Chapter 265: Tricked!
Inside the God Realm Yumen, in front of the County Prince’s Mansion.
Following the master’s orders, Cannibal Monk Zhang Xuan fused everything he had with the power of spirit patterns to obtain strength. For countless years, he stood guard over the central operation of the God Realm, and even as his body decayed, he never thought of giving up. Now, he was chasing after those who had escaped the County Prince’s Mansion, taking a step forward.
Suddenly, the ground trembled violently, and dust rose like a tide, gushing out from the fissures in the earth.
Immediately after, a massive iron fist, shrouded in intense psychic energy fluctuations, smashed down, as the rapidly compressed air emitted a mournful wail, and sparks from intense friction flared up, frighteningly escaping in all directions.
“Boom——!”
A deafening roar erupted.
The enormous iron fist, gripped tightly, was unexpectedly intercepted by something, halting just two meters above the ground, unable to advance another inch.
In the shadow.
Underneath the water-blue fur covering her body, Huaiyuan Jun wore a mocking smile on her face as she raised one hand, her fingers splayed open, effortlessly holding up the falling iron fist above her head.
“Tsk! Average stuff!” She nonchalantly spat, glancing toward the others in front, saying, “You all go ahead, I have some old debts to settle with this guy, I’ll be there soon.”
As her words fell, red and blue ripples spread across her arms.
Then, raising both hands, her fingers clenched as they dug deep into the iron fist, which was now just bones.
With Huaiyuan Jun exerting force in her arms, the giant Cannibal Monk Zhang Xuan trembled violently beneath her feet.
After a low rumble, the dozens of meters tall giant was easily lifted above her head and tossed into the air.
As she moved forward, the wind rushed past her ears.
Watching Huaiyuan Jun casually throw the giant into the air as if it were a ball, the system couldn’t help but communicate with Gu Qiqi in her mind, “Did you see that, Gu Qiqi? This is the effect of maximizing physical strength! And this is still her not even using her full power!”
Who is Huaiyuan Jun?
She is someone who broke more than a dozen ribs with a single punch against calamity!
Flipping over a strange tale that barely reached calamity grade is as easy as breathing! the system thought.
“So, stop complaining that your spirit pattern advancement direction is flawed, that you don’t have as many mystical talents as others… Do I want to harm you?”
What is strength? Strength is to attack powerfully!
You are suited for all-out upgrades; other means of leveling won’t work for you! the system thought.
“Um…” Gu Qiqi pouted and pondered for a moment before saying, “Although that sister is indeed very strong, I just feel she doesn’t seem very smart.”
The system, “…… Smart? In this regard, do you have the right to criticize others?”
As the system grumbled internally, the group in front led by Bai Kai and General suddenly stopped, raising their heads to look at the southern city wall.
There, the fierce fissure through which the God Realm Yumen was torn apart by the Shaman Queen had, at some point, vanished without a trace.
———
Shengjing, Siye Association Headquarters, in Observation Room No. 2.
“There’s a visual! There’s a visual!”
Amidst the excited cheers of a Siye Association operative, the giant light screen in front displayed images of Yumen Pass.
In the sky, rolling dark clouds stretched for hundreds of miles.
Illusory red fire spots rose from above the southern city wall of God Realm Yumen, converging together, flashing in and out like a columnar nebula that pierced the clouds, allowing faint dawn light to spill down.
That hazy yet clean light seemed to suggest that a deity would descend upon them, stepping through the scattered light.
“Unknowingly… it’s already dawn?” a Siye Association operative murmured.
As soon as his words fell, he saw the rising fire spots silently begin to descend after reaching a certain height, scattering down onto the fiercely cracked God Realm Yumen, erupting in dazzling brilliance.
A flower quietly bloomed amidst the bright light.
In the glimmer of dawn, as the wind stirred, like smoke and mist, a gigantic flower, cloaked in flames and bursting with colorful, dreamlike hues, blossomed on the ancient city gate… From the monitoring screen, it resembled a fantastical scenery one might see in a game or a movie.
“Secretary… is that the Miracle Flower?” a young Siye Association operative quietly asked Wu Yuhui beside him.
“…” Wu Yuhui opened her mouth, hesitated to speak, and eventually just shook her head silently.
Just from the appearance of that huge flower, it indeed matched most characteristics of the Miracle Flower recorded in “The Book of Siye,” but it was only most of them… After all, the Miracle Flower recorded in “The Book of Siye” was not cloaked in flames, nor did it have fiery sparks like golden powder scattered across its petals.
In the next moment, cracks began to heal.
Countless small, disordered black lines, exuding an oppressive aura, appeared above God Realm Yumen, converging to form a black spherical lightning that devoured all surrounding light, dropping numerous terrifying branches, sweeping across the invisible curtain of light outside the God Realm Yumen as if to prevent its restoration, which had been damaged by the Shaman Queen.
A high-frequency piercing shriek erupted, a continuous sound.
In the observation room, various monitoring instruments began to change rapidly, levels of night erosion, calamity reactions, spirit energy density… fluctuated violently, and ear-piercing alarms blared incessantly.
All Siye Association operatives present were thrown into chaos.
“Time… [Unconventional Calamity Event: Time]? My God! Such a high calamity-grade event really exists?”
