My starting summon is a small skeleton

Beijing, within a certain manor.

Two people met.

The one on the left shared the news he had just received.

After hearing everything, the one on the right was utterly stunned.

"Are you telling the truth? Are they really going to do this?"

"Absolutely certain, they are really planning to sacrifice Jingcheng!"

Upon receiving a confirmed response, the one on the right exploded in fury, "How could they do this? How could they think of doing this? How dare they do this?"

"What wouldn't they dare? I've got word that the people over in Changping, weren't killed by Lu Wu at all, but by their own hands!

To kill a Lu Wu, they massacred millions in Changping, what's sacrificing one Jingcheng in order to refine a few Gate Fragments?

In their eyes, ordinary people are no different from ants, they already consider themselves as gods who can manipulate life and death at will.

In other words, they've lost their humanity!"

The speech from the one on the left struck the one on the right dumb, leaving him speechless.

"Alright, that's all I can say.

Whatever you plan to do, do it quickly, get whatever friends and family out of Jingcheng that you can.

I still have a mission and must get back, I'll be noticed if I'm late.

Also, one piece of advice, it's best not to harbor any impractical thoughts, you can't do anything, you can't save anything!"

With those words, the one on the left disappeared after a short while.

And the one on the right, not long after the other had left, also departed from the manor, with a worried face, heading back to the Cultivation Master Professional Center in Beijing.

If Lu Wu were here, he would recognize that this person was none other than the deputy dean of Jingcheng Cultivation Professional Center, Sun Kongkong.

At this moment, full of concern, he returned to the Cultivation Master Professional Center and delivered the intelligence he had just received to Yuan Hua.

After listening, Yuan Hua also fell silent.

After a while, he lifted his head, "Is this information really accurate?"

"Almost certainly!"

"Old Yuan, what should we do?

Are we really just going to evacuate our friends and family from Jingcheng and then do nothing else, as he said?"

Sun Kongkong looked anxiously and expectantly at Yuan Hua, truly feeling helpless himself, he could only hope for Yuan Hua's guidance.

But faced with such a situation, what could Yuan Hua do?

"It's useless, anything we do will be in vain!"

At this moment, Yuan Hua had to admit that the situation they faced was nearly insurmountable: "Even if we could save Jingcheng, it wouldn't mean much, they could easily target another city.

To them, it doesn't matter which city it is, as long as there are sacrifices.

So, to resolve this issue, the simplest, most effective, and only way is to kill those two elders."

Yes, this was their only option, but it was also an impossible task.

Two beings at Epic 3 stars, already standing at the peak within the Alliance.

Not to mention them, even the Science Alliance and the Dark Conference had become tools in their hands; what could Yuan Hua and Sun Kongkong do?

All efforts would be in vain.

"But even if it's fruitless, I don't want to do nothing!"

Sun Kongkong knew this, but he couldn't persuade himself to act as if he hadn't seen anything.

So he decided to do something.

Even though he knew very well the price of his action.

Watching Sun Kongkong leave, Yuan Hua was silent.

...

The fifth day since the destruction of the Changping Secret Realm, and also the fourth day since the destruction of the Dark Conference and the Science Alliance.

No one noticed that in Jingcheng District 1, a ritual that engulfed the entire city had silently taken shape over just four days.

Just as Sun Kongkong had gathered from the intelligence, the two elders from the Elder Council were preparing to sacrifice the city.

Everything was ready.

Next, they just needed to initiate the sacrifice ritual.

Soon, this sprawling city with a population of five to six million would be sacrificed, erased from the Alliance, from this world, and Elder Mountain would obtain five refined Fragments.

Above Jingcheng, Zhang Mingrui looked down upon the city beneath him.

His eyes were indifferent and coldly clear, without a flicker of emotion, much less any sense of guilt for destroying a city.

"Is the preparation almost complete?"

"Almost, almost ready!"

Compared to Zhang Mingrui, Gutian at his side, responsible for assisting, was not quite so composed.

Though not a good person, Gutian was still human.

He still had humanity.

