The tourists who had emerged from Blockade Hall were not yet permitted to leave the city. A single screening was not enough to put minds at ease.
Given their high social standing, heavy-handed measures were out of the question. To keep them pacified, they were transferred to high-end accommodations not far from Blockade Hall, fitted with top-tier security measures and provided with luxury service.
Having endured a night of shocks and scares, these people were mentally exhausted, even with drugs and implants sustaining their bodies. Guessing Center City's intentions, none of them bothered to argue.
Fortunately, the residence did not block outside communications. Upon arrival, everyone immediately reached out to their personal advocates and trusted confidants.
Capa had also been assigned a room. He understood full well that this was merely another cage. Center City would never let them leave before the incident at Blockade Hall was resolved.
For now, though, he was in no danger of being exposed.
This was because he had left the vast majority of his mutated tissue behind in the cell; the body he was currently wearing contained only an infinitesimal fraction of it.
Whether personnel were sent into the cell to inspect it or field monitoring was used, the conclusion reached would be that he had never left—the mutated tissue occupying over ninety percent of his mass back there truly did represent an almost complete version of him.
Yet one defining trait of a Throne martial artist was that even if only a tiny piece of a limb or mutated tissue remained, they could revitalize and regenerate their original body from that fragment alone.
Thus, the escape of this small piece meant he had already set one foot outside his cage.
Even so, he was reluctant to abandon that remaining bulk of mutated tissue. He was currently exceptionally weak, and he had noticed that certain tamperings seemed to have been done to his body.
Restoring himself to full strength with only this sliver of mutated tissue could take quite a long time, during which he would be utterly helpless. If he was tracked down in the meantime, he ran the risk of being recaptured. Therefore, it was best if he could recover that portion.
If that proved impossible, he would decisively abandon it and find another way.
Looking toward Blockade Hall with a smile, he thought: now it all depended on whether those high-profile figures could pull off what he envisioned.
Would they ultimately fail, or make good their escape?
This very uncertainty fascinated him.
Just like when he was making his way out earlier—the one in the greatest danger had not been those tourists, but himself. The mutated tissue on his body was sufficient to nourish those mutated insects.
Had he failed to pacify the insect back then and been devoured instead, his escape attempt would have ended in immediate failure. Yet situations like that gave him a thrill—one he thoroughly relished.
Inside White Rock Long Hall, the faces of every city administrator were fraught with gravity and tension.
On the field screen ahead, numerous agitated dots of light appeared. These were signs that the binding power of the rituals was steadily failing and the captive entities were on the verge of breaking through their cages. In an estimated few minutes, the first wave would burst out from within.
After all, no matter how Alu adjusted things, she could not alter the ritual's overall structure. She could only deploy the esoteric ritual specialist team to pay special attention to certain high-priority entities, delaying their breakout so they could be dealt with in staggered batches.
According to estimates, the peak would arrive within ten to twenty minutes. If not effectively contained, the outer rituals risked being breached.
By now, they had already "hired" operatives to retrieve the scarlet skull. Once it was secured and the root cause severed, all of this could be calmed immediately.
However, due to clearance restrictions, the hired squad was impeded by the rituals with every step forward, which inevitably took time. It was estimated that this would take roughly forty-five minutes to an hour, but that was already the fastest possible pace.
At that moment, several lights on the screen suddenly flickered and abruptly appeared outside Blockade Hall. It happened almost instantaneously—the captive entities inside had breached the perimeter from within.
This batch consisted entirely of mutated creatures from near the Ring of the World. Each possessed unique traits and was closely linked to ancient religious legends. Cunning as they were, they had feigned an inability to break free of the ritual before suddenly exerting full force to surge outward.
Yet the meticulous defenses along the perimeter were sufficient to check them.
Just like before, thick clouds of mist billowed outside Blockade Hall; shortly after the mutated creatures plunged into them, all movement ceased.
Blockade Hall had conducted in-depth studies on every captive entity and understood their traits thoroughly. Having been locked up here for so long, these mutated creatures had grown severely enfeebled. Under Alu's tailored arrangements, the esoteric rituals acted like wide-open sacks waiting for them to dive right in.
With this batch successfully thwarted, the administrators relaxed slightly. It proved the reliability of Alu and the rituals; as long as these entities did not all rush out in a single wave, they could handle it.
