Chapter 290: Emperor of Humanity
Luxianbei left the celebration just like that.
Although she and Shen Baiwei were the main characters of today’s celebration, she was completely unconcerned about the atmosphere going cold because of her departure.
Heating up the atmosphere of a mere “gathering” of a few hundred people was nothing for Bai Kai.
Luxianbei even hoped that Water Brother would tone it down a bit and not corrupt the pure-hearted local residents.
Otherwise, it was quite possible to witness a peculiar scene where nightlife style blended with the ancient style of the western regions.
Setting off from one end of the market where the platform was erected, they made their way through the bustling market towards the County Prince’s Mansion.
Along the way, Luxianbei felt a sense of nostalgia akin to going to temple fairs with adults during the New Year, but unlike then, now it was Long Bang acting like a child, pestering her to buy this and that.
Mud figurines, wooden carvings, candied hawthorn, and crickets in bamboo cages… a chaotic mishmash of items.
The tricky part was that in order to maintain the last dignity of Long Bang, she could not let the stall owners see that it was Long Bang who wanted these items; she could only force herself to act like a child, looking at and wanting everything new and interesting.
Others could hardly imagine how difficult it was for a stoic and socially anxious tough guy to do such things, nor how much psychological damage it could cause him.
Even Shen Baiwei, who followed behind them, couldn’t help but wipe her sweat, secretly sighing in relief that it wasn’t her standing next to Long Bang.
To celebrate the return of the two original Miracle Saints, the residents of God Realm Yumen had nearly all gathered in the market close to Dai Mu Institute.
As they got closer to the County Prince’s Mansion, the noise and cheers faded away, gradually becoming blurred and imbued with an unreal feeling.
Long Bang excitedly fiddled with the various trinkets he had just purchased, muttering to himself.
Shen Baiwei, trailing behind them, heard different voices overlapping and suddenly felt a very subtle sensation.
It felt as if, on the eve of Lunar New Year’s Day, one was alone at home eating tasteless frozen dumplings while watching the even duller Spring Festival Gala, suddenly hearing laughter from unknown sources, the sounds of firecrackers rising and falling downstairs, and the noisy voices of children from the neighboring house.
It wasn’t quite loneliness, but the feeling of being pushed to the edge of the world was still unpleasant.
At that moment, Long Bang’s voice reached her ears.
“Miss Lilith… let’s leave it at this? From here on, I can walk alone.”
“Just now… haha, I’m really sorry, I made it difficult for you!”
The words were clear, and his tone was steady; Long Bang seemed to have suddenly returned to normal.
Shen Baiwei stood a bit further off, watching Long Bang, who was smiling at Luxianbei, and for a moment, she couldn’t help but wonder if Long Bang’s earlier manic behavior was intentional.
Quickly, she shook her head, recalling that someone like Long Bang, an elderly person whose mind was gradually losing control, was actually quite pitiful.
Because you could never tell when they would be clear-headed and when they would be confused, and if you weren’t careful, you might misinterpret their sudden emotional shifts as intentional disruptions.
But in reality, they were just lost in the passage of time after living for so long, having accidentally strayed off course.
In such times, a little more patience was needed, waiting for them to slowly come back out, just like Calamity… Shen Baiwei thought, her gaze lingering on Luxianbei for a few extra seconds.
“Why would there be anything to be embarrassed about!” Responding to Long Bang’s apology, Luxianbei waved her hand nonchalantly, “I don’t mind something like this, anyway, I have a thick skin and plenty of disguises; if one identity dies socially, I can just switch to another and continue living. But you…”
She paused mid-sentence, her gaze drifting through the dilapidated windows and doors of the storied mind hall that hadn’t been repaired for years, looking at the passage leading to the center of the God Realm, and pouted, “Are you really okay with me not walking with you until the end? That place… is very dark!”
“No need.” Long Bang shook his head, “My brother once told me that when a person dies, it feels like walking through a very dark, narrow alley with no one in sight, endlessly until the very end, where one can never return…”
At this point, he turned to look into the pitch-black passage of the storied mind hall, curled his lips into a slight smile, creating an arc of lines on his aged face, “It’s better for me to get used to it in advance.”
