It felt as if, overnight, a princess had fallen on hard times and a tiger had come down to the plains.
While Lou Feng retreated into his shell, lamenting how heartless the outside world was, Ji Jue felt that exciting wonders abounded at every turn.
After a round of pleasantries, he was on familiar terms with everyone. What was more, backed by Ji Xue's introductions and recommendations, he took on quite a few orders, securing his first batch of clients.
With Tong Shan's example leading the way, having witnessed firsthand the wonders of Master Ji's 'consecrations,' and now personally testing the equipment Ji Jue had modified and tuned up, everyone eagerly signed up.
These days, Celestial Chosen were either dirt-poor or filthy rich. Among those working for the Security Bureau, anyone qualified to enter the First Department—and serve directly under Tong Shan—was far from impoverished.
Getting into the First Department was hard, and getting out was just as tough. Given the grueling evaluations and sky-high standards, the benefits were naturally lavish.
Even so, none of them were like Tong Shan, who could treat all of Yacheng like his personal piggy bank. When spending money, people still cared about return on investment.
It wasn't that they couldn't afford artisans from the Third Department; it was simply that Master Ji offered far better value for money!
Top quality, reasonable prices, masterful craftsmanship, and generous volume.
For standard alchemical commissions, clients could supply their own materials; if they brought their own blessings to request a custom job, labor fees were slashed by twenty percent. And anyone purchasing the deluxe weapon maintenance package received a complimentary precision vehicle wash and full maintenance service!
Compared to those sour-faced artisans who acted like someone had died and haggled over every single grain of scrap, Master Ji smiled from ear to ear, peppering his speech with warm 'big brothers' and 'big sisters,' delivering off-the-charts emotional value.
Accustomed to fawning over haughty goddesses, when had any of them ever experienced such charming, sweet consideration?
*Big brother, you work so hard to make a living, there's no need to splurge on the expensive stuff. Let's go with cheaper consumables! Big sister, your job is so exhausting, don't make an impulse purchase. Save that money to buy pretty dresses! Tell you what, I'll knock another twenty percent off...*
Even if the Association had regulations regarding retail pricing and standards, that didn't mean Ji Jue couldn't throw in maintenance bundles, complimentary gifts, and trial sets!
"...Let me put it this way: see that machine gun mounted on my truck back there? Inscribed with a Sovereign Virtue insignia, structurally reinforced, and fully rated for all-weather combat. Even in a corrupted environment, performance won't drop by a hair. Solid quicksilver rounds, doubly bolstered by the Swarm and the Desolate Ruins. Right now, as long as you cover ammo costs, trial runs are completely free.
"Think about it, Brother Jiang Xuan: when the time comes, strolling out with that baby to trade blows with those bastards from the Evil Transmutation Cult, wouldn't it be an absolute breeze?"
"Is it really that kickass?"
Jiang Xuan rubbed his chin, eyes gleaming, his rugged face practically radiant with anticipation.
Only then did Tong Shan, at the wheel, let out a helpless sigh. "Wrap up your trade show, Ji Jue. Come on, everyone, cool your heads. If this goes on any longer, this kid's going to start hawking membership cards."
"Wait, do you guys need membership cards?"
Ji Jue's eyes lit up, his hands rubbing together eagerly. "We can definitely do that! Top up right now—deposit a hundred thousand, get ten thousand free! Deposit two hundred thousand, get thirty thousand free!
"Early-bird clients also get a limited-edition modified phlogiston grenade..."
Amid the chorus of laughter from the rest of the crew, Tong Shan could only shake his head, utterly defeated.
Jokes aside, Ji Jue wasn't so impatient that he actually needed to pitch a roadside stall inside the vehicle.
Business was about long-term gain. After banter wrapped up, he handed each person two magazines of alchemical ammunition and a quicksilver grenade. He framed them as trial samples, but in truth they served as greeting gifts. It wasn't as if they were expensive, anyway.
