Chapter 35: Ground Full of Gold
After an inexplicable premonition flashed through Luxianbei’s mind, the depths of her eyes suddenly glowed with a lava-like crimson light, and a burning sensation surged, stimulating her nerves.
Such a degree of burning pain would at least result in serious injury… At the moment this burning sensation appeared, Luxianbei made this judgment based on her past experiences.
Her vision began to blur, and in front of her appeared clusters of glowing color blocks capable of causing severe light pollution.
“Buzz—!”
Accompanied by a deep buzzing sound, those color blocks suddenly surged and rolled forth, like a nebula formed by a big bang, sweeping across the Milky Way in a mighty torrent.
Within that torrent, a brilliantly shining golden ray extended from a distance, directly pointing at Luxianbei’s chest, leaving behind a uniquely shaped emblem in front of her.
A circular ring resembling the sun, growing twin wings, as if to flutter and fly, carrying an aura of long passage.
Locked onto by the emblem, even if Luxianbei executed her movement techniques to the fullest, attempting to knock down that golden light, her endless methods were inevitably swallowed by the dazzling torrent and instantly turned into gold, scattering across the ground.
She couldn’t evade!
All her actions seemed to be anticipated by that golden light… No, rather than anticipation, it was more akin to a stroke of luck!
That golden light seemed to have randomly chosen a direction to fly, just perfectly evading Luxianbei’s attacks and appearing right in line with her trajectory.
Everything felt like a script with a predetermined ending, seamlessly obvious, just like “if a person is killed, they will d*e.”
In the dark, she even had a feeling that even if she were to immediately hide within the God Realm Prototype, that golden light could still find its way through the connection between Huacheng and the God Realm Prototype, coincidentally entering it to continue the pursuit.
That feeling was like the legendary miracle arrow that shot down deities, once drawn, it would never cease until it pierced through the deity’s chest.
The golden light grew increasingly intense, and the bell in her arms chimed anxiously and sharply, ringing incessantly.
In a daze, Luxianbei heard a whisper in her ears, as if the voice came from a distant end or there were people whispering beside her.
It felt like many were offering prayers—elders, children, women…
Luxianbei couldn’t understand their language, but she felt they were calling for “miracles and destiny.”
Gradually, that golden light strengthened, spreading out and dyeing the colorful torrent into a dazzling gold before bursting forth with brilliant radiance.
In an instant, it felt as though a flashbang exploded before her eyes, and Luxianbei felt a sting as if something had pricked them. After a moment of pain, all that remained was a blinding whiteness.
Oh no!
Luxianbei internally exclaimed, retreating as her body quickly adopted a defensive stance with Ling Tai Purification in front of her chest, while rapidly reciting a spell in her mind, opening several defense spell formulas in front of her.
“Crack—!”
At the moment of opening the defense spell formulas, a sound resembling shattering glass rang out. Although Luxianbei couldn’t see immediately, she could judge through the sound that those defense spell formulas were easily torn apart upon contact with that golden light.
With the defense formulas shredded, Luxianbei could almost imagine the golden light colliding violently with her Ling Tai Purification, then somehow bypassing its protection in a way she couldn’t foresee, piercing through her chest and instantly turning her into a little golden figure.
However…
Everything she imagined didn’t happen. Without warning, the bell in her arms stopped vibrating, and the surroundings fell into complete silence.
What’s going on? Did that thing run out of energy? Luxianbei wondered inwardly.
Soon, the burning sensation in her eyes began to dissipate, and her vision gradually became clear. A few seconds later, when she saw what lay before her, she froze slightly.
During the chase and evasion against that golden light, the underground parking lot had been severely damaged; the objects that had been pierced by that golden light had all turned into blocks of golden material, scattered across the ground.
Looking around, the metallic luster was glaring, as if the ground was paved with gold bricks and gold coins.
A stick-like object was hovering half a meter in front of her, directly aimed at her chest, spinning rapidly.
Due to its high rotation speed, it emitted a golden light, causing its outline to be blurred, making it hard for her to discern its specific details.
