Chapter 438
Chapter 438: Conflict
Foxy tore through the rocks and the crystal structures blocking the rift entrance with ease. After the Great Sage’s death, the crystal directly connected to it had become unusually brittle, and Foxy could rip open a huge hole with a single swipe.
Beyond the opening was a long tunnel leading deep underground, and it clearly bore signs of human work.
The inner walls were supported by sturdy artificial materials. On those supports, a heavily weathered and corroded emblem was still visible—the mark of the Grand Void Spiritual Axis. As they descended, they passed ancient mechanical constructs abandoned for who knew how long, along with arrays and talismanic runes scarred and broken by crystallized matter.
Everything pointed to the same conclusion: this underground structure hadn’t been “dug out” by Yanxing Entity. It wasn’t a secret nest carved by Hermitage Order cultists, either.
It was an ancient frontier outpost built by Grand Void cultivators long ago—and forgotten by the world.
Perhaps hundreds of years ago, it had already become Yanxing Entity’s nest. And after the Hermitage Order cultists made contact with Yun Qing Zi, it became the base Yun Qing Zi arranged for his “ally.”
After several hundred meters, Yu Sheng and the others found a large underground palace.
Like everything else, it had been overrun by pale crystals. It was as if crystal roots and branches had burst from every crack, crossing and spreading across floors and walls until the palace looked more like a hollowed-out bone than a structure.
The space was too tight for a fox the size of a carriage, so Foxy shifted back into human form. She trailed nervously behind Yu Sheng, hugging a big tail under each arm. The fluffy ears on top of her head twitched constantly, quivering at every sound rising from below.
The low rumble never stopped. Tremors struck now and then, mixed with unsettling cracking sounds of crystal and stone. It felt like the entire underground structure could collapse at any moment—or that something horrifying might burst up through their feet.
Yu Sheng ignored all of it. He walked at the front as if the tunnels were his own home. He chose the correct route at every fork, leading them deeper. After passing ring-like structures around the palace, he brought Irene, Luna, and Foxy into a hall.
It contained machinery—equipment completely out of place beside the ancient mechanisms and cultivation arrays they’d passed on the way down. And yet it matched, unmistakably, the style of the gear in the Otherworld Hotel.
It had been left behind by Holy Revere Hermitage.
In one corner of the hall, Yu Sheng found several large devices lined up neatly like hibernation pods.
They were broken. Their containers were filled with pale crystal, and thin biological solution dripped between the crystalline growth. The fluid wasn’t fully dried yet.
Whatever betrayal had happened down here, it hadn’t been long ago.
—
Ink City. Mid-level platform of Refining Tower 4.
Mo Ran stood at the edge of the platform, staring into the distance. This young city lord—who had only taken over as Mo family head a few years ago—looked pale.
Nothing was familiar anymore.
The once quiet wilderness was now buried under an endless, living crystal jungle. Distant mountains had collapsed, and horrific tentacles thrust out from their broken faces, reaching straight into the sky. Another rift had opened closer to Ink City; when that tentacle climbed out, it came within just a few kilometers of the city protection array.
Not long ago, scouts brave enough to rise into the air had reported more rifts appearing across the western plains.
Communication with other cities had been cut. Contact with orbital stations was being disrupted by something unknown. Half an hour ago, a celestial ship controlled by an artifact spirit tried to break through the atmosphere—but shortly after leaving the city’s protective shield, it vanished from contact. Almost certainly not a good end.
The only good news was that no tentacles had appeared inside Ink City, and the crystals within the city hadn’t spread further.
Awakened Ink City had become the only sanctuary on this planet that had broken free of Yanxing Entity’s influence. At least for now, those pale crystals were still strongly suppressed within the city’s borders.
Mo Ran drew a slow breath and lowered her gaze toward the ground outside the tower.
A hazy spiritual shield covered Ink City. At the boundary where it met the wilderness beyond, pale crystals wriggled slowly like living things. They kept trying to creep into the city, but the moment they crossed a certain line, an invisible force slammed them back.
In those repeated clashes, Mo Ran often felt she caught sight of faint black threads—like a spiderweb clinging to the city protection array.
But whenever she focused, it vanished.
Mo Ran knew those spiderweb-like strands were real. They were what had awakened the city’s residents. The process had been rough—violent, even terrifying—but those threads had yanked millions of people out of the cognitive barrier Yanxing Entity had laid over Shu Ji, linking them into a single wakeful whole. Even now, the threads were still working, resisting Yanxing Entity’s erosion with brutal persistence.