The Association imposed far too much market oversight and restrictions. No matter how much an apprentice wracked their brains to turn a profit, it was ultimately small-time hustle. If he truly wanted to strike it rich, he'd have to earn his artisan license first.
Within the white fog, during their seemingly endless journey forward, chatter in the cabin gradually died down. Everyone seized the moment to rest and build up their strength, or stayed vigilant, scanning for anomalies.
The advance reconnaissance team's mission was to sweep the designated sector and pave the way for the main force that would follow later.
This time, Tong Shan and his crew not only had to complete the recon of their assigned zone, but also deliver a cache of supplies to another permanent survey unit stationed deep within Quancheng.
Tight deadlines and heavy burdens meant efficiency came first.
Long before this, the squad had operated together through numerous exploratory missions, developing tight coordination.
Their leader, Tong Shan, and Ji Xue were both of the Tianyuan path; Ji Xue's brother, Ji Liu, was a Swarm practitioner built for frontal combat; Xu Zhao of the Aether path handled scouting and support; and the burly Jiang Xuan walked the Desolate Ruins.
Crowd control, damage, tanking, and support were all accounted for. Strictly speaking, all they lacked was a healer. Unfortunately, during their last expedition, the Vortex healer on their roster had suffered accidental taint and couldn't venture into high-density corruption zones for the foreseeable future.
Now, with the addition of two Embers—Ji Jue and Lou Feng—their logistical strain was massively alleviated. After hearing about Ji Jue from Tong Hua, Tong Shan didn't consider him dead weight. As for Lou Feng, the sheer combat potency and versatility of the Lou family's spiritus shaping spoke for itself; how could Tong Shan not know?
Yet as Ji Jue sat in the vehicle and looked around, he made a startling discovery.
Tong Shan was an eighth-tier Regeneration practitioner. Ji Liu and Jiang Xuan had been parked at the sixth tier of Metamorphosis for quite some time, while Ji Xue and Xu Zhao were both fifth tier...
And then there was Ji Jue: a third-tier Calling-stage Embers who had barely crossed the threshold, sticking out among them like a stray chicken in a flock of cranes.
*Damn it, am I actually the weakest link in this whole squad?*
Stunned, Ji Jue instinctively glanced to his side, hoping to glean some emotional reassurance from Young Master Lou. But Lou Feng caught his gaze, froze for a fraction of a second, and immediately bristled. "What are you staring at?!"
With that, Lou Feng briefly let his condensed spiritus flare. The intricate, rigorous matrix hum of four interwoven blessings flashed past.
Fourth tier—Metamorphosis!
After getting pummeled last time, Young Master Lou had applied himself brutally upon returning home. Sure enough, not long ago, he had broken through Calling to attain Metamorphosis, shedding his former self.
In terms of cultivation, he had cleanly overtaken Ji Jue, crushing him in tier!
"Hmph!" Lou Feng sneered, the picture of condescension from the strong.
*Holy shit?!*
Ji Jue stared dumbfounded, feeling as though Young Master Lou had just flexed right in his face. *Damn it, I really am the scrub of the team!*
*Oh well, no big deal. At least I can still beat the crap out of Old Lou!*
Ji Jue quickly regained his composure. He casually patted Lou Feng on the shoulder, flashing a smile so warm and patronizing that the veins on Lou Feng's forehead practically throbbed.
*I can't take this anymore! I'm going to blow up right here, right now!*
Yet right in the middle of his glare, for reasons he couldn't fathom, Lou Feng's vision flickered for an instant.
Like an illusion.
Over Ji Jue—who was clad in the exact same protective suit—a hazy phantom seemed to emerge, resembling some sort of flimsy, eerie white robe.
Just as swiftly, the hallucination vanished.
Lou Feng blinked hard and looked again, only to be met by Ji Jue's puzzled expression. His eyelids twitched, but in the end, he kept his mouth shut.
