Free Web NovelThe moment that figure, wreathed in flames and standing with a sword, appeared before her, Lu Yibei suddenly understood why Hong Bian had called her “that ball of fire.”
Although what she saw was only Hong Bian's dream, she felt a familiar aura emanating from that figure.
It was the Spiritual Energy fluctuation unique to her.
Dry, scorching, antithetical to most life, yet also carrying a vast and majestic authority that ruled over the land.
That was the aura emitted when the two authorities, 【Mythical Species: Qingyi Tiannv】 and 【Royal Authority】, achieved a subtle, almost integrated coexistence, using the blood of Ms. Wang Meili flowing within her as a bridge.
Under the influence of these two authorities, a low murmur drifted in the wind.
“...A woman in Qingyi, wherever she appears, there is a great drought, and the land is parched for a thousand li...”
“Wherever the sun and moon shine, wherever the wind and rain reach, none fail to submit...”
“Isn't that the description of my authority?” Lu Yibei listened carefully to the murmurs in the wind, and this thought popped into her head, but immediately after, beneath the wind murmuring her authority's description, she heard other voices.
“...All beings drown within it, abandoning their bodies to receive new ones, like a dream, like a nightmare...”
“The Tail-Eater descends upon the world, devouring yesterday, without beginning or end, the beginning is the end...”
“Is that Shen Baiwei's authority description? It sounds quite impressive...” Lu Yibei thought.
As she witnessed more and more authorities, her understanding of authority descriptions became somewhat straightforward and crude.
In her perception, authority descriptions, to some extent, were like the names of manga characters' moves; usually, the longer, more complex, and cooler the content, the more powerful it was.
And from Shen Baiwei's authority description, she could not possibly be merely a core member of the Miracle Order.
“I've never seen an organization member so much more powerful than the organization leader!”
“That's right, I'm talking about Shen Baiwei and Fang Ji...” Lu Yibei thought to herself.
As she pondered, in the scene before her, the monstrous giant serpent wrapped around the majestic pass suddenly moved.
It tightened its body, as if strangling its prey.
Under the giant serpent's constriction, the seemingly indestructible city wall, accompanied by a thunderous roar, crumbled inch by inch; the broken wall fell, and before it could touch the ground, it transformed into streaks of light that merged into the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) giant serpent's body, forming scales that gradually solidified its semi-illusory body.
Thus, a majestic pass completely fell, as if it had died, leaving behind only a riddled corpse.
Upon seeing the giant serpent's body solidify from illusion, Shen Baiwei's heart began to pound uncontrollably.
She certainly recognized that giant serpent; it was The Serpent of the Years, symbolizing her authority, and she also knew that The Serpent of the Years, which had been in a state of “hunger” since its birth, desperately longed to devour the Divine Kingdom Jade Gate, to absorb its massive Spiritual Energy and unbearable past.
But what she hadn't expected was that The Serpent of the Years would undergo such a massive transformation after devouring the Divine Kingdom Jade Gate.
What did that mean?
Could it be... an advancement to Calamity?
At this thought, Shen Baiwei's heart skipped a beat.
While still an A-level Spirit Ability User, she was already constantly constrained by The Serpent of the Years; if it advanced to a Calamity through “devouring,” she wouldn't have even the slightest certainty of controlling her own Spirit Mark authority.
“The best outcome would be to become a puppet of The Serpent of the Years, and the worst outcome would likely be Spirit Mark losing control, losing self, completely transforming into a urban legend, and becoming a vessel for The Serpent of the Years to descend upon the world,” Shen Baiwei thought.
At the same time, as the city walls crumbled and collapsed, monstrous cracks appeared on the ground, extending from the horizon, dense like plant roots, covering the entire city, and then a molten-hot light rose from between the cracks.
It was like a final ritual to bid farewell to this majestic pass—a cremation, with astonishing heat igniting unquenchable flames upon the ruins, and moisture rising from the collapsed buildings, from the city's residents, and from every inch of land visible.
Tens of thousands of people were trapped in the sea of fire, surrounded by steam and flames, and every moment, someone lost their life to high temperatures, burning winds, or suffocating smoke.
Amidst the flames, the solidified giant serpent, with shimmering scales and an increasingly monstrous appearance, resembled the mythical python of doom, and the figure standing atop the giant serpent's head, against the serpent's backdrop, exuded an even more chilling sense of oppression. freewebnoveℓ.com
They brought Disaster, destroyed a city, took countless lives, as casually as crushing a cardboard box, crumpling it into a ball, and throwing it into a fire for burning trash.
They... were Calamity.
————
Who knows how long passed, Lu Yibei and Shen Baiwei were still immersed in the raging inferno that appeared before them.
Time seemed to be tied in a knot, and the flames seemed to burn eternally.
Just then, Hong Bian's voice sounded in their ears.
“The great serpent not of this world, bearing fierce flames, descended from the sky, bringing with it the sinful Royal Authority—this is the dream I had earlier.”
“In my homeland, dreams are often used by priests for divination; this method of divination is called precognitive dreaming, and the priests like to call it a heavenly omen or an oracle. I am not talented, but when I glimpsed a corner of the mysteries of this world, I was fortunate enough to grasp this ability.”