Perhaps it was Long Bang’s calm demeanor towards d*ath that choked BB Ji’s throat, and she couldn’t find her voice, only silently watching him, scrutinizing the storied mind hall, the County Prince’s Mansion, and the distant outlines of the buildings within Yumen City Gate, not missing a single inch, as if she wanted to imprint everything in her memory.
After a long while, he slowly spoke, “Miss Lilith, Miss Shen, I have already arranged the affairs within the city; you may act freely, and there will be people cooperating with you, no need to worry…”
At this point, it seemed like he sensed something, his eyes trembled slightly.
Perhaps sensing the approach of his end, or perhaps the call of the center of the God Realm…
His voice suddenly stopped.
“It seems I must leave, Miss Lilith.”
“Wait!” Seeing Long Bang turn to leave, Luxianbei raised her hand to stop him.
Long Bang turned to look at Luxianbei, showing a difficult expression, “Miss Lilith, there’s no banquet in the world that doesn’t disperse…”
“You’re thinking too much; I didn’t plan to keep you!” Luxianbei interrupted expressionlessly, then raised her hand to point at the Fengchi Spear in his hand, “I just want to say, could you leave this thing with me before you go?”
“After all, you are about to be gone, and it won’t be of any use to you… and this is at least a quality spirit energy item! If it gets crushed into dust by the center of the God Realm when you take it in, that would be a pity.”
Beside them, Shen Baiwei stared wide-eyed at Luxianbei’s actions.
Even at this moment, you still have the nerve to ask for other people’s things? It’s even a close weapon that has accompanied someone for a thousand years…
This is like asking where the property deed and bankbook are from an elderly person on their deathbed…
Calamity, you have no heart!
Shen Baiwei thought, preparing to roll up her sleeves and step forward to stop her, but saw Long Bang after a few seconds of shock, chuckled, “Haha, no problem, then my old buddy shall be entrusted to Miss Lilith!”
As he spoke, Long Bang handed over the speckled and battle-hardened Fengchi Spear into Luxianbei’s hands, then turned around and opened the door to the storied mind hall, walking towards the darkness without a trace of reluctance.
When the darkness completely enveloped his figure, leaving only a blurred outline, his footsteps suddenly paused for a moment, yet he did not look back, soon moving forward again, quickening his pace.
In the dark, the several spirit patterns on Long Bang’s back lit up one after another.
When the cyan spirit pattern lit up, a warm breeze blew in.
When the azure spirit pattern lit up, the air was filled with moisture, as if a fine rain were brewing.
As the remaining spirit patterns continued to light up, the fragrance of earth, the scent of grass, and a faint rumble of thunder… all sorts of phenomena appeared one after another, accompanied by the surge of spirit energy.
Affected by these phenomena, one felt an inexplicable sensation of being on a lush plain with rich soil, experiencing a complete spring and summer momentarily.
Full of life!
Just as Long Bang had told Luxianbei not long ago, he had been preparing for this moment long ago.
Aside from the spirit pattern that established the Cataclysm Grade strength, the others were painted to continue the God Realm of Yumen, perhaps not particularly powerful but sufficient to support the needs of life.
Moments later, a tremendous roar erupted from the cave where the center of the God Realm was located, causing the entire God Realm Yumen to tremble.
The deep rumble resembled the last high song of a dying giant whale sinking to the bottom of the sea.
Immediately after, Long Bang’s spirit energy and authority transformed through the center of the God Realm into countless illusions invisible to the n*ked eye, rising from the underground of God Realm Yumen, enveloping the firmament.
Then.
There was no grand spectacle, no earth-shattering changes, like the soft rain of a spring night that nourishes everything quietly…
———
Within Yumen City Gate.
Not far from the market, a chubby little worm suddenly raised its head, making a curious sound.
“Eh? What is this… has something happened again?”
Long ago, when a large number of local residents suddenly appeared within God Realm Yumen, the Void had pushed its authority to the limit, constantly monitoring changes in the surrounding environment.
Initially, the data it collected was quite alarming.
Although there were not a few beings within God Realm Yumen, the data it gathered indicated that the living environment here wasn’t much better than the desolate Gobi outside Yumen.
However, just seconds ago, the data underwent astonishing changes at an incredible speed.
