After a single tremor, a faint white light began to glow from deep within the crisscrossing cracks on the detector’s surface.
The white light flickered, as if breathing.
With each pulse, ripples spread across the puddle on the ground.
“Ha!” Mo Xuan leaped three feet into the air, his face alight with surprise. “What did I tell you? What did I tell you? There’s nothing wrong with the detector, is there?”
“But you…” Fang Miaoging looked at the detector. “Just now, you said it couldn’t turn on due to transportation issues.”
“That was merely a contributing factor.” Mo Xuan wagged his index finger gently at Fang Miaoging. “But I still fixed it.”
“Fixed… you fixed it?” Fang Miaoging’s face was etched with suspicion. She hardly believed a random kick counted as a repair.
“Haven’t you heard of an ancient repair method, tried and true for centuries?”
Mo Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, an inscrutable expression on his face.
“Don’t tell me it was just a kick.” Fang Miaoging covered her face.
“It’s called waking the sleeping machine spirit with gentle pats.”
Mo Xuan spouted nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
Seeing the conviction on his face, Fang Miaoging wondered if he had hypnotized himself.
“Indeed, there used to be such a method for home appliances.”
“However, with modern precision instruments, this method would only damage the internal components and be utterly useless.”
“The detector operates on the principle of resonance to locate Void Realm creatures within a Touchpoint.”
Mo Xuan placed his hand on top of the detector.
As the white light on the detector’s surface pulsed, his right hand trembled subtly at a very fine frequency.
“Therefore, the detector requires a medium. Water is ideal, but the earth also serves as an excellent conductor.”
“If water is such a good conductor, then why did you block it with an umbrella?” Fang Miaoging asked, her curiosity piqued.
Before removing the green cloth from the detector’s surface, Mo Xuan had specifically found a large umbrella and placed it over it.
“Because I haven’t waterproofed it yet!” Mo Xuan chuckled. “But that’s no longer an issue!”
“Since the detector has successfully activated, we are about to achieve an unprecedented feat: detecting Void Realm creatures *within* a Touchpoint, from *outside* it.”
Mo Xuan gazed at the detector on the ground, his face alight with excitement.
Perhaps his words were extravagant, his promises grand, and his reliability questionable.
Yet, this detector was undeniably the fruit of his long-standing efforts.
Approximately one minute had passed since the white light first appeared on the detector’s surface.
Finally, a new change emerged.
On the square top surface of the detector, a highly irregular blue graphic suddenly materialized.
While generally circular, its edges were exceptionally uneven, riddled with numerous indentations and protrusions.
“This is the shape of the Touchpoint. Through Void Energy resonance, the detector can ascertain its boundaries.”
Mo Xuan explained to Fang Miaoging, his expression brimming with unusual excitement.
“As for Void Energy resonance, you’ll understand once you take the ‘Void Energy Analysis’ course.”
Fang Miaoging nodded, seemingly grasping some of it, yet not entirely.
Mo Xuan pointed at the blue graphic, stating proudly, “Through Void Energy resonance, the detector can sense the Void Energy levels within Void Realm creatures, thereby distinguishing their strength.”
“Do you see the letters within this circle?”
Mo Xuan pointed at the blue map, where numerous small circular icons had suddenly appeared.
“The ‘S’ stands for Mercury Rank, from the Pinyin for *shuiyin*. Similarly, ‘H’ represents Gold Rank. However, there are likely very few General-rank Dragon Abominations here, so you might not find many ‘H’ icons.”
While Fang Miaoging didn’t fully grasp the precise meanings of Mercury Rank, Gold Rank, or the so-called General-rank Dragon Abominations.
She generally understood that Gold Rank was superior to Mercury Rank.
Her gaze swept across the blue map, and indeed, she saw few icons representing Gold Rank.
“There really aren’t many icons here, but this ‘Z’…” Fang Miaoging pointed to a corner of the blue map, her face filled with confusion.
“What ‘Z’? That’s impossible, let me see!” Mo Xuan chuckled as he looked over.
He naturally knew what ‘Z’ represented, but the probability of it appearing in this Touchpoint was minuscule.
It usually only appeared within the Void Realm itself.
Thus, when he first designed the detector, he had only intended to include markers for Mercury Rank and Gold Rank.
However, driven by his tendency to make grand promises, he thought, ‘What if this thing could be used in the Void Realm someday?’ and so he added the symbols for Turbid World Rank, Star Brocade Rank, and Transcendent Rank.
Yet, these were merely symbols; no special distinctions were made.
As he mused, Mo Xuan’s gaze fell upon the spot Fang Miaoging was pointing to—on the right side of the blue map, roughly midway between the Touchpoint’s center and its boundary.