The thought of personally destroying a city was something he found hard to accept.

"Relax, this is not as severe as you imagine, neither is it so formal. Life, especially the lives of ordinary people, is actually that fragile.

If it wasn't for our protection, they would have no right to live in this world.

We protected them, fabricated the beautiful lie of world peace. In exchange, we gained the right to control their lives, which is quite fair!

Now that they can sacrifice for us, for them, it's truly an honor."

Zhang Mingrui patted Gutian on the shoulder, uttering words that rocked Gutian's world view.

At the same time, he snapped his fingers lightly.

At the moment the snap sounded, Gutian, still stunned by Zhang Mingrui's words, shivered.

His eyes bulged, staring fixedly at the city below.

However, when he looked at the city, Gutian froze. The scene he had anticipated did not occur; the city beneath his feet was not sacrificed, it was still there, intact.

"What's going on? Did the ritual go wrong?"

Zhang Mingrui at his side shook his head: "No, we just have some unwelcome guests."

Almost as soon as Zhang Mingrui spoke, several figures emerged in the city below them, and Gutian recognized the leaders among them.

One was Sun Kongkong from the Cultivation Master Professional Center, one was the former Xing Zhanlong of the Summoner Professional Center, and the other was the President of Jingcheng University.

Each of these three individuals was a peak figure within the Alliance.

They all possessed terrifying levels of power, with the formerly weakest Xing Zhanlong achieving a Half-step Epic Level after returning from Zone 11. The remaining Sun Kongkong and the President of Jingcheng University had even reached the standard of Epic 1 Star.

These three could be said to have such influence that a single stomp from them would send tremors throughout the entire Alliance.

But at this moment, Gutian looked at these three as if he were looking at three idiots.

Indeed, they were being idiots, for if they were not, they would not have chosen to stand out at this time.

"Elder Zhang, we ask that you please spare the people of Jing City.

If you truly require a sacrifice, please give us some time, and we promise to gather the necessary offerings you need."

"Elder Zhang, as an elder of Elder Mountain, I believe you understand that for the Alliance, these ordinary people are its foundation. Your casual destruction of millions of these foundations could deal a huge blow to the Alliance.

With the matter in Changping Secret Realm yet to settle, if the incident in Jing City were to arise now, the entire Alliance might just collapse.

I'm sure you wouldn't want to witness the fall of the Alliance, right?

After all, it's the culmination of your centuries of hard work."

Sun Kongkong and the President of Jingcheng University, Zhou An, were more eloquent. Despite their immense anger and even hatred toward Zhang Mingrui, they still managed to speak with restraint.

As for Xing Zhanlong, he had regained his reason.

Knowing that he was not good with words and that his words might be unkind, he simply chose to remain silent, standing there with a cold demeanor.

But through his actions, he conveyed his stance.

He was telling Zhang Mingrui that if he wanted to sacrifice this city, he would have to get past him first.

At that moment, Zhang Mingrui, looking down at the four below him, Sun Kongkong among them, always wore a smile on his face.

But his smile was not gentle, not benevolent; it was one of mockery.

He first directed his gaze at Sun Kongkong, "Let's say, hypothetically, I agreed to let you help me collect the offerings. How long would you need, and what kind of offerings could you provide me?

Would you bring a few million ordinary people from other zones?

Or would you bring back some summoners you deem extremely evil? Hmm, if it's Summoned Beasts or something, don't bother mentioning it, as that doesn't meet my criteria for sacrifice."

Sun Kongkong had thought through many possible reactions from Zhang Mingrui but had not expected him to discuss the matter in such a calm and collected manner, which slightly startled him. However, he quickly composed himself and voiced his decision.

"On one hand, I will help you transfer people from other zones. On the other hand, I will help you apprehend some summoners who are extremely evil."

"Do I really need you to do such a thing?"

"It will all be done by me. I will take the responsibility for this, and if necessary, I can even offer myself up as a sacrifice."

Sun Kongkong's resolve to save the people of Jing City was straightforward.