“Secretary…”
“Quick! Quick, record the data! This is only the second instance of an unconventional calamity event worldwide, and the data is invaluable!”
So-called unconventional calamity events refer to those that threaten to reach or exceed calamity grade yet cannot find corresponding spirit energy users or special events related to the occurring event.
Such incidents contain numerous uncertain factors, lack informational data, and have no conventional approaches to follow; each occurrence must undergo specialized analysis and research to make corresponding decisions.
[Unconventional Calamity Event: Time] has only occurred twice globally, and both times outside of Z Country; the Siye Association possesses very minimal useful intelligence, only knowing that this type of unconventional calamity event is related to disruptions in time.
…
Within the chaotic observation room, suddenly someone softly called out, “Everyone look! It has been repaired! The God Realm Yumen that was damaged by the Code [Yumen·One] strange tale has been restored.”
As the words fell, all the Siye Association operatives in the observation room seemed to have been paused in an instant, standing there frozen. A second later, everyone turned to look at the screen, their eyes filled with astonishment.
Outside the God Realm Yumen, which had originally resembled a shattered crystal ball, now covered in fierce cracks, seemed to rewind time and returned to its original state.
As the wind and sand thickened, that ancient and majestic God Realm seemed as if it would be swept into the wind and sand at any moment, quietly vanishing.
“Why? Why did you deceive me?!”
As if receiving a strong stimulus, the Shaman Queen, who was locked in battle with Tongzi Tian and Fujihara Shoshoin, suddenly erupted with a hoarse roar.
Heaven and earth shook.
A torrent of psychic energy suddenly surged from within the Shaman Queen, pushing back the unprepared spirit users around her.
In the next moment.
Just as the God Realm Yumen was about to transform again into endless yellow sand and merge into the vast Gobi Desert, something enormous began to slowly consolidate on the barren land neighboring Sanlongsha…
No one could see what it was.
But everyone felt its arrival.
Even those thousands of miles away, within the Siye Association headquarters’ observation room, sensed the terrifying pressure it brought through the light screen.
Daring not to move, blink, or even breathe.
It did not notice, or perhaps simply disregarded the watching eyes and probing spirits, but all who observed its existence, be they people or strange tales, felt a sensation—a mere action at this moment could summon endless pain and despair…
Finally, that terrifying pressure dissipated.
Everyone felt as if they were about to drown but were pulled from the water, gasping for air, greedily filling their lungs.
Heavy breaths rose and fell.
But in the next moment, everyone again held their breath.
A bizarre, gigantic shadow, as if emerging from the most terrifying nightmare, yet radiating a twisted and extreme beauty, appeared out of thin air on the barren land outside the God Realm Yumen.
Strange tale, Code 0!
It slowly approached the Shaman Queen, extending a limb as if to caress a child.
Under the shadow cast by that limb, the Shaman Queen’s psychic energy, which had already dwindled to the brink of collapse, suddenly surged…
———
On Zixiao Terrace.
Zhang Hainan, dressed in a Daoist robe, sat cross-legged in the center of the altar.
Around the altar, a group of elders from Dachunyang Palace, along with Huasang, totaling eight members, looked solemnly at the old figure on the altar.
Suddenly, Zhang Hainan opened his eyes and announced loudly, “The time has come!”
In the next moment, the eight people surrounding the altar began to recite softly in turn.
First, the two from the northern side chanted, “Zixiao brillantly shines, summons thunder and rain, saves drought.”
Then, the two from the southern side followed, “Zixiao brilliantly shines, suppresses the root gas, and destroys altars and temples.”
Afterward, the four from the east and west sides joined in the chant.
“… Generating all beings, alleviating life and saving production.”
“… Cleansing poison and ab*se, lifting the dead souls.”
As the chorus of voices gradually ceased, Zhang Hainan then softly chanted, “Zixiao brilliantly shines, one breath unifies, thunder shakes the sound, slays ancient artifact spirits, punishes false deities, preserves calamities and traps suffering…”
Nine high-level spirit users, in five different positions, used all their spirit energy, activating the Zixiao Terrace—truly the “Five Thunders Strike Down.”
Thus, thunderclouds gathered silently on the barren land outside God Realm Yumen, accompanied by a resonant drumbeat capable of subduing all things, a bolt of thunder appeared out of thin air, casting down five beams of blinding lightning just as the Code 0 strange tale was about to reach the Shaman Queen, marking an insurmountable boundary.
As the lightning expanded bit by bit, countless electrically violent currents spread wildly in all directions, crushing everything attempting to approach into dust.
The earth trembled, and in the Gobi, vast yellow sand soared, every inch, even every grain of sand, danced with arcs of electricity.
The Code 0 strange tale let out a furious roar, its extended limb, unable to advance another inch, became stalemated for several seconds before begrudgingly retreating, gradually fading into nothingness…
———
On the other side, within the central operation of the God Realm.
Lu Xianbei suddenly awoke.
As if awakening from a thousand-year slumber, an intense sense of weakness overwhelmed her.
She stared blankly at the surrounding ocean-like golden light, and after a moment of thought, calm analysis, and bold speculation, she reached a conclusion—it’s over, I’ve been completely tricked!
“d*mn Hong Bian! Here I am trying to help, and you have the gall to set me up?!”