Meanwhile, in a blind spot Lou Feng couldn't see, Ji Jue's hand rested on the small of his back, holding down the sheath. Within it, the Mercy bone blade trembled in subtle pulses, ringing in a soundless hum, eager as if returning to its native element.
Outside the window, the white fog vanished without a trace.
In its place, beneath a gloomy sky, lay a ruined city utterly devoid of color and light.
Even the midday sun failed to pierce the dense, heavy overcast. Only a meager, begrudging trickle of pale light filtered down, barely tracing out fragmentary silhouettes and making the dark corners among the rubble appear all the more pitch-black and sinister.
Within the iron-curtain gloom of the clouds, a brilliant flash of lightning darted across the sky, yet neither thunder nor boom followed.
In the strobe of that silent flash, the city's contours seemed to subtly shift, no longer matching what had been there a heartbeat ago.
When Ji Jue pressed himself against the window and tried to look back, he saw only Little Niuma trailing behind them, attached by two tow cables. The thick layers of white fog that had shrouded their approach were gone.
While journeying through the fog earlier, he had felt somewhat suffocated, yet now that they were out of it, he found himself already missing its protection.
"We have officially entered Quancheng. Everyone, stay sharp and get ready."
Tong Shan looked up, his previously genial expression replaced by stern resolve. "Ji Liu, get in. Ji Xue, stand by. Jiang Xuan, rest for now and keep an eye on our artisans.
"Xu Zhao, from this moment on, maintain overlapping observation with me. Report any anomaly immediately.
"Under no circumstances is anyone permitted to leave the formation. Even if you need to use the bathroom, you do it inside the vehicle. Understood?"
A unified response echoed through the cabin.
Under his command, the team's atmosphere tightened into a chilling gravity. Even Ji Xue dared not fool around any longer.
Ji Jue felt an invisible ripple emanate from the driver's seat. Then, the ambient light dimmed ever so faintly. As the wave washed over them, the silhouettes of the two vehicles driving down the ruined street turned faint and hazy, fading like phantoms into the gloom of the dead city.
Even the hum of their engines vanished.
Ji Jue looked toward Tong Shan in fascination. The others seemed thoroughly accustomed to it, showing no surprise, as if it were routine.
Lou Feng hadn't paid it much mind at first, until he realized the cloaking effect wasn't produced by any Mirror-path blessed relic. His expression shifted.
At this moment, they were completely enclosed within Tong Shan's telekinetic field. Not only were both vehicles encompassed, but every movement within a one-kilometer radius before and behind them was blanketed by these invisible ripples.
If it were merely bending light, that might be tricky, but for a Tianyuan practitioner skilled at manipulating tangible and intangible matter alike, diligent practice could yield similar results.
Yet to maintain chameleonic camouflage while on the move, cancel out all engine noise via inverse-phase soundwaves, and even pin down every kicked-up grain of dust against the ground—the operational load of such micromanagement was astronomical.
Even for telekinesis, hailed as the most versatile and all-purpose of abilities, executing such absurd precision with casual ease was terrifying.
Both were Tianyuan, and both practiced Matrix: Wanyu, yet the woman Ji Jue had encountered back in the Chrono Ruin had been brought down instantly by a single ghost fetus. At the same tier, Ji Jue doubted he would even get the chance to lift a finger against Tong Shan. In fact, just entertaining the thought of comparing the two felt like an insult to Tong Shan.
"Impressive," Ji Jue remarked, giving a sincere thumbs-up.
Tong Shan simply nodded. "If either of you have needs or input, you can voice them at any time. But inside Quancheng, for the sake of the mission and everyone's safety, I expect you to adhere to orders and protocols. Otherwise, for the operation's success, I'll have no choice but to escort you out."
"Don't worry, I know how to read the room," Ji Jue replied without hesitation. "You're the carry, you call the shots. If you need anything, just say the word."
Beside him, Lou Feng nodded in agreement.