What the hell is this thing?
A gold-picking stick? A stick-like urban legend? A strangely shaped Mr. Horn?
Luxianbei felt a sense of inexplicable familiarity with that object; she just couldn’t recall when she had collected it and forgotten it among the pile of junk.
d*mn it, I’m just a junk collector, okay!
So many spiritual ability users and urban legends have died in Peach Source, many not even at my hands; am I supposed to remember all their names?
However, why did this damned thing suddenly stop attacking?
Just as Luxianbei was curiously sizing up the stick-like object, her coat suddenly twitched a bit, producing a rustling sound.
The best protective lady witch! <(▼ヘ▼#)>
Sensing the information transmitted through the familiar bond from her coat, Luxianbei froze momentarily and looked down, only to discover that the surface of the coat had inexplicably taken on a faint golden glow, subtly exuding a similar aura to that stick-like object.
“This is…” She slightly parted her lips, wanting to speak but hesitating, and then it seemed she realized something, her eyes brightening slightly.
“Could it be that the experience of devouring and merging the Inheritance Beast’s flesh inside the God Realm Prototype has granted you the ability to replicate urban legend powers?” Luxianbei asked her coat excitedly through the familiar bond.
However…
What is the lady witch saying? I don’t understand! (•ิ_•ิ)?
Luxianbei, “…”
Alright, it’s too much to expect my coat to answer that question.
I’ll just check this little guy myself to see what new abilities have developed.
Though as the master, she could easily know what abilities her familiar had, she almost never used this privilege.
Familiar also has its own privacy, right?
This time it was just a special circumstance.
Luxianbei focused her gaze, concentrating on using the familiar bond to meticulously check the coat’s body inside and out, and then she realized.
It’s just mimicking the emitted aura of the spirit energy fluctuation? Kind of like animal mimicry?
When did this little guy master it?
Luxianbei worried about the coat having absorbed the flesh of Wang Ying and whether there would be any anomalies; after just leaving the God Realm Prototype, she had checked its body, but the result had been normal.
Clearly, this ability, which resembled animal mimicry and could mimic the aura of spirit energy fluctuations, was something it had only recently grasped, perhaps because it had taken some time to fully digest the flesh of the Inheritance Beast.
Hmm… Although it isn’t the replication of powers and doesn’t provide any actual combat power enhancement, it seems pretty good already? It’s just a coat, after all, can’t demand too much.
Wang Ying is, after all, a Cataclysm Grade urban legend and a unique Inheritance Beast; it’s impossible to gain the same abilities just by devouring and merging part of its flesh.
Moreover, perhaps in specific conditions, mimicking the aura could have a miraculous effect, like now…
Luxianbei glanced at the stick-like object floating in front of her, tilting her head slightly. She felt that it was because of the aura emanating from her coat that this damned thing mistook her for one of its kind and thus halted its attack.
She intently fixed her gaze on the stick-like object, alert for a potential attack at any moment, tentatively taking a small step to the side.
Then, just as she expected, that stick-like object also moved slightly to the side, continuing to hover half a meter in front of her chest, spinning rapidly.
“…”
Luxianbei fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted, “Look over there! There’s a big octopus in a yellow raincoat riding a black goat, chasing glowing bubbles!”
The stick-like object remained motionless.
“Uh, not interested in that? Then… how about a magical girl dressed as Kamen Rider, riding a female fire dragon to chase a cybernetic lunatic?”
The stick-like object still didn’t move.
“…”
d*mn it, it’s completely from a different dimension, there’s no way to communicate!
After a few seconds of silence, Luxianbei gave up on diverting the stick’s attention and instead took a deep breath, turned around, and started to run. Then with a thought, a passage leading to the God Realm Prototype suddenly opened on the road ahead.
Stopping before the passage, Luxianbei took a reluctant glance back at the ground full of gold, then looked at the stick-like object coming straight for her. Gritting her teeth, she took a step forward and let the passage engulf her.
If you have the ability, keep chasing! If you catch me, then it’ll be hehehe!