“Previously, I had many precognitive dreams... For instance, when I was on the verge of death, I dreamed of a flood dragon bringing clouds and rain, causing a sweet rain to fall, making flowers not of this world bloom in the Gobi Desert; that time, after I woke up, I was saved by the Prince.”
“Another instance was eight months ago, when I dreamed of war burning down city walls and iron hooves trampling lives; not long after that, the Shaman King began frequent invasions of Yumen Pass... Since then, I have deliberately used my precognitive dream ability to monitor the Shaman King's influence on the future fate of Yumen Pass.”
“And as the Prince and my plan proceeded smoothly, each precognitive result changed for better or worse, and now, we have found the only feasible solution.”
“However, the last time I observed the future fate of the Shaman King and Yumen Pass through a precognitive dream, which was my three hundred and seventy-second observation, it was the first time a dream completely unrelated to the Shaman King appeared. After that, the future fate of Yumen Pass became chaotic and unpredictable...”
“Subsequently, I used some methods to investigate and found the two Miss Shen who had appeared out of thin air in Yumen Pass recently.”
Listening to Hong Bian's words, Lu Yibei's and Shen Baiwei's vision gradually cleared, and when they could see the things before them, they realized that Hong Bian had, at some point, come to sit opposite them, sitting upright with a serious expression.
“So, I would like to ask the two of you to do me a favor and leave Yumen Pass. After Yumen Pass and the Shaman King settle their grievances, if the two of you are still interested in being guests in Yumen Pass, I will certainly clear the way and offer generous gifts. If the two of you refuse...”
Hong Bian revealed a meaningful smile, stood up, and clasped his hands together, saying, “Then I trouble the two of you to rest here for a while. After the matter is over, I will personally see the two of you out of the city.”
Hearing Hong Bian say this, Shen Baiwei spoke for the first time to the person from Yumen Pass a thousand years ago, “Let's go! We'll leave right now!” ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
“Very good.” Hong Bian nodded, looked at Lu Yibei, and asked, “And what about this Miss Shen?”
“Hmm...” Lu Yibei rested her chin on one hand, pondered for a few seconds, then pointed at Shen Baiwei and said, “I'm thinking, if you just let her go like this, aren't you afraid she'll sneak back?”
Hearing this, Shen Baiwei froze for a moment, her eyes wide as she looked at Lu Yibei, then grabbed her collar, lowered her voice, and said fiercely, “If you want to court death, can you stop dragging me into it?!”
“But...” Lu Yibei looked at Shen Baiwei with innocent eyes and said sincerely, “But this isn't the plan we agreed on before we came!”
Shen Baiwei, “???”
“What are you talking about? What plan? Don't lie with your eyes wide open, okay?”
“If we just leave like this...” Lu Yibei stopped mid-sentence, then roughly pulled her around, out of Hong Bian's sight, and leaned close to her ear, her lips moving.
A few seconds later, as if she had finished explaining something important, she sighed silently, patted Shen Baiwei heavily on the shoulder, and said earnestly, “Now you understand, right? So, we can't just leave because he tells us to; this matter needs to be considered carefully.”
In those few seconds when the Calamity was close to her ear, Shen Baiwei heard no words. Now, seeing the Calamity's appearance as if plotting a major scheme with her, she briefly fell into a state of bewilderment, even doubting whether her ears had a problem during those few seconds.
Immediately after, when Hong Bian's voice sounded again, she suddenly realized that she had once again fallen for the Calamity's trick.
“Never mind, I think the two Miss Shen might as well not leave; just rest well here! Please be assured, the Chawan Temple has ten thousand volumes of books, and also hundreds of kinds of flowers and birds; it will not let the two of you feel bored.”
After speaking, he flicked his sleeve and left. As he exited the tea room, a rumbling sound like rolling boulders immediately came from outside the door. Soon, the space within the tea room seemed to undergo a reorganization, its layout changed, transforming into a spacious study with two beds.
The study's decor and furnishings were luxurious, with a touch of a young girl's boudoir, showing it had been carefully arranged. The only drawback was the lack of doors and windows.
Yes, Hong Bian had placed Shen Baiwei and Lu Yibei under house arrest.
Although he initially wanted to be polite to the two uninvited guests, and he indeed didn't hear what Lu Yibei said to Shen Baiwei, making him somewhat suspicious of a trick, he then thought that by simply imprisoning them until the war ended, he wouldn't have to think so much.
After carefully checking every corner of the room, Shen Baiwei stood in the center of the room, arms crossed, and looked at Lu Yibei out of the corner of her eye, saying coldly, “Are you happy now?”
“Of course not! Who would feel happy being imprisoned? I'm not some pervert!” Lu Yibei shook her head and said, “However, after I say my next sentence, perhaps I will be happy.”
“Next sentence?” Shen Baiwei was puzzled.
The next second, the Calamity suddenly moved close to her, raising her hand and unleashing a forbidden Spell directly at her heart.
At the same time, the Calamity's words rang in her ear.
“Reload, Shen Baiwei!”
As her words fell, the pale light of the Four Beasts Bright Sky Cannon, amplified by an unknown factor, enveloped Shen Baiwei's body...