Mo Ran just didn’t know how much longer the standoff could hold.
Tremors rose from beneath the city, sometimes strong enough for ordinary people to feel.
There were tentacles under Ink City too—limbs like the ones outside that shattered mountains and tore plains apart. They kept trying to drill upward.
They just hadn’t succeeded yet.
But it felt like only a matter of time.
A tearing sound cut through the air. An Ink Clan personal guard—wearing a straw rain cape and a black cloud-pattern mask—flew up from below Refining Tower 4 and knelt on one knee before Mo Ran.
“City Lord,” the guard reported, “crystallized matter has been observed in the earth veins deep well beneath the tower. A tentacle is moving at the bottom. It’s enormous, and its full form can’t be determined.”
“Any sign it’s trying to break upward?” Mo Ran asked.
“Not for now.” The guard shook their head. “That tentacle is being pressed down by the city protection array. It’s only crawling slowly underground.”
“What about the other refining towers?”
“Refining Towers 8, 9, and 12 have also reported tentacles. Preliminary judgment is that they’re likely the same one as under Tower 4. No anomalies under the other towers yet, but all of them have crystallized matter seeping from breaks in the earth veins.”
Mo Ran closed her eyes and breathed out.
Beneath Ink City was a tentacle large enough to wrap around the entire city underground. If that Little Doll hadn’t acted in time, the city might have been swallowed in its sleep without anyone realizing.
“…Alright,” Mo Ran said. “Keep watching it. If it moves upward, open the slag channels.”
“Understood.”
The guard withdrew.
Cold wind slipped through the shield, and cold rain swept across the high tower. Unease rose sharply in Mo Ran’s chest. She lifted her head at once, looking toward the direction her instincts screamed.
Through the wind and rain outside the city, shadowspawn outlines of various sizes pierced through the cloud layer and rushed toward Ink City.
At the front was a large celestial ship with a pale hull and a towering superstructure. Behind it came ships of every shape and size, and countless cultivators flying on swords.
Mo Ran’s heart sank.
Then she saw a familiar figure standing atop the lead celestial ship.
City Lord Yun Shan of Tan Yuan.
The refined middle-aged man on the deck spotted Mo Ran on the high tower and immediately cupped his hands in greeting from afar. His face was full of concern, and when he spoke, his voice pierced straight through the wind and rain.
“Family Head Mo, I received word Ink City had fallen into chaos, so I brought people to help. On the way we also encountered forces from Immortal Qing Yun and Celestial Maiden Bai Hong.” He looked toward the crystal-covered city with worried eyes. “How is the situation now?”
So it came—just as expected.
Mo Ran kept her expression steady. “Thank you for your concern, City Lord Yun Shan. Ink City is fine. The communication devices have had some issues. Once everything is restored, I will explain the situation to every city.”
“Oh, that’s good.” Yun Shan nodded, looking relieved. Even though the land beneath him writhed with living crystal, and even though Ink City ahead was coated in pale growth, his expression remained perfectly normal. He guided the celestial ship forward a little more, tone earnest. “Since there is no issue, I can rest easy. Then please open the city protection array, Family Head Mo. It has been a long time since we visited Ink City. We can come in and take a look.”
In his eyes, the world truly was normal. The atmosphere on Ink City’s side felt strange, yes, but surely that meant something had happened inside the city.
If so, he had to enter and confirm it—no matter what. Out here on the far frontier, cities were neighbors. They watched out for each other.
They watched out for each other…
The celestial ships, the guards, the swordflight cultivators, all drifted closer to Ink City with worry for compatriots, with the sense of duty that bound border folk together, and with—
Yun Qing Zi’s command.
Ink City had a problem. City Lord Mo Ran and the city’s residents needed help. Millions of nodes had broken away from the cognition network; strays had to be corrected. Outside forces had cut the city off from the whole planet; despicable thieves were fighting with benefactor for control; a threat existed, and that threat had to be eliminated.
Across the surface of Refining Tower 4, ancient arrays began to glow. The city protection shield thickened, turning more solid. Turrets rose throughout the city, fully armed. Ink Clan guards in straw rain capes, cloud-pattern bamboo hats, and masks climbed the tower, weapons flashing with cold light in the rain.
“City Lord Yun Shan.” Mo Ran stepped forward, flying sword drawn. “Please go back.”
“Oh.” Yun Shan’s face shifted into sudden understanding. He nodded slowly, almost kindly.
“Family Head Mo,” he said, voice calm and certain, “you have fallen into demonic madness.”