Seeing how cooperative both were, Tong Shan gave a slight nod. His little display of skill had served its purpose—not to show off or intimidate, but because a team could only have one voice; multiple voices bred chaos, and as squad leader, he had to take responsibility for every life. He wasn't particularly worried about Lou Feng; it was Ji Jue... Going by Tong Hua's accounts, the kid's stunts were far too unhinged.
Truth be told, Tong Shan was a little afraid he wouldn't be able to keep a lid on him.
After reiterating several key precautions, seeing how familiar both appeared with the ropes, Tong Shan concluded, "You two must have prior experience exploring Border Realms, right?"
Lou Feng: "..."
Ji Jue: "..."
A sudden silence fell.
In the awkward stillness, Ji Jue used his peripheral vision to sneak a glance at Young Master Lou. Lou Feng's face twitched. After shooting Ji Jue a murderous glare, he forced out through gritted teeth, "Yes."
"...Both of you?"
Tong Shan blinked, puzzled by the sudden shift in mood.
"Mm, *cough*, both of us." Ji Jue turned his face away, fighting to keep a straight face and suppressing the twitching corners of his mouth. With solemn gravity, he added, "The two of us, uh, coordinate pretty seamlessly... right?"
*Seamless your ass!*
Lou Feng's teeth nearly shattered from grinding them so hard.
"Shh—"
Xu Zhao, who had been sitting with lowered eyes, suddenly looked up and signaled for silence. Whatever he had spotted, both vehicles instantly killed their engines and pulled to the curb. Enveloped beneath layers of telekinetic concealment, they melted into the decaying street.
At a wave of Tong Shan's hand, everyone froze like statues, sitting utterly motionless inside the cabin.
Beyond the glass, the scene of devastation—broken bricks and shattered tiles—remained unchanged.
Ji Jue and Lou Feng exchanged baffled looks. Then Tong Shan raised a hand, clenching his right fist.
Instantly, every nerve and muscle in the vehicle snapped taut.
Only then did Ji Jue catch a faint pattering, like gentle rain striking the earth—dense, soft, and slowly rolling in from afar.
What entered view was a tide of shadow surging through the darkness.
No physical body could be seen, nor was there any perceptible spiritus fluctuation.
The living shadow drifted through the ruins like spilled mercury, blanketing everything in its path, accompanied by an endless chorus of faint cracking sounds.
Through his binoculars, Ji Jue watched a writhing centipede crawl from what looked like a sewer grate. Before it could react, the shadow washed over it.
After a brittle snapping sound, it disintegrated into ash.
Whatever Lou Feng was seeing, cold sweat drenched his back and his face went white as paper.
Noticing Ji Jue's curious expression beside him, Lou Feng's scowl morphed into a look that declared: *If I have to suffer, you're damn well suffering with me.* He reached over and clamped a hand onto Ji Jue's shoulder.
On his index finger, a blessing relic resembling a rough-cut diamond flickered with illusory light, wordlessly bestowing an enhancement.
Then it was Ji Jue's turn to break out in cold sweat.
Above that squirming, shifting tide of darkness, the vague outline of massive limbs faded into view, resembling grotesque legs.
As the shadow rippled, twisted appendages limped forward in halting strides.
At times, during its lumbering stumbles, a more complete silhouette coalesced—like the half-rotted carcass of a titanic beast, a jagged cage of bones dragging bloated, decomposing viscera beneath its ruptured belly...
Its colossal, building-sized frame passed effortlessly through rubble and collapsed structures without impediment, like a phantom. Only the viscous shadow spread out beneath its feet, ravenously devouring every speck of life it touched.
Parasitic tendrils protruded from its hazy body, writhing in the air, sniffing and seeking out the scent of living things.
A skull stripped half-bare of flesh hissed soundlessly.
Then, as if sensing something, it abruptly turned its head, glaring straight toward the advance team concealed beneath the veil of illusion.
Its eyes burned with ferocity.
Then it seemed to hesitate.
The tide of shadow swept over them, but made contact with nothing.
Like a hand reaching into a biscuit jar, it groped repeatedly, scraping into every corner and crevice, only to find the effort futile.
