Chapter 380

Chapter 381: Chaos Subsides

As the sealing on the Demon Suppression Tower was repaired, the channels leaking from the Containment Zone to the outside were finally blocked. No new black Rifts appeared in the sky over Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain.

Scattered fights still raged, but the escapees who had already gotten out were being dealt with quickly.

Outside Parted Clouds Palace, smoke billowed. With help from the Thunder Titans and the Kingdom Army, the Mountain Guarding Disciples held the heaviest defensive line. After cutting down a huge number of Vicious Beasts charging up the road, Xuan Che began leading teams to sweep the slopes and hunt the stragglers.

Near Ten Directions Pavilion, Immortal Yuan He stood with hundreds of Inner Disciples before a giant mechanism called the Mountain Guard Pass. Controlling the whole grand formation of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, the Mountain Guard Pass looked like a huge bell standing tall on a stone platform. Light flowed over its outer shell while deep, solemn chimes sounded inside it again and again. On the Plaza around the Mountain Guard Pass lay hundreds of dead Vicious Beasts. Many living Demons and animated Entities that could not be destroyed outright had been re-sealed and bound with Runic Chains, waiting to be sent back into the Demon Suppression Tower.

In the qi-rich Mid-Mountain Bamboo Grove, a phantom-like black Wolf Pack slipped through the shadows. Working with patrol guards in white robes, they searched every suspicious hiding place.

The drone swarm controlled by Dorothy flew over the mountains, confirming whether any hidden leak points remained in the sea of clouds. Cultivators of Spirit Mountain on Swordflight threaded between the drones, inspecting the Mountain-Guarding Barrier that covered the entire sky above Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain.

On the mountain road between the Cloud Viewing Terrace and Parted Clouds Palace, many small fights had not ended yet, but the sound of victory music was already playing.

Another ethereal immortal voice drifted down from the clouds and echoed through every forested slope: “By order of the acting Vice Sect Master, the Demon Suppression Tower is secure. All Cultivators must search the mountains thoroughly.

“The mountain remains sealed. The opening time will be announced later.

“All escaped Vicious Beasts and Class A containment subjects are to be killed on sight.

“Intelligent monsters, Class B containment subjects, or prisoners who surrender or can no longer resist are to be captured and returned to the Demon Suppression Tower. Those who still resist are to be killed on sight.

“If any strange Entity or unknown variant is discovered, do not make direct contact. Report it and wait for the Demon Suppression Tower to recover it.

“Submit the rolls of the dead, the recovered Demons, prisoners, and Entities to Parted Clouds Palace.”

Yu Sheng rode on Foxy’s back with an Irene on each shoulder as they headed toward Parted Clouds Palace where Xuan Che was posted.

Luna walked beside him like a loyal knight.

A flying Pumpkin Carriage drifted low off the edge of the road. Cinderella leaned out of the carriage and peered at the distant forests where smoke was still rising, while Zheng Zhi sat up front, wide-eyed and scanning in every direction.

Rapunzel was also on Foxy’s back. Sitting next to Yu Sheng, she tilted her head to the big nephew on the Pumpkin Carriage and asked: “So, how’s the Rift?”

She meant not those leaks above the sea of clouds that led to the Containment Zone of the Demon Suppression Tower, but the huge black crack that seemed to split all of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, the one Zheng Zhi had seen first.

At her words, Zheng Zhi opened his eyes even wider and looked toward the Demon Suppression Tower. After a long moment, he answered with worry: “You can still see it, one big black gash like the mountain got split in half and left standing there. The good news is it looks stable now. It used to have lots of spiderweb-like branches spreading out, but those are gone.”

The Great Rift was still there.

Hearing him, Yu Sheng said nothing. He only frowned in thought. The Irene on his shoulder piped up first: “Hey, big nephew, your ‘eyesight’ is kind of over the top. I don’t think ‘high sensitivity’ covers it anymore.”

Zheng Zhi scratched his hair: “I don’t know. I just finished basic training last week.”

“To be fair, this is a bit weird,” Rapunzel nodded seriously after Irene’s jab: “I’ve been a Spirit Realm Detective for years. I’ve seen people who are very sensitive, and I’ve even seen someone who grew tentacles after taking one look at an anomalous Entity. But I’ve never heard of a ‘high sensitivity, low stability’ case like yours. It’s like your eyes have wallhacks on. Do you usually see people with boxes around them?”

Zheng Zhi froze, then realized what she meant and made a face: “No, not that crazy. But yeah, it’s worse than before. I used to see odd shadows at most, and sometimes I’d get lost and wander down strange side paths. After what happened to my uncle, though…”

He paused, then sighed softly.