Had he reviewed the operational area’s division, he would have known that section was designated D1.
In the D1 zone of the blue map, there were many small circles, far more than in any other nearby area.
Within these circles, representing creatures possessing Void Energy, most were marked ‘S’ for Mercury Rank.
Only one was an ‘H’.
No… there really was one. Behind the ‘H’ was a ‘Z’.
Wait, ‘Z’? Was it ‘Z’ for Turbid World Rank? Mo Xuan tilted his head, staring at the map with an incredulous expression.
He suddenly closed his eyes, rubbed them twice, then opened them again. After repeating this several times, he stumbled backward a few steps.
“What’s wrong?” Fang Miaoging, sensing something amiss, grabbed his sleeve.
Mo Xuan’s lips trembled, his voice shaking. “Z… Z, it stands for Turbid World Rank!”
****
The light rain had gradually ceased, and a row of water droplets clinging to the eaves trembled slightly with the shockwaves from the battlefield.
Bang!
A tremendous crash echoed from beneath the eaves, mingled with the sound of a collapsing house and bricks scattering across the ground.
The eaves shivered violently.
The water droplets, previously held by gravity to the eaves, now pattered down like rain.
They dampened Yun Ning’s hair, who had just risen from the rubble.
“That hurts like hell!”
Yun Ning grimaced, shaking his right arm, which bore five sharp claw marks deep enough to reveal bone.
Blood seeped from the gashes and dripped onto the ground, his lips twitching slightly from the searing pain in his arm.
“What in the world is going on?”
He murmured, watching Wen Erya, who was fighting with increasing ferocity ahead.
Initially, everything had been going smoothly. He and Wen Erya were suppressing the Dragon Abomination, while the Captain handled the distraction.
But suddenly, the General-rank Dragon Abomination, for reasons unknown, abandoned its cautious strategy. It fought like a mad beast, recklessly trading blows, seemingly unconcerned with injury.
Yun Ning had taken a claw strike as the price, allowing Wen Erya to successfully tear off the Dragon Abomination’s entire right arm with her tiger claws.
Though his body hadn’t recovered and the bleeding hadn’t fully stopped, Yun Ning decided he couldn’t wait any longer.
He rushed forward.
His intent was to join forces with Wen Erya and completely eliminate this injured General-rank Dragon Abomination, whose fighting strength had been severely diminished.
However, just as he charged out, he suddenly heard Huang Xiu’s vehement shout from not far behind him.
“Senior Male Student, Senior Female Student, something’s wrong, retreat now!”
Something’s wrong?
Yun Ning’s expression shifted.
Having fought alongside Huang Xiu twice, and now considering her a comrade-in-arms, he trusted her judgment implicitly.
Coupled with the General-rank Dragon Abomination’s earlier bizarre behavior, a terrible premonition instantly settled in his heart.
“Wen Erya, go quickly, I’ll cover you!”
Yun Ning swiftly charged towards the Mammoth Golem.
Yun Ning shouted, and then his calves suddenly swelled, his speed explosively increasing.
In the blink of an eye, he was beside Wen Erya.
“What happened?” Wen Erya took half a step back, blinking as she asked.
As the battle raged on, Wen Erya’s beast transformation grew increasingly severe.
The whites of her eyes had turned yellow, and white whiskers began to sprout from her nose. Her tailbone, furthermore, itched intensely.
“Trust Huang Xiu!” Yun Ning had no time to explain.
Casting a reluctant glance at the General-rank Dragon Abomination, which was now at a disadvantage and not far from being completely slain, Wen Erya pressed her lips together and said, “Alright!”
Trusting a comrade’s judgment was fundamental combat etiquette. A General-rank Dragon Abomination could be killed again, but a life was singular!
“Go!”
Before Wen Erya could call out, Huai Nannan had already gathered Ying Zhiyu and Wei Xing, swiftly retreating backward.
Thump, thump, thump!
Dull thuds of colliding wood, accompanied by an immense shadow, rapidly approached the battlefield.
At this moment, Huang Xiu had already dismounted the Sophora tree giant, nearly stumbling upon landing.
In that brief moment, the Void Energy within her had barely recovered. And even if some had regenerated.
The aching legs and bodily fatigue caused by overusing her abilities could not be dispelled, only temporarily suppressed.
The Sophora tree giant upheld the rear-guard command given to it by its Empress.
Even knowing this was a suicide mission from which it would never return, it charged forward without hesitation or fear.
Its left hand, wielding a sharp wooden blade, slashed downward. The General-rank Dragon Abomination, eyes red, actually charged straight towards it.