Here, there was nothing.
After what felt like an eternity, the tide of shadow finally contracted, retreating into the distance with the squirming mass of the ravenous leviathan.
It vanished.
Not until ten minutes later did Xu Zhao nod. Everyone in the vehicle exhaled in unison.
The two vehicles, which had been suspended in midair, gently settled back onto the pavement.
Not a speck of dust was disturbed.
"Move fast. With that thing having just swept through, we shouldn't run into much trouble on this road for a while." Tong Shan started the engine, accelerated, and sped through the ruins.
"What was that?" Ji Jue finally couldn't resist leaning forward to ask. "A calamity beast? An aberrant? Some kind of native abomination?"
"No idea. We haven't run into it before," Ji Xue answered. "Big as it is, it's actually fairly easy to fool. As long as it can't pin you down within its shadow, it can't harm you. Not too much trouble—just steer clear and you'll be fine."
"Are there many things like that in Quancheng?"
"Across all our expeditions, large and small, of various types? Probably eight or nine of them?"
Ji Xue sounded uncertain herself. "Sometimes they pop up out of nowhere, and then vanish just as mysteriously. There isn't even time to classify or observe them.
"The team over in Chuancheng ran into something far nastier—the size of an entire city block, no physical shape, just a mass of dense fog. Anyone who went in dissolved without even knowing how they died. Word has it it might have crawled up from under the vortex. They lost a lot of people, and it took a bureau director personally stepping in to drive it off. Compared to that, we should thank our lucky stars our recon zone doesn't have trouble on that scale."
"Stop raising death flags."
Her brother reached down through the sunroof and rapped her on the head. "There's plenty of nasty stuff left. Master Ji, you guys be careful too. Unless absolutely necessary, do not step out of the vehicle.
"Up ahead is a high-density anomaly zone. Everyone stay alert."
Amid the silent rush, there was a fleeting instant when the world before Ji Jue's eyes seemed to light up. Blazing afternoon sunlight bathed storefronts and signs on both sides of the street.
Traffic bustled, pedestrians milled about, and vibrant prosperity filled the air.
Peaceful, gentle days.
Basking in the glare of the sun, radiant smiles lit up the faces of passersby. They turned toward the passing convoy, looked straight at Ji Jue, waving and calling out.
Yet in the next breath, it all vanished like smoke.
A fleeting bubble that had never existed.
There were only broken walls and crumbling masonry, where sullen darkness squirmed in silence, devoid of any living thing.
A stale breeze drifted from afar, rustling the tattered hanging curtain over a doorway.
In the gloom behind the curtain, a hazy face lifted, split by an exaggerated, manic grin. It watched them, waving—its arm fluttering weightlessly, as if devoid of bone.
An eager, feverish beckoning.
Auditory hallucinations surfaced beside every ear.
*"Quancheng snacks... quick meals... truck water refill-fill-fill-fill... Quan-Quancheng snacks... quick meals... meals... meals... Hungry, hungry, hungry... Come, come, come, come in and sit, sit, sit, sit, sit..."*
The vehicle sped on without stopping, pressing the gas even harder.
Yet at every corner, it passed that exact same ruined doorway.
The distorted voice clung tight, feeling as though it were whispering right behind them, drawing closer and closer. Every time Ji Jue checked the rearview mirror, he saw that face.
A radiant smile.
Yet its eye sockets were empty pits of darkness, staring right at him.
Finally, the speeding vehicle slammed on its brakes.
The dark, ruined doorway now stood directly ahead. Behind the door curtain, the face drew nearer, its grotesque grin pressing flush against the car window. *"So hungry, so hungry, so hungry... Come on in and sit. Just eat a little and everything will be fine. Eat, eat, eat, eat... Just a little bite, okay? Okay? Okay...?"*
In that instant, the hollow sockets locked onto Ji Jue, the smile twisting into something monstrous:
*"Let's eat together, okay?"*
Chapter 195