In total, thirty-five divine stones had already been collected. Within the next half hour, two more seals were broken, bringing the count to thirty-seven.
Xingmiao turned her ethereal head, gazing at the remaining stones nearby, and spoke.
–In another hour, these seals will be fully lifted.–
Robin Lo nervously stretched his head forward to inquire,
–Is the Editor-in-Chief that powerful? Is this enough?–
The others around were all intently watching that fragmented, ghostly figure.
In the air, countless streaks of light flickered and converged. Xingmiao glanced at the anxious group and the shimmering lines curling like waves across silk threads. She raised a hand, stopping Yang Zicang from continuing the connection, then said,
–A long time ago, when she first came, she wasn’t that strong. Now, perhaps she has grown a little stronger, so I prepared a bit extra.–
Suddenly, Xingmiao’s hazy eyes fixed on a certain direction.
–She’s here.–
An inexplicable wave of panic shrouded the heavens and earth, and on the distant horizon, a snow-white figure appeared.
Shriek—
The train screeched to a violent halt, carving trails of dust and smoke into the ground.
The little reporters descended one after another, some slipping through the carriages while others remained outside.
Every screen in Hubville was displaying the scene here, but the signal was extremely poor, showing only blurry and flickering images.
Yang Zicang suddenly felt two palpable gazes fall upon him; they swept over him and then looked toward the dark land ahead.
The blurry figure stood on the dark horizon ahead, like the only swaying light in the night, radiating a spreading pale halo across the earth.
Like a painter’s casual stroke of gray-white on a dark canvas, it traced an agile silhouette, extraordinarily transcendent.
–You all should stop here.– Xingmiao stood up.
{Who are you?}
Two little reporters huddled beside Xingmiao. One gently touched the extra cheekbone protruding from his face, and as its small hand stroked, a faint, shimmering glow flickered from that spot.
–I… I am…–
The group was shocked to find that Xingmiao’s voice actually choked up. But in the end, he never said who he was.
Another one flew to his head, curiously examining it this way and that, and even tapped the newly grafted bone plate on his skull with its little hand, which produced a hollow –knock-knock– sound.
Snap, snap—two crisp sounds, and the chains on the last two Divine Stones were broken.
–The last two seals have been lifted together!–
Robin Lo watched as the last two fragments of bone merged into the broken, ruined body.
–That fast?–
Suddenly, the golden chains scattered on the ground tore through space, appearing beside her towering figure and vanishing into the woman’s body.
The young journalists abruptly scattered. The next moment, Xingmiao shot through the air, wrapped in a woolen blanket—the light veil turned into a massive cloak draping over its shoulders, descending dozens of meters from the sky.
Hovering high above, it stared down at the wavering figure below.
–I’ve waited for you so long, yet you never dared to show yourself. Now, you’ve finally come.–
The woman’s face was cold, expressionless. –Xingmiao, do you truly wish to take this path?–
A fierce aura burst from her, as boundless as a mountain piercing the heavens—standing there alone, she seemed to embody an entire world.
The entire earth, as if at her command, knelt under her feet.
–Not bad. Compared to the past, you’ve finally mastered the secret techniques of the Vein-Mergers. As a Qiyue Envoy, it’s quite an achievement.–
The woman’s voice suddenly turned hoarse as she uttered:
–You still remember ‘the past’? If so, you should return to my side, for our—!–
–Silence!–
Boom!
Yang Zicang only saw a blur before his eyes, a deafening roar, and in the sky, several massive energy clusters exploded into chaos.
In the sky, within the glowing orb, the curious young reporters stared at the silhouette ahead.
The cloak rushed forward with a swoosh; the ground beneath the woman’s feet swelled, propelling her aloft in an instant as if she had ascended to the peak summit of an energy-laced mountain range. With a flick of her finger, a brushstroke descended, forming the character –death.–
The massive character surged toward Xingmiao’s figure, its brush strokes unraveling like ribbons, coiling around the person.
Xingmiao’s trajectory flitted nimbly, instantly reappearing behind the woman. As she turned her head, Xingmiao delivered a diagonal palm strike, bursting with a resounding blast, aimed at her skull.
The icy-faced peerless beauty cast an indifferent gaze upon the shattered remains.
[You truly have betrayed me, you demon spirit.]
Hum~
A circular ripple spread across the sky, and that angel-like figure at the center descended once more.
–You’ve already cultivated the ability to manifest your out-of-body projection. Sigh…–
Bang! As Xingmiao blasted apart the woman’s body, the descending mental-charge figure slowly opened its eyes.
Within its gaze, golden light radiated outward in slow, swirling patterns, one ring after another forming.
{Ha—!}
A convulsive roar erupted from deep within their souls, sending everyone in the entire Shibin Wastes collapsing to the ground in agony.
Xingmiao looked up with a fierce glare: –How dare you!–
{This is the new world we wanted, this is my new world, where all Chronos serves me.}
Dozens of streaks of murky white light burst through the sky’s clouds like sunlight breaking through.
{Xingmiao, I’ll give you one more chance—return to my embrace and become my Moon Angel!}
Then, even more rays of light struggled to carve across the heavens.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
All over the land, countless small creatures and monsters burst apart, their bodies exploding. Rings marked with numbers like 7Y, 1N, and 26R floated aloft in unison, turning into meteors that teleported to her.
Xingmiao’s voice was heavy.
–The little girl who once needed my protection has grown into such a powerful force on her own… I’m relieved.–
For a moment, the land was filled with cries of anguish.
Splintered, drifting skeletons, their broken skulls gazing down at the earth, their presence growing darker and heavier.
