Chapter 451 - 311: Intelligence
A palm descended from the sky, erupting with Golden Fire. The Shadow Puppet Stage instantly blew apart in mid-air!
SHRIEK!!
A torrent of terrifying, piercing howls burst forth. Countless twisted, tormented, ethereal faces streamed out from the shattered stage, soaring skyward on a gush of leaking Yin Qi.
These appeared to be the souls of those killed by the Shadow Puppet Stage.
Once the souls dispersed, the dozens of surrounding Shadow Puppets deflated as if they had sprung a leak. Their bodies rapidly shriveled, collapsing into sheets of human skin. Then, the Yin Qi on the skins dissipated, and they vanished without a trace.
With the evil creature’s true form destroyed, its creations lost their anchor and naturally dissipated.
Seeing this, the group let out a collective sigh of relief. This evil creature had been incredibly difficult to deal with, possessing both strength and numbers, not to mention the influence of that bizarre opera music. Out in the real world, an infestation of this scale would be rated at least C Class mid-level, perhaps even upper-level.
An infestation of this level was beyond their ability to handle. Even if they had succeeded, they would have surely suffered heavy losses, sacrificing several lives just to create an opening for experts like He Xijun and Zhuang Li.
But now, the evil creature had been destroyed without a single casualty among them. Even their consumption of Primordial Qi was within manageable limits. This was simply incredible.
The group turned to look at the figure wreathed in Golden Fire.
In reality, they had only provided basic support, neutralizing the Evil Spirits’ advantage in numbers. All the truly critical actions had been carried out by this one person.
This person’s power was far beyond the scope of the Blood Strengthening realm. Even some experts in the Refining the Internal Organs realm probably couldn’t compare to him.
Meanwhile, at the moment the Shadow Puppet Stage was destroyed, a familiar surge of Merit Power gushed out and was captured by the Rebirth Jade. The numbers in his merit log began to flicker and change dramatically.
’My Merit Points increased by a full One Merit and Five Gains?’
The number sent a jolt through Zhao Xuanqi.
Previously, killing three upper-level D Class Evil Spirits would grant roughly one Gain in Merit Points. But the reward for destroying this Shadow Puppet Stage was equivalent to killing dozens of ordinary Evil Spirits. The Merit Points it provided were even greater than those offered by the Eight Fiends, who stood at the pinnacle of the Divine General world in his past life.
’The threshold for earning Merit in this world really is lower.’
HISSSSSSS!!
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!!
However, before the group could even catch their breath, a chaotic clamor of hisses and roars arose.
Previously, the presence of the Shadow Puppet Stage had kept the ordinary Evil Spirits from getting too close to this area and competing for its prey. Now that the stage was destroyed, the frenzied Evil Spirits had no more inhibitions and came swarming in.
The Night Parade of Hundred Demons was still underway.
"It’s not time to relax yet. There’s still about half a quarter-hour until the Night Parade of Hundred Demons is over," Zhao Xuanqi said in a low voice, turning to look at the swarming Evil Spirits.
He connected his consciousness to the Rebirth Jade, drawing on his Life Primordial Qi to replenish his reserves. The Golden Fire on his body, which had slightly dimmed, flared brightly once more. Taking a step forward, he shot out ahead of the others and charged back into the swarming tide of Evil Spirits.
’Every one I kill counts. These are all Merit Points!!’
His ferocious display left the others dumbfounded once again.
’He hasn’t taken anything to recover, and he’s just fought one battle after another. How can he still have that much stamina?! Is he even human? Is he actually a tireless Fierce Beast under all that skin?!’
The battle continued.
The group fought as they retreated. Now that the unique Evil Spirit guarding the district was gone, and since they hadn’t used too much of their Physical Ability in the last fight, they were handling the current wave of attacks with relative ease.
The half-quarter-hour passed quickly.
However, the Night Parade of Hundred Demons did not stop. The red light falling from the sky had not lost its effect, though the glow had dimmed, showing it was nearing its end.
"As the Ghost City recovers, the duration of the Night Parade of Hundred Demons has been extended."
Zhao Xuanqi said in a low voice. The others’ expressions grew grim; they had been carefully tracking the time since the start of the battle.
After another two minutes or so, the Blood Moon in the sky finally moved out of alignment. The crimson moonlight dimmed, and its effect of agitating life-force signatures was lost.
At the same time, an irresistible wave of dizziness washed over the group.
’It’s happening!!’
"Until we meet again, everyone."
Zhao Xuanqi’s voice reached their ears. A moment later, the dazed sensation peaked, plunging their consciousness into profound darkness.
「An unknown amount of time passed.」
「Guming County. Zhao Xuanqi’s room.」
SNAP!
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, his body relaxed, Zhao Xuanqi’s eyes snapped open.
His mind was hazy for a moment. Then the light in the room caught his attention, and his thoughts began to clear.
’Is it over?’
He muttered to himself, his mind immediately trying to recall what had happened. But the memories from after he lost consciousness were like a dense fog, hazy and utterly irretrievable.
’Still can’t remember? But, according to my plan, I was supposed to use the Rebirth Jade to encode information into my Life Primordial Qi. Their ability can affect my brain, but it most likely can’t interfere with the Rebirth Jade’s functions...’
He immediately reached out to the Rebirth Jade with his consciousness. Sure enough, he could feel that a portion of the Life Primordial Qi stored inside it was different.
His expression brightened. He immediately retrieved that portion of Life Primordial Qi and began to refine it.
BUZZ!
Instantly, fragments of information hidden within the Life Primordial Qi flooded his mind. Because it hadn’t been encoded with a specialized Technique, the information was incomplete and fragmented. However, some key words and phrases had been preserved.