————
Two hours later.
In the ruins of Banshan Primary School.
Luxianbei was sitting atop a broken statue, cradling her face in her hands and staring at the floating stick-like object in front of her, her eyes resembling a dried-up salty fish.
Two hours ago, when she had slipped into the God Realm Prototype, upon finding that this damned thing hadn’t followed her, she truly breathed a sigh of relief.
However, after spending nearly two hours inspecting Gu Xiniang’s scapegoating tasks and casually inquiring about the public opinion surrounding the Seek Truth Mutual Aid Society, secretly rejoicing that no one had discovered she was both the master of the God Realm Prototype and the mastermind of the cult, her mood instantly plummeted when she left the God Realm Prototype.
That stick-like object had come after her.
The moment she appeared in the ruins of Banshan Primary School, she saw a glowing stick-like object hovering half a meter in front of her.
Unwavering loyalty!
“…”
d*mn it, what am I going to do! I can’t possibly stay in the God Realm Prototype for the rest of my life, right?
But having it hovering next to me like this isn’t a solution either!
Setting aside the human form, even if most witches often have strange little creatures floating around them, there’s no witch whose sidekick is a stick-like glowing object of such ambiguous dimensions, right?
Just imagining how it would look from a bystander’s perspective feels bizarre, like a magical girl’s wand being a fake artifact.
I must find a way to make it stop… Sister me is genuinely getting angry!
Thinking of this, a fierce expression flashed in Luxianbei’s eyes, deciding to try to knock the stick-like object down.
Worried that her attack might provoke the stick and make it assault her again, Luxianbei didn’t go all out; she simply conjured a 1.024 times red flame flash and threw it toward the object.
A fist-sized fireball arced through the air and landed on the stick-like object, “Puff!” exploding with sparks flying everywhere.
Not dodging? Not counterattacking? Luxianbei was taken aback for a moment, then came back to herself, her gaze gradually turning increasingly maniacal.
Very well! Next, I’ll let you know what cruelty is; this is self-inflicted, hehehe!
————
Late at night, at the foot of the mountain where Banshan Primary School is located, in a concealed low terrain area.
Inside a camouflage tent, two members of the Special Action Team were gathered around a small table, gazing at the homemade hotpot with their eyes gleaming, continuously swallowing saliva.
Monitoring the situation around Banshan Primary School was definitely a lush job for them.
Staying at the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau, they absolutely couldn’t have hotpot. Under Qi Dong’s strict control, most of the time they could only eat reasonably planned nutritional meals.
So-called nutritional meals were indeed useful for ensuring optimal health, but they were really tasteless.
“It’s ready, eat up, eat up!” one member of the Special Action Team called to his companion as he watched the fatty beef change color in the pot.
Just as the two of them picked up their chopsticks, ready to feast, a faint tremor suddenly emanated from the direction of Banshan Primary School, causing the tent to shake and rustle.
The two members exchanged glances and hurriedly got up, grabbing a pair of black iron-colored twin lilies from the corner of the tent before dashing out.
These were standard equipment used by the Siye Society to monitor spirit energy fluctuation levels and disaster reactions, effective at a distance of 1200 meters.
They looked toward Banshan Primary School.
In the middle of the slope, various lights flickered, akin to dazzling summer fireworks, bathing the outline of the ruins of Banshan Primary School in light.
From time to time, smoke columns rose, wafting a burnt smell that blew with the wind.
They could vaguely hear a mechanical, eerie, and somewhat perverted laughter echoing through the mountain.
“Hehehe, hehehe…”
Calamity always kept its promises.
Soon, the lilies in the hands of the two members changed color.
One lily turned a bright red, while the other turned orange-yellow.
【Spirit Energy Fluctuation Level: B1~A丨Disaster Response: ≤7%丨Medium Height Anomaly.】
Suspected urban legends or spiritual ability users with spirit energy fluctuation level A1 to A grade might be active, or B+ grade urban legends or spiritual ability users engaged in a life-and-d*ath struggle.
