Condensing the "death" one had felt, undergone, experienced, and comprehended into a spiritus crystal, then catalyzing it and injecting it into the enemy's perception...
This comprehension was practically like a virus that unpacked, replicated, and spread on its own, flooding every thought process.
The instant it was deciphered, the experience of death had already looped dozens, hundreds, thousands of times.
And within that absolute nothingness, any consciousness would gradually dissolve, evaporate, and vanish completely without a trace.
"The essence of the Abyssal Void."
Bao Dachai squinted, savoring the hint of blackness spreading across the tip of his tongue. Young folks these days were truly terrifying. Why did every single one of them channel their strength down toward the Vortex?
Mmm, but this purity... practically personal-reserve grade from a Great Sin, nearly mint condition—a rare find indeed!
Even so, resolving one question only caused more to surface in his mind.
Even if consciousness dissolved and completely evaporated, the adversary was the master of this dreamscape. As long as their soul remained intact, they could always reshape themselves like casting from a mold—at worst, they would simply delete all the poisoned memories.
There had to be something else, something far more vital!
Something that touched closer to the essence and marrow of the dream of Huangliang...
"Old Bao, are you alright?"
Covered in dirt and soot, Yu Shu finally scrambled up from the ground. Seeing the dazed elder, he asked with concern.
"Ah, I'm fine, quite fine. Thanks to Miss Wen and Mr. Ji."
Snapping back to his senses, the old man went limp, slumping to the ground in a cold sweat. "Such a terrifying ruckus scared the life out of me! These old bones really are useless... Don't mind me, go check on the others."
Right now, the camp was filled with wails of grief and utter devastation.
Everywhere lay severed limbs, mangled corpses, severed heads, and fragments of flesh. The survivors were few and far between—scarcely one in ten remained standing.
From the very start, this had been a premeditated strike: taking advantage of the camp's recent upheaval to gather everyone together, then detonating a bomb, revealing their true forms, and slaughtering indiscriminately...
Had it not been for Ji Jue, then even with Wen Wen's swift reactions, the losses would have been catastrophic.
Fortunately, however... dying wasn't so easy here either. Even if blown to pieces, so long as their consciousness remained intact, they could be stitched and pieced back together. After resting for a few days, they would be up and kicking again.
Except, in Ji Jue's eyes, the attack felt somewhat slipshod. Setting aside the internal rebellion, if they wanted to maximize their gains, they should have coordinated from both inside and outside.
*If I were the church, after planting a few traitors and finalizing the plan, once the camp was thrown into chaos and rendered defenseless, I'd strike while the iron was hot, descend with an overwhelming force, and wipe out the entire camp once and for all...*
And then, he heard a crisp crack.
"It's bad, Big Sis, this is bad!"
A panicked shout rang out as a disheveled young man stumbled back into the camp from outside. "Outside... so many came... so many..."
There was no need for him to say more.
A fracture abruptly tore open across the sky, like a cracked display screen. Immediately after, one golden speck of light after another surfaced high above.
A radiant gate materialized out of thin air within the clouds. Hundreds, thousands, endless hordes of angels surged forth, swooping down toward the rift valley where the camp lay.
Fissure after fissure rapidly spiderwebbed across the heavens. With every crack that sounded, the mist veiling the sky dissipated a fraction more.
"Things look grim,"
Bao Dachai muttered, pulling a crystal sphere from his robes. Watching fine cracks proliferate across its surface, he said, "Leader, the Prism is about to give out."
The defense erected within this narrow rift in the dreamscape was sustained and borne collectively by the consciousness of everyone in the camp. Originally, even under an angelic siege, it would have held for a short while. But right now, everyone was at their most disoriented and feeble, rendering it practically useless.
In the dead silence, the faces of the surviving members turned ashen at his words, plunging them into panic and terror.
First the loss of their main force, then the ambush within the camp—under such consecutive blows, no matter how steadfast someone was, they would waver in fear...
After all, if captured and dragged back, they would likely be thrown into Limbo to burn for thousands, tens of thousands of years.
And to make matters worse, right now they couldn't even commit suicide.
"Tsk..."
In the nearly frozen air, Wen Wen's expression shifted. Gritting her teeth, she raised the spear in her hand toward everyone. "Rest easy, everyone! Today is not like the past—a decisive power has already appeared!
"In the days ahead, we will no longer need to scurry and hide. One day, the great undertaking of counterattacking Tiancheng will be accomplished by our hands!
"Have no doubts, feel no panic. For now, all you need to do is protect yourselves and safeguard this ember of hope.
"Leave the rest to me..."
*I'll break through and bring up the rear*—those words never managed to leave her mouth.
It was Ji Jue.
He suddenly reached out and pressed a hand against her shoulder, wearing his usual bright smile. "Don't worry, Sister Wen. At a juncture like this, it's time for everyone to pool their wisdom and strength. Who knows, maybe someone else has a way?
"Right, Old Bao?"
Along with those reassuring, steady words, as his head turned, an icy gaze fell squarely upon Bao Dachai, completely undisguised.
*Give it a rest, you old geezer!*
*At a moment like this, if everyone wants to band together, then contribute what you can—money, muscle, whatever you've got. But if you're still dead set on slacking off and watching the show... don't blame me for getting rough!*
He couldn't speak for others, but an artisan's bottom line was something an artisan understood best. After all, a damn artisan's bottom line was having no bottom line at all.
Ji Jue didn't believe for a second that an old codger like Bao Dachai—who was used to doing Nirvana's dirty work and stirring up trouble everywhere outside—would leave his own lair without a single arrangement.
If he hadn't, that proved only one thing: he never considered this place his lair to begin with!
