Chapter 437
Chapter 438: Conflict
Foxy easily clawed through the rocks and crystals that sealed the Rift entrance. After the Great Sage died, the crystal that was directly linked to it became so brittle that one swipe of Foxy’s paw dug out a big hole. When the entrance broke open, Yu Sheng and the others found a long passage that led deep underground, and it was clearly made by people.
The inner walls of the passage were braced with strong artificial materials. On the supports, they could still see the Grand Void Spiritual Axis emblem, now badly weathered and worn away. As they went lower, they found ancient mechanisms and devices that had been abandoned for who knew how many years, along with arrays and Talismanic Runes ruined by crystalline matter. All of this proved that this underground complex was not “dug” by the Youth Form, and it was not a secret nest carved out by those Hermitage Order believers either. It was an old frontier outpost, built by ancient Grand Void Cultivators and long forgotten by the world.
Maybe hundreds of years ago, this place had already become a nest for the Youth Form. After those Hermitage Order believers made a deal with Yun Qing Zi, it became the base that Yun Qing Zi arranged for his “allies.”
After going several hundred meters down, Yu Sheng’s group reached a huge Underground Palace.
Like everywhere else here, countless pale crystals had taken over. Clusters of crystal, like roots and branches, thrust out from Rifts throughout the Underground Palace and crisscrossed the floor and walls as they spread and grew.
Because the space underground was tight, Foxy changed back into Human form. She hugged a big tail in each arm and followed nervously right behind Yu Sheng. The furry ears on her head turned this way and that, twitching now and then at the constant sounds coming from below.
A strange rumbling never stopped. Now and then the depths of the Underground Palace trembled. Mixed in were the worrying sounds of crystal and rock cracking, as if this whole structure could collapse at any moment, or something terrible might burst up from under their feet in the next second.
Yu Sheng ignored the disturbing noises. He took the lead like he already knew the way by heart. At a mess of forks, he easily found the road to the deeper parts of the Underground Palace. After passing the ring of structures around it, he brought Irene, Luna, and Foxy into a hall.
There were many machines here. They looked nothing like the mechanisms and immortal arrays they had seen on the way. Instead, they matched the style of equipment on the Otherworldly Hotel. It was clear these were things left by the Holy Revere Hermitage.
In one corner of the hall, Yu Sheng found several large devices arranged in a neat line, like hibernation pods.
The pods were already broken. The containers were packed with eerie pale crystal. Thin biomatter solution dripped down between the crystals. Since the liquid had not dried yet, it meant the “betrayal” that happened in these depths had taken place not long ago.
…
In Ink City, on the high platform midway up Refining Tower No. 4, Mo Ran stood at the edge, staring hard into the distance.
This young City Lord, who had taken the Ink Clan patriarch’s seat only a few years ago, looked a little pale.
Nothing was like she remembered. The once quiet plains were now covered by an endless living Crystal Jungle. Mountains in the distance had collapsed. From the broken peaks, horrible tendrils had pushed out and reached for the sky. Another Rift lay closer to Ink City, and a tendril from that Rift had once come within only a few kilometers of the City Protection Array.
Not long ago, scouts who risked flying high reported that more Rifts were opening on the western plains.
Links with the other cities were cut. Contact with the orbital station was strangely jammed. Half an hour ago, a Celestial Ship controlled by an Artifact Spirit tried to break through the atmosphere, but shortly after it left the City Protection Array it lost contact. It most likely ended badly.
The only good news was that no tendrils had appeared inside Ink City, and the crystals already in the city had not spread further.
The “awakened” Ink City had become the only pure land on the planet free from the Youth Form’s influence, at least for now. Inside Ink City’s borders, those awful crystals were still strongly suppressed.
Mo Ran took a slow breath and looked down toward the ground beyond the Refining Tower.
A hazy aura shield covered all of Ink City. Where the shield met the wild land outside, strange pale crystals writhed forward like living things. They kept trying to crawl toward Ink City, but once they got close, some invisible force roughly stopped them. In each clash, Mo Ran felt like she saw thin black lines, a spiderweb-like structure stuck to Ink City’s City Protection Array.
But when she looked carefully, she saw nothing.
Mo Ran knew those spiderweb-like threads had woken the people inside the city. The method was a little rough, but that scary spider silk dragged millions out of the cognitive haze made by the Youth Form and linked them, for now, into a single “clear-minded whole.” Those strands were still at work, fighting the Youth Form’s corruption head-on.
She did not know how long this fight could hold.