No problem!
Although, under normal circumstances, a medium height anomaly would require more than two operatives to report to the scene.
However, the monitoring point at Banshan Primary School was a special case.
Previously, Qi Dong had instructed them that this place was the core area of the Calamity, and upon detecting an anomaly, let the Calamity handle it first. As long as the affected area doesn’t exceed this mountain, or doesn’t reach severe anomaly levels, it doesn’t need to be reported.
“Tsk tsk, let those urban legends continue fighting each other; we’ll keep enjoying our hotpot.”
“Yeah, let’s open a couple of beers later; it’s getting hotter…”
“Speaking of hot, summer is almost here; should we move the hotpot outside? We can enjoy the fireworks and witness the calamity.”
“That is a valid point!”
The two members of the Special Action Team laughed and, with arms around each other’s shoulders, returned to the tent.
————
At Banshan Primary School.
Luxianbei had gone all out, utilizing nearly all her means, excluding the powers of the Hundred-Armed Giant and a few extremely powerful high-level spell formulas, before finally knocking down that stick-like object.
“Whoa—whoa—!”
“It’s… really tough to handle…”
After all that bombardment, an ordinary A-grade urban legend wouldn’t withstand it, and at least two digits’ worth of B-grade legends would meet their demise.
Yet that stick-like object had sustained no damage; it merely stopped spinning and fell to the ground with a light sound.
Her chest was slightly heaving as she sat cross-legged on the apparently plowed ruins, looking at the fallen stick-like object.
It was a cylindrical object about twenty centimeters long and the thickness of a bottle neck, presenting a dark red or deep brown hue, with bark-like wrinkled surfaces, and faintly glowing golden lines distributed like veins.
“This… how can it be this thing?”
Luxianbei recognized it; this was the wreckage left behind after the Ming King Statue was shattered by the Hundred-Armed Giant’s power.
Though it managed to remain intact under the attack of the Hundred-Armed Giant’s power, which was indeed not easy, she had done extensive research previously and hadn’t discovered any extraordinary attributes about it.
In addition to its dark red color and elongated wrinkled shape, she initially thought it was something the Ming King Statue had ‘pooped’ out and tossed it in her home’s storage room.
Later, she had thrown it in the God Realm Prototype along with all the other junk collected from Peach Source.
But looking at it now, it truly isn’t an ordinary item to remain intact under the Hundred-Armed Giant’s power attack.
“But… what exactly is this thing?”
Luxianbei muttered to herself, wrapping her palm in spirit energy and cautiously reaching out toward the stick-like object, attempting to touch it.
When her fingertip made contact, she was surprised to find that the damned thing was warm and seemed to be breathing slowly, gently writhing, with the golden lines flickering rhythmically along with its movements.
This thing is “alive”… A thought flashed through Luxianbei’s mind.
Is it because of the amplified directional summoning spell?
But why is it “alive” instead of summoning its former master?
And this damned thing’s size… The appendix of the Ming King Statue?
Why would the Ming King’s appendix attack me? Has it developed feelings after being around me for so long, wanting to dive into my arms the moment we meet?
Thinking about almost being pierced through the chest by this stick-like object, which had fallen from the Ming King Statue, no matter where it came from, Luxianbei felt a shiver.
“Ugh, can’t take it, can’t take it!”
“Tsk, fortunately, only this one thing has shown anomalies.”
“If all the junk starts summoning souls, to avoid chaos, I might have to host a massive brawl in the underground parking lot.”
Using Wang’s authority to suppress, then luring them with benefits to have them fight each other, lastly eliminating the one that survives, that would be great without even needing to reward anyone!
Luxianbei mentally added this thought, concentrating and moving to store it within the God Realm Prototype before quickly leaving the scene.
The commotion she had just caused was significant, and the Special Action Team would probably be on their way; it would be troublesome if they caught her.
Moreover, over at the half-finished building, there was still a mess of things (referring to the ground full of gold) left to clean up.
So much gold, ignoring it would invite divine retribution!