{Still unwilling, are you?}
–Ha.– Xingmiao let out a cold laugh. –I’ve never lost control… It’s just that you’ve forgotten.–
With a slight lift of its hand, more rocks across the land naturally floated up from the ground. Boom, boom, boom, boom! They crumbled to dust, converged into energy, gathered into shards of bone, shot across the sky spanning thousands of leagues, and converged upon her.
The Shibin Wastes began to tremble, with countless fissures spreading like cracks in a breaking land.
The Editor-in-Chief’s cold gaze swept over them below:
{Do you not fear the destruction of the land?}
–This small patch of earth—yes, it can be destroyed. But the ‘future’ must not become the past.–
Xing Miao, with her cloak billowing, shot upward in a blaze of blinding light.
Rumble!
After the Divine Stone was lost, violent earthquakes erupted across the world: one chasm after another gaped open, and one mountain after another crumbled. In that moment, every Peng Zone scattered across the land swayed like a ship in a storm—houses shattered, and rocky walls collapsed with a thunderous roar.
{Traitor spirit to your master! Die!}
A white figure hurtled downward, engaging Xing Miao in fierce combat.
–Hurry back to Wang Chong!–
The Phantom Train tore backward at lightning speed.
It could have gone straight there, but quakes raged across the land, and at the edges of every chasm, people kept plunging into the depths.
–Help me!–
–Honey, where are you?– Heart-wrenching cries echoed across the wasteland.
–Sigh,– Robin Lo let out a breath. Zuo Feixian looked up and said, –The camp is relatively stable over there. We could afford to slow down a little.–
Yang Zi Cang replied, –If we can save someone, then let’s save them.–
A massive chasm appeared ahead, with countless glimmers of magma from deep within the earth faintly illuminating the sky. The man who had just fallen into the deep pit suddenly found himself swallowed into the belly of a phantom-like monster with a clattering and cacophonous crash.
–Where am I?–
–Ah, am I dead?!–
–Hey, this looks like the subway!–
The carriage was quickly packed with people. –What is this thing?–
–Oh my god, it’s like the exclusive car of Cargo Crew, the big client.–
–They probably collected divine stones on the way and saved us as a passing favor.–
The crowd was a chaotic clamor, as some searched for their hats, while others frantically called out their children’s or relatives’ names in the throng.
–Such a terrifying carriage, so packed, it feels like commuting during the morning 8 a.m. rush.–
The eerie, ghost-like train soon returned to the camp.
The houses here had become dangerous due to constant earthquakes, with many toppled trees. Thankfully, there were no major cracks here, and no casualties occurred.
–Come up quickly.–
Staring at the steam train exuding a ghostly aura, Shiu Siuchuan and others dare not linger. Suppressing their unease from its oppressive darkness, reluctantly climbed aboard.
Inside this carriage, countless shadows swarmed as numerous gazes turned toward Shiu Siuchuan, Wang Chong, and companions. Lyu Zhi, already emotionally fragile with his severed limbs forming scabs, was jolted unconscious by this sight.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The ground shook violently, as if countless fissures were continuously splitting and tearing apart.
Two figures in the sky clashed like gods and demons, while countless psychic manifestations appeared in the air, and armies of skeletons blanketed the earth.
They were destroyed and then rose again, but each reappearance was accompanied by the explosive rupture of thousands of bodies on the ground, their halos ascending into the sky bearing the mark of Chronos.
Across the lands, the little journalists scurried in utter panic.
{What do we do? The world is about to end.}
{The chief editor sister is evil!}
Some of the little ones had already broken into tears of desperation.
Wherever fresh events unfolded on the earth, they would appear—carefree beings buzzing with endless joy.
Even for a single blooming flower, they would appear to document it, spending entire days lounging atop the soft petals.
But now, the world they loved was crumbling before them!
Countless precious plants withered, weak creatures perished, and low-Chronos humans fell in battle, drained as resources of Chronos.
{What do we do?!}
{What shall we do? Renowned ones, please think of a way—please!}
The mighty Cargo Crews could barely defend themselves, utterly clueless as to what to do.
Fires raged across the wastelands; countless people in despair thought that tonight, salvation was hopeless.
Suddenly, two deep, commanding telepathic voices resonated across the earth.
{There’s still us.}
The owners of the two gazes, within two Hubs of Hubville, countless twisted energy networks spread across the earth in unison, connecting with the ubiquitous streams of Lethe, causing their currents to quicken.
{Ah, two big lumps can talk too.}
{We are the mayors! Journalists, please produce all your records!}
As the two Hubs of Hubville signaled, the spirits within the small orbs of light rummaged out stacks of crumpled paper sheets, curiously holding the white fragments in their hands.
{And then?}
The little journalists asked in confusion.
The two gazes fixed upon the sky, where the battle between Xingmiao and the Editor-in-Chief sent ripples erupting at high altitudes. Though people couldn’t see their fight, waves of terrifying aura spread everywhere one after another.
{Send all the newsprint to the Big Star, to give to the stabilizer of the earth—only this way can we defeat the Editor-in-Chief!}
The voice echoed across the land.
{Wishful thinking! Xingmiao, do you think I came here today to die? Unless you truly gather your entire body, there’s no way you can kill me. I’m no longer the little girl who used to tag along behind you! Today is the first step of my return to the new world!}
{All journalists of the new world, mobilize! Send every draft newspaper to the Big Star!}
The despairing people welcomed hope.
They saw countless orbs of light streaking across the sky, rushing swiftly toward a certain place.
–The Great Star?–
People across the land, lifting their heads in restless anxiety, asked: –But who is the Great Star?–
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