Just look at that dilapidated workshop where even a rat would weep! Folks, if this old bastard had put even one ounce of effort into his job, Ji Jue would eat that busted lathe right on the spot!
As for whether he might be innocent? What a joke—could an artisan ever be innocent?!
"Cough, cough... Ah, indeed, quite right!"
The old man looked blank for an instant, then nodded decisively. "Ah, Commander Wen, you're still too hasty. Actually, I prepared for this long ago."
He slapped his forehead as if the memory had just struck him. "See, once you get old, you get forgetful. I almost forgot that when I helped construct the Prism, I also whipped up a [Rabbit Hole] on the side!"
In an instant, after a brief silence, cheers erupted and echoed incessantly.
Members who had looked as dead as ashes just moments ago cried out in wild joy, gesticulating in disbelief, as if snatching life from the jaws of death.
Just as Ji Jue was wondering what he meant, he saw the old codger grope behind his backside for a while before pulling out a tattered sack like a magic trick.
Unfolding the ragged canvas sack—which looked like nothing more than a tiny folded wad—revealed an impossibly vast opening. Inside was a pitch-black cavity like a mountain cavern, its far end swirling with uncanny rainbow light and mist, faintly revealing another tranquil wilderness.
Without needing any urging, people immediately began organizing the survivors to pack supplies, shovel their wounded companions into truck beds, and swiftly evacuate.
Having clearly fled who knows how many times before, every single person present moved with astonishing speed and orderly coordination. In just a few minutes, mountains of supplies were crammed onto the last few drivable trucks, which chugged right into the darkness inside the sack.
Soon, having crossed the darkness, they reached a brand-new area, waving excitedly back in their direction.
In fairy tales, an innocent girl pursuing a rabbit with a pocket watch leaped into a rabbit hole, and when she crawled out again, she had arrived in a wondrous, dreamlike world.
It was said that among the numbered Celestial Crafts of the Eternal Gate, there was a living rabbit. As long as one followed it, they could go anywhere they desired, ascending to the highest heavens or descending to the underworld without any hindrance—nothing short of miraculous.
The only drawback was that you could never cage this rabbit, and it would never stop to wait for you...
"Tale Alchemy?"
Ji Jue looked at the old codger beside him, enlightenment finally dawning.
Like Fluid Alchemy, it was an ancient alchemical heritage. Only, when it came to Tale Alchemy—which specialized in the three realms of Aether, Heart Pivot, and Mirror—Ji Jue knew absolutely nothing beyond the name itself.
He had only heard that its practitioners could use absurd legends, stories, and ghost tales as raw materials, fusing and creating unbelievable works.
This creation, the [Rabbit Hole], was likely derived from that very tale.
Ji Jue just hadn't expected it to have the ability to traverse dreams as well.
"Not worth mentioning, merely a trick kept at the bottom of the trunk. Like a magician's sleight of hand, once exposed, the magic is gone."
Bao Dachai smiled faintly, his back still hunched, and gestured toward the Rabbit Hole.
"Mr. Ji, after you?"
"Let's go, then."
Ji Jue cast him one last look and stepped inside without hesitation. The old man, who had worn a playful smirk, couldn't help a fleeting moment of admiration.
Such boldness made his own probing seem rather petty by comparison.
High in the sky, amidst continuous shattering sounds, the Prism covering the camp was rapidly disintegrating, falling to pieces, while the vast camp had already emptied out.
He looked back one last time, thought for a moment, patted himself down, and pulled out that small crystal sphere again, dropping it onto the ground.
Then, he stepped into the cloth sack.
Soon, the cloth sack left behind rapidly deflated and shrank back to its original size. Then, its opening turned inward and rolled back, as if someone were pulling it from the other side.
After shrinking to its limit, with a snap, it vanished without a trace.
The moment the fracture-covered crystal sphere completely shattered, the angels descended from the infinite brilliance, combing every inch of the camp. Yet aside from ruins, they found nothing.
Oh, save for the crisp sound of crystal shattering...
In the dead silence, all the angels looked at one another, glancing around blankly—until they noticed that the cracks in the sky were still spreading without end, gradually enveloping everything in the camp.
*Wait, something is wrong—*
The gold-crowned angel froze for an instant, then roared in alarm, beating its wings to surge upward, attempting to break out through the breach in the sky.
In that very instant, the final crisp crack rang out.
*Snap!*
The pillar supporting and sustaining this dream rift snapped silently.
Immediately afterward, the entire rift collapsed completely!
The phantom bubble burst.
Countless angels instantly evaporated into nothingness amidst that void collapse.
Only outside the rift, the commanding Heavenly General, colossal as a mountain range, watched helplessly as his subordinates dissolved like foam. Unable to contain himself any longer, he roared in furious wrath.
Recalling the pledge he had made before the Holy Throne prior to departure and the consequences of mission failure, he could no longer rein in his rage and terror, spewing curses.
Yet soon, his voice abruptly ceased.
Amidst a rumble, the gargantuan Heavenly General threw himself violently to the ground, prostrating in total submission. As if sensing something, he trembled in sheer terror.
And high above him in the heavens,
A black line spread silently, then parted toward both sides, turning into a Blood Eye that filled the entire sky, gazing down with cold indifference.
Trembling, drenched in sweat, the Heavenly General stammered, "H-Holy God above, please allow—"
The colossal eye closed coldly.
It looked no more.
A light breeze blew across. The Heavenly General collapsed rapidly like foam and vanished. Unlike his subordinates buried within the rift who could still await regeneration, he was utterly obliterated, body and soul extinguished.
In the empty wilderness, only a disdainful sneer echoed across the heavens.
Gradually fading away.
Chapter 503