Tremors came from under the city, sometimes strong enough for even common people to feel.
They were tendrils. Just like the ones that had smashed mountains and torn the plains, there were tendrils under Ink City too. Those terrible limbs had been trying to burrow into the city, but so far they had failed.
It felt like only a matter of time.
With a sharp rush of wind, an Ink Clan personal guard in a rain cloak and a black cloud-mask flew up from below and landed on the platform. Kneeling on one knee before Mo Ran, he said: “City Lord, we observed crystalline matter in the deep Earth Veins well beneath the tower, and there is a tendril moving at the bottom. It is too large to see in full.”
“Any sign it will break upward?” she asked.
“Not for now,” the guard said, shaking his head, “it is being pressed down by the City Protection Array and is only crawling slowly underground.”
“What about the other Refining Towers?” she asked.
“Towers Eight, Nine, and Twelve also report a tendril,” the guard said, “we think it is the same one as under Tower Four. The others show no clear abnormal signs yet, but crystalline matter is seeping from Earth Veins fissures.”
Mo Ran closed her eyes and drew a careful breath.
There was a huge tentacle under Ink City, likely big enough to circle the entire city underground. If that “Doll” had not acted in time, the city might have been swallowed in its sleep without anyone knowing.
“I understand,” she said, “keep watching it. If it starts moving upward, open the slag channels.”
“As you command.”
The guard left.
Cold wind sliced through the shield and rain swept across the tower. A faint unease rose in Mo Ran’s heart. She lifted her head and looked where her sense pulled her.
Outside the city, through wind and rain, she saw many shapes break out of the clouds. They were rushing from the cloud base straight toward Ink City.
At their head was a large Celestial Ship with a moon-white hull and a tall shiphouse. Behind it came vessels of all sizes, and more Sword Flight cultivators than she could count.
Mo Ran’s heart sank, and then she saw a familiar figure on that Celestial Ship.
Tan Yuan’s City Lord, Lord Yun Shan.
The refined, middle-aged man stood on the deck and saw Mo Ran guarding the City Protection Array on the tower. At once he cupped his hands from afar. Worry touched his face, and his voice cut through wind and rain: “Patriarch of the Ink Clan, I heard Ink City is in great trouble, so I brought people to help. On the way we also met the forces of Immortal Qing Yun and Celestial Maiden Bai Hong. How is your city now?”
It had come, just as expected.
Mo Ran’s heart sank, but she had already planned for this, so her face stayed calm as she answered in a deep voice: “Thank you for your concern, Lord Yun Shan. Ink City is fine. Our communicators have some problems. When things are back to normal, I will explain to the other cities.”
“Oh, that is good,” Lord Yun Shan said with a nod. Even though the land below was covered by a writhing living jungle, and even though Ink City ahead was crusted with crystal, his face did not change. He did not even react to Mo Ran’s stiff tone. He only eased his ship closer and said, “Since nothing is wrong, I am relieved. Please open the City Protection Array. It has been a long time since we visited Ink City. We would like to come in and take a look.”
He sounded sincere and looked completely at ease.
In his eyes, the world really did look normal. Ink City’s mood was odd, but that was all.
He could not understand why Mo Ran was acting like this, opening the City Protection Array and standing on the Refining Tower as if facing a great enemy. Had something truly happened in the city? If so, then he had to go in and confirm it. This was the border, and the cities here were neighbors who often watched over each other, often watched over each other, watched over each other…
The Celestial Ship and the many escorts behind it, along with the Sword Flight cultivators nearby, drew closer to Ink City. They came with worry for their kin, with the duty of people who guarded the border, and with…
Yun Qing Zi’s orders.
Ink City had a problem. City Lord Mo Ran and the residents needed help. Millions of nodes had left the cognition network. Strays needed correction. An outside force had cut this city off from the rest of the planet. A vile thief was wrestling the city away from the Benefactor’s control. There was a threat. Threats must be removed.
Ancient arrays on the Refining Tower lit up one by one. The City Protection Array’s shield grew thicker in a blink. Fortified turrets rose throughout the city. Ink Clan bodyguards in rain cloaks, cloud-marked Bamboo Hats, and masks took their places on the towers. The weapons in their hands flashed with chilling light through the rain.
Mo Ran stepped forward, her Flying Sword sliding free, and said: “Lord Yun Shan, please turn back.”
“Oh, I see,” Lord Yun Shan said as realization touched his face and he nodded slowly, “Patriarch of the Ink Clan, you have fallen into demonhood.”