Chapter 73: Dogs are Humanity’s Best Friends!
Luxianbei initially believed that while the armored Ling Tai Purification might not completely withstand the immense shadow’s attempt to destroy Xuan Ying Luo Fu, it could at least minimize the damage from that strike.
However, when the profound shadow hit her back, she realized she had miscalculated.
Wrapped in heavy armor, her body was propelled into the air like a lead b*llet shot from a flintlock g*n, crashing down awkwardly before bouncing several times and sinking into the foul, thick mud of putrid flesh spread across the ground.
It felt like her spine had shattered; after a brief moment of pain, a numbness spread from her back to her limbs and torso, first affecting her back, then her neck, and subsequently her waist and thighs…
She lifted her faceplate and opened her mouth, but it was as if her lungs had completely vanished, leaving her unable to breathe.
Her head was buzzing.
She struggled to stand, but before she could steady herself, she doubled over in pain and stumbled a few steps before collapsing back to the ground.
She attempted to activate the core of her Urban Legend, stoking her spirit energy to dispel the creeping numbness that was spreading through her body. In that moment, two different descriptions of power echoed back and forth in her mind.
“There are those of Zhongshan, there is a woman clad in Qingyi, who can awaken the divine…”
“It is both mist and star, it is her child, and also the lips snuffing out the lights in the darkness…”
However, as soon as the spirit energy surged from the core of her Urban Legend, it immediately scattered, as if erupting in chaos and racing wildly within her.
Soon, as the intense numbness spread to her heart and eyes, choking her like a grip of some force around her throat, the voice chanting the descriptions of power abruptly ceased, and the core of her Urban Legend came to a halt, sinking into silence.
At the moment the core of the Urban Legend fell silent, a terrifying explosion erupted from within Luxianbei’s body.
Dust filled the air, waves of energy surged, and scorching smoke gushed forth from the seams of Ling Tai Purification.
Typically, for an Urban Legend that wasn’t born as a calamity like Jumeng, advancing from a low level to a high level takes a long time, requiring either the accumulation of sufficient faith or the digestion and absorption of the risks posed by the core of the Urban Legend and alchemical potions…
After swallowing the Witch’s egg, it took Luxianbei about a year to advance to A Grade, which is quite astonishing for the majority of spiritual ability users and Urban Legends.
This astonishing rate of advancement brought various risks along with it, and her tendency to want to learn everything contributed to the complexity of her learning, further exacerbating these risks.
For example, her younger brother, who occasionally wanted to stab her in the back, represented the hazard left behind from her drawing the spirit patterns without taking the time to skillfully master them through practice.
Previously, with the suppression of the two high-quality powers from the Qingyi Celestial Maiden and Lilith, along with the invisible prevention of errors caused by the immense number of fateful red threads, these risks had not manifested.
Now, with the core of the Urban Legend falling silent, all of those risks exploded simultaneously.
After a long period of “indulging,” this sudden explosion was not as simple as mere “indigestion,” but a loss of control of spirit energy, chaos of the Urban Legend core, corruption of power, and even a potential fatality on the spot.
From a certain perspective, it was as if countless “little brothers” banded together to form a great army, launching a grand rebellion against this body.
Vaguely aware of what was happening to her, Luxianbei briefly pondered before enduring the pain, using the last of her strength to dismiss Ling Tai Purification.
The crisis stemmed from within, so she would not need Ling Tai Purification; if she accidentally damaged it, that would be detrimental… Luxianbei thought, and then her body erupted violently.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The continuous sound of explosions filled the air, countless particles of dust were thrown into the sky.
Surrounding Luxianbei, the sludge-like flesh seemed to have all its moisture drawn away in an instant, drying out and crumbling at a visible rate, then turning to dust.
Immediately after, a strange thought inexplicably emerged in her mind—”You are wrong.”
She was sure she hadn’t heard any voice, seen any words, nor detected any spirit energy fluctuations conveying a message through her spiritual awareness. That thought was not her own.
Yet, it appeared out of nowhere, as if someone had forcefully implanted this thought, unwelcome and alien, deep inside her mind, igniting an inexplicable sense of guilt within her, leading her to uncontrollably begin to repent in her heart.
It was wrong to strike at the descendants of the Haze God…
It was wrong to prevent Pestilence Taijie from awakening…
It was wrong to rescue Wang Ying from the Solar Eclipse Society…
It was wrong to undermine the expansion of Pestilence Taijie’s influence through Hundred Demons Walk…
And it was also wrong to let go of the Siye Association Operatives who rushed to the Flower Language Sunshine Resort Hotel right after swallowing the Witch’s egg when the spirit energy went out of control…
Furthermore, attempting to forcibly manipulate the trajectory of fate through fateful red threads was an even greater sin!
For a brief moment, she felt as if everything she had experienced from birth until now was being negated.
But if all of that was wrong, then what is right? Luxianbei thought, as if questioning that existence that denied everything about her.
