Five Towers and Twelve Cities

Amid the raging trash-clearing operation and unrestricted combat tournament, every participant was beaming ear to ear as they checked their performance metrics and scores. Especially after hearing that Party A was paying double bonuses and the boss was pitching in double holiday overtime pay, their stun batons whipped into afterimages, swinging non-stop from morning to afternoon without pausing for even a single minute. They were even reluctant to take breaks... From top to bottom, everyone threw themselves wholeheartedly into the intense competition and work. As they planted their boots atop the incessantly wailing rioters, they couldn't help standing tall with their chests puffed out, sighing in deep appreciation: What a truly exhilarating, thorough thrashing! Evidently, the mastermind behind the curtain had also shifted tactics. Once the spreading blazes were extinguished, the large mobs of rioters rapidly dissolved into small-scale, indiscriminate attacks and bombings. Stranger still, under such brutal suppression, troublemakers whose eyes would normally clear right up after a single blow were now abruptly hardening their resolve, occasionally even firing back with anti-materiel weapons. For their fighting spirit to reach such a fever pitch was far beyond normal. Moreover, the vast majority were neither organized nor premeditated. Many were simply overwhelmed by a sudden surge of old grudges and fresh hatred, seized by incandescent fury, and pulled the cord to blow everyone to kingdom come. Even right inside the Chopra mansion, Minkler survived an assassination attempt. A servant who had long suffered harsh exploitation stole a dinner knife, hid it up his sleeve while serving food, and suddenly lunged to stab Minkler. If not for the House God's protective shield, blood would have splattered the floor on the spot. "Heart Pivot, huh." Ji Jue's face was impassive; he had expected as much. This kind of wretched trick that strictly avoided head-on clashes and existed purely to disgust people was nastier than finding shit in your curry. What was worse, you had to endure the revulsion indefinitely without even knowing where the culprit was hiding... Information spreading continuously through various channels had memes silently planted within it. It could be a blood-drenched image, a news report, or even an ordinary plastic bag—enough to pry open a fissure in an unguarded mind. Next, with just a gentle push and a little Catalysis, it could erupt into magnificent results. "Want me to find an Aether practitioner?" Lou Yanyue asked. "Aren't you pretty close with the Tong family? Borrowing a couple of people would be a breeze." "Why bother the Tongs?" Ji Jue sneered. "Did they really think I put up all those surveillance monitors for nothing?" On the massive screen before him, tiny red dots silently emerged one after another as vast swarms of Spirits of Creation began quietly searching and cross-referencing. Tracing anomalous fluctuations of spiritus from every quarter, the mist of the Veil had silently blanketed the entire city. Within this vapor, so thin it was virtually undetectable, every flow of spiritus was reflected clearly in Ji Jue's perception. Sampling, analyzing, computing, and then repeating, repeating, and repeating again. In just half an hour, following spiritus fluctuations so faint they were nearly imperceptible, a spiderweb materialized over the map. Right at the intersection of countless conductive lines, in the prosperous heart of the Midtown district, stood a secluded villa enveloped in lush greenery—a quiet oasis amid the bustling city. Unlike the clamor elsewhere, it was utterly serene here, with no one entering or leaving. Coincidentally, there were no electronic devices active either... as if the power had been cut, not even security cameras were running! There weren't even any cell phones! As for its location, it sat right under their very noses. Looking down from the hilltop, it was plain as day. Right before everyone's eyes, it had silently radiated ripples, effortlessly stirring panic and sowing chaos... "Playing the 'darkest under the lamp' trick on me, are you?" Ji Jue almost laughed in exasperation. He turned to Lou Yanyue, who had waited so long she was going stir-crazy. "Here, chop down right here. It's the taking part that counts." Lou Yanyue leaned over, chewing on prawn crackers fresh from the kitchen. With her cheeks puffed full, she mumbled, "How much force?" "Targets rarely deliver themselves to our doorstep, so strike as hard as you like," Ji Jue said. "Just don't hit any innocents next door." "Deal!" Lou Yanyue gave a decisive nod, clapped her hands, wiped the crumbs and grease onto her nephew's clothes, wiped her mouth, and hopped down from her chair. Raising a finger, she roughly gauged the distance between the two points. Then, she grinned. Ji Jue abruptly felt as though fine needles were pricking all over his skin with stinging twinges. His hair stood on end, crackling with static. Instinctively, he took a step back. Pure instinct. Even though the Wolf's Malice Perception couldn't detect the slightest hint of murderous intent, his subconscious screamed at him: don't stand next to an armory full of gunpowder! Especially when the spark falls, and everything is about to ignite into a total detonation! At that instant, Lou Yanyue's pupils turned pitch-black. Her fingers clenched into a fist against empty air. A sharp crack erupted in the heavens above the villa as empty space fractured. Beyond the fissures, a towering, solemn pavilion loomed into hazy view! It seemed nestled behind the protection of layer upon layer of ramparts and towers, standing atop the highest reaches of the firmament, looking down upon all creation. The Encircled Realm unfolded, serving as the vessel to receive Heaven's Mandate! The chronowedge cultivated and reinforced across generations of the Lou clan—[Five Towers and Twelve Cities]—manifested for a fleeting instant within the reflection of her Encircled Realm at Lou Yanyue's summons. Immediately following, atop the precarious tower, a distant silhouette appeared to take shape. Mirroring Lou Yanyue's motion, it pointed a finger down