Naturally, the true focus remained on those three specific entities. As seen on the screen, whether it was His Majesty the Emperor of the old era, Consul Arthur Covington, or that other existence, none had made a move yet.
Yet they knew that so much time having elapsed was more than enough for them to break their bonds, no matter how the esoteric ritual group targeted them. After all, their tier was high enough that makeshift patch-ups had little effect on them.
Their current stillness meant they were likely waiting for an opportune moment. That would be the real test.
Ryan looked entirely composed. Even if the outer rituals truly failed to stop those three, things would not deteriorate past the point of no return. Because what awaited them—he looked upward—would be a far mightier power.
A few minutes later, the three closely watched entities seemed to reach a sudden tacit understanding. They moved simultaneously, shooting out of Blockade Hall at blinding speed and breaking out in three different directions.
This forced Blockade Hall to face pressure from three sides at once. All field resources across Center City were mobilized here without regard for cost. Yet their effect was limited; the strength and destructive potential of these three entities were far beyond anything that had broken out before.
Right at this moment, the psychic force hanging over all of Center City seemed to awaken. The clouds roiled and formed a vortex that, at first glance, resembled an enormous eye.
Meanwhile, the time finally reached 10:59. At the very moment eleven o'clock was about to strike, the three ritual stars in the heavens finally converged into one.
At this instant, in the eyes of all who possessed psychic power, a sudden burst of brilliance erupted in the sky. The effects of all esoteric rituals on the scene spiked dramatically. Captive entities inside Blockade Hall who had gradually shaken off their restraints amid the resonance were suppressed once more.
This seemed like a good thing, yet an unexpected variable caught everyone off guard.
Just outside Veia State Center City, around the periphery of Lake Qiyuan, dense clusters of broken stone pillars stood scattered. These were ruins left behind by the prior civilization; no one had ever known their purpose, and only Chan practitioners used them to temper their minds.
Yet the moment the three stars in the sky converged, something seemed to be triggered. These ritual pillars, which had remained dormant for at least thousands of years, underwent a subtle shift. Strands of golden radiance flowed between them, and the ritual power that had once been imperceptible suddenly materialized.
Even at this hour, many Chan practitioners were still engaged in ascetic discipline here. As one of them placed a fractured pillar back on top, he suddenly discovered that a field tremor—one that had previously been completely undetectable—now clearly manifested before his eyes.
Soon after, more and more Chan practitioners noticed this phenomenon. Opening their eyes, they emerged one by one from meditation and looked up at the sky in shock and suspicion, pressing their palms together toward the heavens.
At this moment, in the sky above Veia State Center City, right beneath the ritual stars, speckles of radiance began to flicker. This light spread outward continuously, as if threatening to tear something open.
The psychic force looming over the city had originally locked onto the three entities below. Upon detecting this development, however, it disregarded the situation underneath altogether and surged toward the brilliance instead, seemingly intent on suppressing it.
Out on the plains outside the Veia State field, an airship remained moored to a mooring tower. The veteran martial artist from Pacifica Center City, Dayel Rossard, was currently resting with his eyes closed to recharge his spirit.
He attached great importance to his duel with Chen Chuan two days from now, and was in the middle of getting into condition.
At this point, he seemed to sense something. Glancing out the cabin window, he frowned slightly. He suddenly felt that something terrible had appeared, though he couldn't put his finger on what it was.
Inside the Great Shun Delegation's station, Chen Chuan had not engaged in cultivation tonight. Instead, he kept close watch on the developments outside. If something truly went wrong over at Blockade Hall, the disorder in the city would undoubtedly worsen. He had not forgotten how many vicious criminals were imprisoned within; when the time came, he would need to ensure the safety of the entire delegation.
While receiving reports coming in from various personnel, he also felt a prickle of unease in his heart.
Raising his head, he saw intense ritual field fluctuations manifesting all around, on a massive, omnipresent scale. He even noticed faint signs of etherealization appearing on his second self.
Not only that—ever since entering Center City, he had felt a psychic force looming overhead, its range encompassing the entire city. But with the emergence of this ritual power, that force had been abruptly drawn away.
Realizing something, the space between his brows flickered faintly. He glanced at the sky above, where three stars of different colors had overlapped, casting a brilliant radiance. Meanwhile, vast swathes of light ribbons seemed to drift outside the city, echoing the stars above. Vaguely, an enormous silhouette of light and shadow could be seen, as if dragging something in from the outer layers.
Chapter 1146