exception."

"Of course, my master is not looking to gain any advantage from you. The people from the Heavenly Court are about to attack, and perhaps everyone might die then. My master is just taking this opportunity to teach a few more people, to give everyone a bit more strength when resisting the Heavenly Court, or at least a slightly better chance of escaping."

"We all understand Master Chang's intentions, Senior Brother Guo, no need to explain. May I ask what qualifies as good talent, and what counts as poor?"

Someone asked urgently, not even waiting for the young man, Senior Brother Guo, to finish speaking.

Before Senior Brother Guo, who was at the Fourth Stage of the Mortal Realm, could respond, someone jumped out from the crowd. It was a young man in his prime, holding a Kitchen Knife, and he shouted loudly, "I have a great talent."

"Oh, it's Duan Ming." Someone recognized the young man and immediately called out his name, "How do you know your talent is great?"

"I just know my talent is great." The young man, Duan Ming, straightened his neck, with an undeterred attitude.

"Duan Ming, I know you, but whether your talent is good or not is not for you to say, it needs testing to find out. Go over there, and touch that big glowing Stone."

The young man in short sleeves and bare chest, Guo, obviously did not take Duan Ming's self-assessment seriously and pointed to a hundred-pound glowing Stone by the courtyard gate.

"I just know my talent is good." Duan Ming shouted as he skipped the test and reached his hand onto the glowing Stone.

The Stone had a faint glow originally, but this time it brightened slightly, very slightly.

"How's that?"

Duan Ming excitedly turned to look at Senior Brother Guo.

Guo originally had an expectant look, but now he shook his head at Duan Ming, "You have some cultivation talent, but it's very low. Duan Ming, if my master hadn't already accepted enough students, he might have taken you, but he has, and won't take you anymore. Please leave and don't delay my master from taking disciples."

"My cultivation talent is very poor?"

Duan Ming looked very disappointed, with a face of disbelief, he pressed his hand on the glowing Stone again, the result was the same as before.

"Is my talent really that poor?" In the end, Duan Ming shook his head in disappointment and left.

He looked dejected, his stride lacking the confidence it had before.

Xiao Mu paid special attention to this young man, Duan Ming's talent was indeed poor, and Senior Brother Guo did not cheat in discerning the talent.

But he was curious about what this young man planned to do next.

Duan Ming walked slowly, but soon, he suddenly quickened his pace, even lifting his head.

This young man, thinking of something, suddenly became confident again, and he strode home.

"Strange young man!"

Xiao Mu shook his head, watched Duan Ming's figure walking away, then turned his head back.

"My talent is great, let me try."

"You can't, my talent works."

A group of people rushed towards the Stone, and Senior Brother Guo hurriedly maintained order, getting everyone to line up and test one by one.

However, like Duan Ming, most had poor talents and were thus eliminated one after another.

Unlike Duan Ming, these people became extremely dejected upon learning of their poor talent, leaving one by one with drooping heads.

Some had decent talents and were eventually taken into the courtyard by Senior Brother Guo, presumably to be accepted under Master Qin.

Seeing this, Xiao Mu unconsciously nodded and continued ahead.

The whole county town was preparing tirelessly to resist the Heavenly Court.

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