Chapter 552: Flying Toward the Sky…

Yun Qingzi, with both hands clasped behind his back, first greeted Mo Ran at his leisure, just like an ordinary kindergarten gatekeeper grandpa, then smilingly circled the “team” Mo Ran had brought. Finally, he stopped beside the three “evil cultivators” in the middle of the group and looked them up and down twice.

“These three fellow daoists do look somewhat unfamiliar… not quite like our righteous path, are you?”

Elder Kuting’s withered face was no longer stiff at that moment, Blood Prince’s elegant demeanor was no longer maintained, and Bone Devouring Immortal’s originally feigned clear eyes had now become genuinely clear as if filtered through a twelve-level filter—all three of them bent over at the waist, bowing and making obeisances. Blood Prince spoke first: “S-senior is joking. We three have indeed committed some faults, but we have long since abandoned darkness for light and turned over a new leaf. Now we are single-mindedly devoted to goodness and only cultivate the righteous path. We are willing to go through fire and water for the True Lord and will not refuse death…”

Yun Qingzi nodded: “Alright. The battle is going on outside right now. In a little while, you’ll go through fire and water with me.”

There was a creak from beneath Bone Devouring Immortal’s iron mask, and the half of his face outside the mask twisted.

The smile on Elder Kuting’s face also stiffened slightly for a moment.

Yun Qingzi, however, merely glanced faintly at Blood Prince and tossed out a lukewarm remark: “You sound like a sissy.”

Then he paid no further attention to the three and turned directly to Mo Ran: “Mr. Yu has not returned from his outing, but he mentioned earlier the matters he entrusted to you. How is the assignment going?”

Mo Ran did not dare delay. He quickly ordered his retainers to place several chests on the ground and open them for Yun Qingzi to inspect.

Inside the chests were several “weapons” just completed by the Ingenuity Pavilion, but their style was completely different from the common artifacts seen in the Feathered Wing Star Domain.

They had all been manufactured according to Yu Sheng’s requirements and design sketches.

Mo Ran first picked up a device resembling an arm guard—its shape was sleek, with a silver-gray unknown metal shell inlaid with tiny crystals and rows of blood-colored runic lines arranged along the contours of the arm guard. At its front was a concealed launch port, and the structure fitting against the body seemed to hide fine mechanical mechanisms inside.

“This is the Blood Needle Gauntlet—what Lord True Lord Yu Sheng called the ‘Blood Needle Launcher.’ It can only be used by the True Lord. Once worn, there is no need to reload ‘ammunition.’ The gauntlet will automatically draw blood from the user’s body and condense it into inch-long needles. The range is two hundred meters. There is a simple artifact spirit inside. After familiarization, it can provide assisted aiming. The blood needles themselves are also driven by spiritual power and can track targets within a certain range.”

Yun Qingzi nodded: “Mm, thoughtful enough. But Mr. Yu won’t be back for now. Set this aside for the moment—what else is there?”

“In this chest are the first trial batch of Blood Grenades,” Mo Ran said, taking a palm-sized object from the second chest. It also had a silver-gray shell with dense and complex red runic inscriptions drawn on the surface. The whole thing was cylindrical, with a safety device at one end and a trigger mechanism that could be pressed. “This one has no restriction on users. Once activated like this and thrown, it detonates in five seconds. The blood droplets in the core instantly atomize and cover a range of over ten meters. Within ten breaths, the wind cannot disperse it, and it will preferentially seek living beings to soak into.”

“This is good. This is exactly what we need,” Yun Qingzi said with a satisfied smile. He turned and instructed the several half-grown children present: “You summon a few puppets and distribute these things to those who are going out to face the enemy. Let those ‘shadows’ that have fallen into the city taste blood. This may help Mr. Yu’s actions.”

Then everyone’s eyes fell on the last device Mo Ran had brought.

It was no longer a conventional “weapon” but a “piece of equipment” that was half a person’s height—it hadn’t even been packed in a chest but was placed directly on the ground.

The circular metal base was covered with pipes of various sizes, all clustering around a silver canister container. On top of the container was installed a structurally complex “top cover,” studded with cylindrical crystals emitting a dim red glow, whose function was unclear.

“This is the ‘Diffusion Device’ requested by the True Lord… Because time was tight, it’s a bit rough,” Mo Ran explained. “It incorporates some Algred technology. No spiritual power is needed. Once activated, it continuously releases blood mist from the canister. Compared to directly ‘staining with blood,’ the blood mist released from the diffusion container has stronger erosion power, higher efficiency, and can penetrate every opening within a hundred meters.

“In addition, this junior has received the ‘Blood Grant’ from the True Lord, so I used myself for testing. Within the range of the diffusion device, those who have received the ‘Blood Grant’ mark are continuously nourished, their strength can be brought out by an extra ten to twenty percent, and they are extremely difficult to be affected by any illusion or mental contamination. I didn’t do extremely extreme tests, but theoretically… it could even pull someone back from going berserk or having their primordial spirit possessed by evil.”

“When the possessed meets something even more evil, they instantly seem normal. In essence, it’s fighting poison with poison, using a demon’s dissolution to treat indigestion…” Bone Devouring Immortal muttered softly.

Yun Qingzi didn’t pay attention to the muttering. After hearing Mo Ran’s introduction, he had already started nodding with a smile: “This is even more useful. We’ll set it up outside the gate in a little while—does it have any drawbacks?”