The near-zero temperature gradually became warm and pleasant.
The land became fertile, and dormant seeds that had slept for many years sprouted flecks of green.
A breeze that had sprung up from who knows where brushed against the skin like a soft, moist hand, and soon, fine rain began to fall from the sky.
Animals and plants within God Realm Yumen seemed to be proliferating busily in this fine rain, bursting forth with faint but persistent vitality…
If it weren’t for the clear records of the violent environmental changes, the Void might have even thought that it wasn’t in God Realm Yumen located somewhere on the Gobi but rather in a fertile land of fish and rice on a sunny spring day.
To suddenly turn from a hellish environment into a paradise, wasn’t that too outrageous?
How was this achieved? The Void wondered in confusion.
As it pondered, a loud shout came from near the platform in the distant market.
“Miracle, it’s a miracle! Has everyone felt the changes in the city? It’s exactly as described in the legends, this must be the miracle brought to us by the two saints!”
“Miracle has returned, redemption has come!”
The shout came from a burly middle-aged man; the Void had observed him before; when Calamity was speaking on the platform, he had stood right in front of it. From his position, it seemed he held a considerable status among the locals.
Perhaps akin to a village chief or a leader-type figure?
At this moment, this rather high-status middle-aged man astutely stated the reason for the drastic environmental change in God Realm Yumen, immediately eliciting loud cheers from the crowd gathered at the celebration.
“Thank you for the saints’ gifts!”
“Great saint, miracle flower in the sky!”
“……”
Amidst the cheers, Bai Kai grabbed the middle-aged man’s neck, pulling him close and tipping a jug of wine to his lips for a hearty drink.
Although he didn’t know what had happened, as long as he praised Bei Bei, he was his close friend!
Could it be that the return of Calamity and Shen Baiwei indeed brought a miracle? The Void thought.
The next moment, the words of Fang Ji echoed in its ears, answering its doubts.
“What miracle? There’s absolutely no miracle!”
“Why do you say that?” The Void looked towards Fang Ji and asked, “Isn’t such a massive change considered a miracle?”
In its view, the words of the current Miracle Saint held a certain reference value.
“Although I don’t know how it was accomplished…” Fang Ji crossed his arms and glanced at the Void, “At this moment, within the city gates, there isn’t a strong enough aroma of the miracle flower to cause such a change.”
“Is that so?” The Void wiggled its plump head, glancing at the cheerfully celebrating locals, pondering for a moment before saying, “But I think, whether it counts as a miracle shouldn’t only depend on the strength of the miracle flower’s aroma, right? What do you think?”
“I…” Fang Ji hesitated, and then seemed to recall something, falling into deep thought.
———
At the County Prince’s Mansion, in the storied mind hall.
Luxianbei stood at the entrance of the grand hall, watching Long Bang walk away, her brows furrowed, her hands instinctively tightening around the Fengchi Spear.
As that carefree figure moved into a darker place and disappeared, a warm breeze began to blow through the city, and fine rain fell from the sky, with faint rumbling sounds urging the growth of plants…
Long Bang’s presence ultimately faded completely.
At that moment, the [Royal Authority] power attached to the core of Luxianbei’s mythological species calamity suddenly triggered a strange tremor.
That feeling was somewhat like a power resonance encountered when touching the Shuishu Beast, but it was not entirely the same; it seemed to carry a sense of mourning and recognition beyond just resonance.
Luxianbei felt that the [Royal Authority] recognized Long Bang’s life, believing he was worthy of the title Emperor of Humanity; unfortunately, his time had ended, so it could only mourn and regret for him.
In this moment, she vaguely grasped what real Emperor power symbolized.
Though there was no notable increase in power, this brief experience was immensely beneficial to her.
Long after…
When Luxianbei finally emerged from that state akin to power resonance, she turned to Shen Baiwei and said expressionlessly, “I’ll leave this to you; I’ll go ahead?”
“Ah? Where are you going?” Shen Baiwei instinctively asked.
“……” Luxianbei tightened her grip on the Fengchi Spear, narrowing her eyes, and gritted her teeth, “Leaving the God Realm Yumen, d*mn Shaman Queen!”
(This segment was a bit difficult to write! I’m a little late, eh heh!)