toward the mortal world. Instantly, five colors cascaded through the Encircled Realm—azure, yellow, white, black, and crimson interweaving and shifting ceaselessly before abruptly converging into a single point. They coalesced into a strand of pallid light. Plummeting from the heavens. In that instant, the world went dark. That blinding thread of pale light pierced through heaven and earth, releasing a terrifying brilliance that cast all of Xiangzhou into apparent shadow by contrast. No sound, no movement, no tremor, no thought. The terrified face peering out from the villa's window up at the sky didn't even have time to scream. After a split second's flash, the entire villa plunged back into dead silence. As a breeze drifted past, everything bounded by the perimeter walls—the swimming pool, lawn, garden, and the villa itself—silently collapsed and disintegrated. Swirling ashes billowed into the air like mist, melting into the wind until nothing remained. Amid the acrid stench of electrolyzed air, nothing was left. Only a crater hundreds of meters deep appeared in the villa's place, not an inch wider or narrower than the property lines, its sheer walls smooth as a mirror. In a single thought, reduced to ash and dust. The ultimate eruption, total destruction, and supreme precision—in this casual strike, the very essence of Entropy manifested before Ji Jue's eyes. "Did you see that?!" Lou Yanyue rested her hands on her hips and puffed out her flat chest, laughing smugly. "Can that Tong guy pull this off?! Can that Wen Wen woman do it? Hahahaha! Our Lou family heritage doesn't play second fiddle to anyone!!!" No, you're on the Entropy path, why on earth are you comparing damage output with Tianyuan and Desolate Ruins... and why did you drag Brother Plant into this out of nowhere?! Ji Jue opened his mouth, stopped, and found himself completely speechless. He could only offer a polite smile. And clap. Following that single blow, all of Xiangzhou fell into a protracted hush. Having lost the agitation and propulsion of the Heart Pivot, the riots and assaults that had erupted one after another swiftly dissipated at visible speed. Ordinary citizens hunkered down at home behind locked doors and windows, peering uneasily into the streets outside, wondering what on earth that blinding flash had been. Those unable to perceive it were relatively fortunate, merely experiencing an inexplicable dread; but the Celestial Chosen who sensed that violent shift felt their vision go dark. Even if it was just a fleeting projection in an Encircled Realm, it was still the chronowedge forged across generations of the Lou clan deeply rooted in Ascension, Mirror, and Entropy! It was an outright disaster-class impact! The moment the Five Towers and Twelve Cities revealed itself, anyone with a slightly inferior matrix or weaker self-nature and consciousness thudded straight to their knees. Drenched in cold sweat. Even the House God crashed completely, slipping out of control; no matter how Minkler jostled it, there was no response. Only after a good while did it begin shivering like it had seen a ghost. Meanwhile, Lou Feng, who had been watching Ji Jue and waiting to mock him, discovered... this bastard had zero reaction whatsoever! He even turned back to look at Lou Feng and asked what was wrong. "Wait, you don't feel anything at all?" Lou Feng's eyelid twitched. "Feel anything?" Ji Jue munched on a prawn cracker and pondered. "Felt like... well, pretty big, pretty impressive... By the way, could I touch it? I'll just look, I won't go inside..." "Get the hell out of here!!!" Lou Feng fumed. If this weren't Ji Jue, he would have jumped in and lopped the idiot's dog head off with a flying cleave! A chronowedge was the core inheritance of a lineage—was that something you could just look at, ask about, or touch?! Seeing that this bastard was utterly unfazed, Lou Feng confirmed his suspicion, but envy began bubbling up in his chest. So having a Sage inheritance makes you hot shit, huh?! To be immune to the aura pressure of the Five Towers and Twelve Cities could only mean one thing: Ji Jue possessed an inheritance on par with or even superior to the Five Towers and Twelve Cities. Who knew what terrifying monstrosity the Encircled Realm constructed by the Non-Offensive matrix and the chronowedge it pointed toward would be! "That's it?" Having waited around without getting any response, Lou Yanyue's face fell. "There really isn't a single one with balls? Not even one dared jump out for a scrap! Total cowards!" I rolled up my sleeves ready to brawl, and you bastards folded immediately? What kind of bullshit is that? Are the local syndicates this pathetic?! "How could it be over? It's only just begun," Ji Jue shook his head. "Even if major moves fail, their petty tricks won't stop. To them, having no real impact doesn't matter; as long as it disgusts people, it's a win." He knew this playbook inside and out. The so-called riot was just the opening act; there was a silky-smooth combo waiting in line behind it. Even if it yielded no concrete results and the return on investment was abysmal, as long as they could watch their opponent tilt and seethe in impotent rage, it was worth every penny. As the saying goes, put yourself in their shoes... How could he not know? That was how he operated all the time! Rarely did anyone try to match him on his own playground, so he was actually a little thrilled! Ji Jue gave a heartfelt sigh. "As the proverb says, 'To not reciprocate is an offense against decency.'" At those words, Minkler had an inkling, while Lou Feng understood completely. In the silence, the only illiterate in the room—Lou "Delinquent Girl" Yanyue—asked blankly: "What does that mean?" "Well..." Ji Jue thought for a second and gave a warm smile. "It means I'm about to go do some violating." Behind him, the map on the colossal screen suddenly shifted. From Xiangzhou, it switched to the bustling Luo Island. Immediately after, countless small icons rapidly surfaced on the map, dense as stars in the night sky, blinking with an eerie, chilling green glow. "Praise modern civilization!" Ji Jue spread his arms and whistled. Are you ready? My Deus Ex Machina is coming in!