“After what happened to my uncle, I came into contact with Angel’s Umbilical Cord, and my symptoms got stronger. Now I see things much more clearly, and when I get lost it’s not just taking the wrong turn. I can even end up in the Otherworld.”

“What did the experts say?” Rapunzel asked, curious.

“What could they say? They were shocked. First that I was still alive, then that a childhood condition this bad could still get worse. They said they’d seen what humans might be capable of,” Zheng Zhi said with a grim face. “Later they said it made sense. It’s basically changes caused after exposure to angel pollution.

“They said it’s very abnormal, but it makes sense because it’s tied to Dark Angels.

“They also said I’m lucky. Most ordinary people who get exposed to angel pollution don’t just get stronger spirit vision. They usually end up not looking human at all.”

Hearing him ramble, Rapunzel couldn’t help giving him a look of deep sympathy. Then she confirmed: “That Rift is still there? Any change since earlier?”

“No change,” Zheng Zhi raised his head and glanced toward the Demon Suppression Tower again: “It’s fully stabilized, if that counts as good news.”

“Let’s call it good news,” Yu Sheng finally broke his silence. He sighed and kept his brow furrowed: “As long as it doesn’t expand, the Demon Suppression Tower won’t get new leak points.”

Immortal Yuan Hao’s voice came from the side: “What exactly is that Rift? Do you have any ideas?”

“No ideas, but I don’t think it’s a normal space rift,” Yu Sheng shook his head. “I’ve seen those and even touched one. I can sense them without looking. The Rift that Zheng Zhi ‘sees’ feels more complex and more abstract.”

As he spoke, he glanced up at Immortal Yuan Hao.

The most handsome guy on Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, with Xuan Che in second place, was riding on Sword Flight, drifting behind Cinderella’s Pumpkin Carriage.

To be honest, Swordflight did not surprise Yu Sheng anymore. He had dealt with these Immortals of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain for a while. Most of the time Xuan Che and his master simply turned into glow and flew, but sometimes Yu Sheng saw Xuan Che or other Spirit Mountain disciples ride a sword to save effort. He had even grown a little jealous of how cool it looked.

But riding a Chainsaw Sword was a special case.

Yu Sheng’s eyes could not help drifting to the sword under Immortal Yuan Hao’s feet. He stared at its hard-edged casing, its chain teeth, the trigger built into the hilt, and a faint steel stamp. He held it in for a long time, then couldn’t: “That sword doesn’t look local, does it?”

Immortal Yuan Hao laughed: “This sword is not a product of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain. I got it by chance during my travels beyond our realm. My Celestial Ship had broken down at the time…”

Yu Sheng waved at once: “We know the rest.”

Immortal Yuan Hao clicked his tongue, a bit unsatisfied: “I still had a long section to tell.”

Talking like this, they left the road that linked the back mountain. After circling a broken platform that still smoked faintly, Yu Sheng saw the towering Grand Hall of Parted Clouds Palace.

The earlier leak had thrown many areas of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain into chaos. From the Cloud Viewing Terrace all the way here, Yu Sheng saw damage everywhere from escapee Entities and Demonic Vicious Beasts. Fortunately, as one of the five great sects on the Grand Void Spiritual Axis, Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain had independent and powerful protections for all important facilities. Beyond the overall mountain-guarding grand formation, every hall and tower had its own shield. These shields protected lower-level disciples with weak battle power at the critical moment, held line after line from top to bottom, and saved many key buildings, including Parted Clouds Palace.

So even now, though the surrounding Plaza, roads, pavilions, and terraces were scarred and broken, the towering Grand Hall of Parted Clouds Palace still shone under the daylight.

Foxy minced across the shattered edge of the Plaza and stopped before Xuan Che, who was organizing juniors to clean the battlefield. Yu Sheng leaned out over Foxy’s head, looked down at Xuan Che, and asked: “How are things here?”

“Mr. Yu, Elder Senior Uncle,” Xuan Che cupped his hands with a smile: “Thanks to the mighty Giants and the many mages, the line before Parted Clouds Palace held to the end. Many are injured, but the shields took the worst of it, so we suffered no deaths. We are truly fortunate.”

His words had barely fallen when a wailing voice rose from a corner of the Plaza: “Sure, none of you died. Then can you just let me die already? I might as well die! You lousy old daoists are so mean…”

Yu Sheng froze at the sound. He glanced over and saw a seven-headed giant snake tied into a dead knot, sprawled on the Plaza and cursing up a storm.