“It’s not very stable yet. The blood mist also interferes with the container itself, so someone needs to be nearby to watch and adjust at all times,” Mo Ran said, raising his hand to point at the three evil cultivators standing behind him. “That’s why this junior brought these three. They made the Diffusion Device, so they can collect more data on-site and make improvements when they return.”

Yun Qingzi nodded slightly, then turned and smiled kindly at Elder Kuting and the other two.

“Since the handover is complete, come out with me for a bit—we can’t let the kids keep fighting outside forever.”

The three evil cultivators looked at each other, then in unison showed expressions of readiness to go through fire and water without hesitation.

Mo Ran also stepped forward: “This junior has also brought a few trusted experts, all ready to assist in the battle!”

Yun Qingzi tucked his back scratcher into his waistband, waved cheerfully, and said, “Alright, let’s go together.”

A moment later, the group carried the Diffusion Device to the square of the Fairy Tale Town. After stepping through the gate, they entered the already fog-shrouded Border City .

As soon as they stepped out, they heard thunder roaring in their ears, artillery fire whistling in the distance, and smoke rising. Old-model fighter planes flown from somewhere were streaking over the blocks, emitting banshee-like screams as they dropped aerial bombs on the neighboring district.

The peaceful and serene valley and the war-torn battlefield were only separated by a door. The drastic change in environment even made Elder Kuting freeze for half a second. Then he looked up and saw a Thunder Giant striding through the thick fog, holding a giant snake-woman in his hand, swinging her like a club to smack a mass of viscous shadow falling from the sky.

Countless shadow wolf packs were charging and biting throughout the entire street. Terrifying demons kept falling from the sky into the fog. The Titan wielded the giant snake and summoned thunder. Cloud-top fighter planes screamed. A gigantic beanstalk was rising from the end of the street, its spreading vines entangling everything like strange demonic creepers. Living thorns crazily sprouted from the gaps between buildings.

Utmost chaos, utmost grotesqueness.

The three had been evil cultivators their whole lives; they had seen scenes more disgusting and cruel than this, but they had never seen anything so disorderly. Blood Prince’s eyes went straight. After holding it in for a long time, he couldn’t help muttering softly to Bone Devouring Immortal beside him: “…Which side are our own people on?”

“I don’t know!” Bone Devouring Immortal’s voice was muffled. “I can’t even tell how many ‘sides’ there are specifically!”

“Is there a possibility,” Blood Prince looked left and right, his face oddly pale as he whispered, “that we three are actually the orthodox righteous sect…”

At the same time, Luo, who was following Little Red Riding Hood to protect the teleportation gate area, looked up and saw a few figures emerging from the gate. She quickly pointed and said, “Hey, hey, hey! More people are coming!”

Little Red Riding Hood turned her head, and her eyes lit up: “Ah, Grandpa Yun is here!”

“That old man is the Grandpa Yun you mentioned—wait, he’s really the orphanage security grandpa?!” Luo was completely shocked. “And he’s got a back scratcher tucked in his waist—what does that mean…”

Before she finished speaking, she saw the security grandpa casually toss the back scratcher aside—a sword light cut through the thick fog, and the world was even briefly cleared.

Yun Qingzi then looked up, seeming a little surprised as he glanced toward the direction of the Council Tower, then revealed an expression of understanding. After that, he flicked his sleeve.

Luo saw the security grandpa on the opposite side transform into a hundred-meter-tall Dharma form in midair…

The Snake Lady, who was spinning in the air like a windmill, saw this and let out a “Whoa” of surprise. At this point, she had been swung around by the Thunder Giant who knew how many times. Her hair was all disheveled, but instead of her initial anger, her face even carried a hint of… a manic and excited smile, as if the demonic nature pent up for years could finally be released, as if she could finally make a good ruckus. Soon she started shouting excitedly again.

Yun Qingzi’s Dharma form stood in midair and raised a hand as if greeting someone, nodding slightly toward the “Boundary Bridge” that was continuously extending downward above the Council Tower.

“Little girl over there, feel free to cross. This old man will help you guard this city—”

Thunder rumbled through the clouds. Yun Qingzi’s voice mixed with the thunder, rolling across the sky.

Near the Council Tower, inside a distorted light screen, Bai Li Qing was looking up at the Boundary Bridge that had already extended inside the great protective shield.

The fragmented, inverted tower reflected in her eyes. The tower top, covered with countless cracks, looked like a huge mouth full of jagged teeth. In the depths of the darkness, visions of distant times and spaces undulated and wriggled.

Thunder rumbled across the sky. Bai Li Qing listened intently, then nodded lightly.

At the same time, Bai Li Xue’s voice rang in her mind: “Sister, the front lines in the city have stabilized for now. The contaminated zone is shrinking…”

Bai Li Qing took a light breath and slowly closed her eyes.

A breeze brushed through her gray-white hair ends, across her cheeks and forehead—across her wings and claws, across her skin that was rapidly covering with crystal scales.

Bai Li Qing opened her eyes. Her light gray vertical pupils reflected the entrance of the shattered tower. Her body transformed within the light screen. Scales quickly covered her entire body. Giant wings with a crystalline texture blotted out the sky as they spread. When they moved, it seemed as if countless chaotic lights and shadows shattered and recombined beneath the dragon’s wings.

The next second, the pale dragon clad in crystal scales raised its head and rushed fiercely toward the sky.

(End of chapter)