But Zhang Mingrui laughed after hearing his words.

"That's very noble, quite good, but have you considered, what's the difference between you doing this and what I'm doing?

Are lives from Zone 1 lives while lives from other zones are not?

How exactly are you going to determine that the summoners you capture are all extremely evil?

What criteria will you use to define someone's evil deeds? One more thing, why do you disregard the lives of ordinary people from other zones, but for summoners, you consider good and evil? Do you inherently distinguish between summoners and ordinary people?

If so, how are you any different from me when you come to talk to me?"

"What difference does it make if we use District 1 or people from another area?"

Zhang Mingrui's remark left Sun Kongkong at a loss for words.

When responding to Zhang Mingrui, Sun Kongkong hadn't considered all these aspects. He simply wanted to pacify Zhang Mingrui, so he blurted out his answer without thinking and didn't expect Zhang Mingrui's sharp retort.

Sun Kongkong was now helplessly frustrated, unable to voice a response.

At this moment, Zhang Mingrui turned his gaze toward Zhou An.

"What did you just say? You mentioned that the death of several million people would cause the Alliance to collapse? You said this Alliance is the culmination of my century's effort?

Well, I agree with half of your statement, which is that the Alliance is indeed my life's work.

So, how I choose to treat my life's work is my business, and as for the notion that the collapse of the Alliance hinges on the death of a mere few million people?

You're being overly anxious. Their resilience is quite strong. The Alliance won't collapse so easily!"

"So, you're saying that you're definitely going to sacrifice this city?"

Zhou An and the others' expressions darkened as they stared coldly at Zhang Mingrui, who seemed utterly indifferent, "You can try to stop me. If you succeed, I might not sacrifice this city.

But the question is, can you achieve that?"

With a slight chuckle, Zhang Mingrui lightly tapped his finger, and a wave of pressure immediately arose.

Sun Kongkong and his two companions couldn't help but tremble.

It wasn't that they were cowards, but rather due to the vast gulf in power between them.

Sun Kongkong and his companions knew very well at that moment, that if Zhang Mingrui wished, he could snuff out their lives in an instant; yet, they didn't back down a single step.

Sun Kongkong lifted his head to look at Zhang Mingrui, "We may not be able to stop you, but we can expose your actions for the entire Alliance to see.

That's something you wouldn't want to happen, right?

The death of a few million might not collapse the Alliance, but if they were killed by you, how could the Alliance continue to stand united?"

Truly, in a situation of utter helplessness, Sun Kongkong finally played his trump card.

He had reasoned that this was the only way. The only thing Zhang Mingrui seemed to fear was this.

Indeed, when Sun Kongkong made this point, Zhang Mingrui was momentarily taken aback, and a trace of disturbance could be seen in his presence, giving Sun Kongkong a glimmer of hope.

However, while he was still rejoicing at the hope that appeared before him, Zhang Mingrui's lips suddenly curled into a smirk.

"Then, go ahead and do just that. It's not that important of a matter. To me, it's not serious at all. At worst, it will just cause some disorder for a while and lead to the deaths of some ordinary people, that's all."

"What?"

Sun Kongkong's face changed, and at that moment, Zhang Mingrui seemed to have lost patience as well.

"Enough, I'm done talking with you all. Since you've come, you might as well stay. I was worried that the sacrifice of these millions of ordinary people wouldn't be secure enough, but with several of you, it's much more certain."

With these words, a strong sense of danger surged in the hearts of the three companions. As they were about to react, Zhang Mingrui pointed his finger at them.

"Thud," "thud," "thud."

With three light taps, three sounds echoed, and the three Epic Level powerhouses, Sun Kongkong and his companions, were directly impaled by Zhang Mingrui and nailed in place.

While controlling them, Zhang Mingrui's lips turned upward, and he snapped his fingers again.

This time, the snap elicited a response, lighting up the entire city below. The sacrifice had officially begun.

Yet, this time the sacrifice did not last long. With a 'swoosh,' the city that had lit up dimmed once more, and the sacrifice was halted again...