However, she received no answer; instead, she heard the howling of the wind around her, reminiscent of a dragon’s roar.
Immediately after, she seemed to lose her senses and fell into a nightmare.
In the depths of that nightmare, it felt like countless resentful souls were roaming around, their twisted bodies clinging to her, covering her mouth and nose, whispering in her ear, “Come on, come on, become like us!”
Then, bit by bit, they dragged her into an apparently endless darkness.
Yet the undamaged fateful red threads were preventing all of this from happening.
The two forces pulled at each other, as if they were trying to tear her, caught in between, into shreds…
————
As the profound shadow wrapped around her body, sensing the decaying, ominous power surging forth from the shadow, Xuan Ying Luo Fu thought it was all over.
In a daze, she seemed to see her previous master, without hesitation, open her up to withstand the fatal blow during a crisis.
In her understanding, at the critical moment of life or d*ath, it is reasonable for a spirit energy item holder to abandon their item to save their own life.
Her last two masters had done just that…
And destruction was, after all, the ultimate fate for the vast majority of spirit energy items, or rather, weapons.
If the umbrella was damaged, the ribs might still be usable, but what if the ribs were also destroyed?
Then there would be nothing left, right?
Xuan Ying Luo Fu never expected that Luxianbei would retrieve her at the last moment, protecting her in her embrace.
Her understanding of being a spirit energy item could not comprehend Luxianbei’s actions.
This was unreasonable!
That person had clearly said they would entrust their life to me…
Did that statement not mean that as long as I was not damaged, I must stand in front of her?
With her thoughts in disarray, Xuan Ying Luo Fu was just about to sort out what had happened when an unexpected change occurred.
Through the subtle connection between the spirit energy item holder and the spirit energy item, she clearly felt that the spirit energy within Luxianbei had gone out of control and was deteriorating at an alarming rate.
Moments later, the flow of spirit energy from Luxianbei to her was completely severed, and that subtle connection collapsed as well.
Xuan Ying Luo Fu observed Luxianbei with uncertainty, but before she could understand what was going on, Luxianbei “exploded.”
A fierce wind suddenly gusted in, stirring up swirling dust.
The dark umbrella ribs, having lost their wielder, shot out violently amidst the intense explosion, piercing the ground at an angle.
“Thud!” The sound of earth and stone cracking burst forth.
Almost the moment it touched the ground, Xuan Ying Luo Fu rose into the air again, trying to get closer to Luxianbei, but she was repeatedly forced back by the violent explosions.
She looked to the sky, attempting to find Jumeng’s figure for help, but all she saw was a chaotic scene of spirit energy collisions and dazzling beams of light.
Jumeng seemed exhausted from holding back the enormous shadow, as if she were stuck in a quagmire, unable to use her full strength.
In the end, she could only circle around Luxianbei, watching helplessly as Luxianbei’s skin began to crack like land afflicted by drought, inch by inch, with crimson bl**d gushing from the fissures, completely powerless.
Immediately afterwards, a sound resembling bubbling liquid boiling ascended.
Gurgle… gurgle…
Then, the rolling liquid bubbles burst.
“Pop!” A faint sound came from behind Xuan Ying Luo Fu.
Turning to look, next to the shattered evil altar, the twisted, mushroom-like flesh had inexplicably reared up again.
The tangled web-like extensions writhed violently, greedily sucking in the “sacrifices” that had turned into sludge around the altar, as well as spirit energy from further away across the city.
At its peak, it turned into a boiling black bl**d, releasing a nauseating odor that wafted through the air, and from that black bl**d, a figure gradually coalesced.
That figure had an alluring upper body, while its lower half resembled a cloud of smoke—half tangible and half intangible—rolling and surging, continuously forming shapes like scales, sacs, tufts, cauliflower, and thick strings, all of which were uncomfortable to behold.
Below that, was a dense web-like structure, constantly absorbing spirit energy to strengthen itself.
After a few moments, it opened its eyes and looked down at the fallen Luxianbei.
In those eyes, as clear as a newborn’s yet flashing with the beast-like, purest intent to k*ll, a dreadful rage boiled.
In an instant, Xuan Ying Luo Fu felt its fury.
It was angry, for Luxianbei had prevented its birth.
Now, after going through countless “tests,” it had finally come into this world, and its first task was to take revenge on this powerless enemy, using the bl**d of its foe to honor the journey of consuming its mother.
Seeing this, Xuan Ying Luo Fu trembled violently, as if demonstrating against that figure, emitting low, rumbling vibrations.
Yet it completely ignored Xuan Ying Luo Fu, drifting slowly towards Luxianbei.
At that moment, a barking sound echoed.
“Woof woof! Woof—Woof woof!”
Following the sound, a small dog with snow-white fur appeared, its back fur standing on end, revealing its tiny, sharp teeth towards that figure.
That cute yet fierce appearance seemed to say that when all sources of spirit energy were rebelling to different extents, it had not, because…
Dogs are humanity’s best friends!