The instant the wooden blade descended, it dodged sideways.
But then, a massive wooden right hand, extended in sync, seized the Dragon Abomination’s body.
It intended to crush the Dragon Abomination in its grasp.
The Sophora tree giant turned its head, its voice rumbling, “Go!”
Such agile maneuvers could undoubtedly not have been performed by the Sophora tree giant alone.
That was Huang Xiu’s precise control, executed through [Senluo], and those words were hers as well.
Taking advantage of the Sophora tree giant trapping the General-rank Dragon Abomination, Yun Ning and Wen Erya took off running.
Their speed, already far surpassing their peers and even subtly reaching that of Gold Rank Awakened individuals, carried them from the end of the street to Huang Xiu’s vicinity in just a few strides.
Just then, the Sophora tree giant let out a pained scream.
Its tightly gripping right hand had five fingers savagely torn off from within by the General-rank Dragon Abomination’s claws.
Ignoring the Sophora tree giant, the General-rank Dragon Abomination, now free from its grasp, darted between its legs, its target squarely on the six individuals.
“You won’t!” The Sophora tree giant roared, leaping up to smash down on the General-rank Dragon Abomination.
The command from its Creator, its mother, was absolute.
Furthermore, even without that command, it would never allow any monster to harm its mother!
The General-rank Dragon Abomination was temporarily held back by the Sophora tree giant.
A red glint flashed in its eyes. It leaped fiercely, and in a few swift slashes, it tore the giant’s head to shreds.
Fragments of its wooden head scattered everywhere, splashing puddles of dirty water.
The giant’s body rapidly withered, its bark becoming wrinkled and dry, the trunk losing all moisture.
Thus, the headless body completely transformed into a withered tree, kneeling in the center of the road.
Its left blade was held high, its fingerless right hand extended.
After killing the Sophora tree giant, the General-rank Dragon Abomination stopped its pursuit. It suddenly knelt, lowering its head, trembling uncontrollably.
Even with the attacks from mutated plants still ongoing around it.
The few remaining Soldier-rank Dragon Abominations around it did the same, all dropping to their knees in unison.
The air after the rain was fresh, mingled with the scent of damp earth and the subtle fragrance of plant sap.
And… the pungent stench of Dragon Abomination blood.
In the direction all the kneeling Dragon Abominations faced, ripples suddenly appeared in the air.
The ripples grew larger and larger.
Whoosh!
A strange sound echoed in the air, like sharp talons savagely scraping across a blackboard.
It made one’s teeth ache.
A colossal claw, the size of a house, suddenly emerged segment by segment from the air.
The claw swept across, shattering the half-kneeling, withered, headless Sophora tree giant into dust.
Finally, it stopped and opened.
In the very center of the claw, a Dragon Abomination of exceptionally slender build and mirror-smooth skin slowly rose.
This was the King-rank Dragon Abomination that Mo Xuan had detected.
The colossal claw seemed not merely intent on transporting the King-rank Dragon Abomination from the Void Realm to the Touchpoint, but its owner also wished to follow.
The claw fell heavily, gripping the ground and pressing down with immense force, causing the earth to sink inch by inch.
A nearby house crumbled and collapsed as the ground beneath it gave way.
Terrified and distraught residents, exposed by the collapsing house, were now in the open.
Yet, no monster moved, including the mutated plants; all living beings trembled.
Using the ground as leverage, the colossal claw pulled with immense force, and an arm tore free from the void.
But its full form remained unseen.
With such a massive commotion, how could Huang Xiu not notice? She observed everything through the few remaining mutated plants on site.
“Just the claw is this big! How utterly monstrous must its main body be!”
Huang Xiu was utterly shocked, abruptly recalling a monster that only existed in movies—Godzilla!
Whoosh!
Despite the wind and rain having ceased, a fierce gale suddenly erupted from the ground within the urban village Touchpoint.
Dust and sand flew wildly in the wind, as if a tornado had spontaneously appeared within the Touchpoint.
The entire world seemed to dim considerably.
“Look at the sky, what is that?” Ying Zhiyu noticed something strange in the sky out of the corner of her eye and immediately called out.
Everyone looked up.
The rain had stopped, but the dark clouds hadn’t fully dispersed. In the middle of the vast cloud cover, a vortex suddenly formed.
At the very center of the vortex was an extremely solid white cloud.
“Teacher Xu Gaoxuan!” Yun Ning shouted loudly, recognizing the owner of the white cloud.
After all, it was an ability to fly, mastered by very few in the entire school—no, in the entire world.
Before his words even finished, the white cloud suddenly began to move. After rapidly circling the vortex once, it plunged downward.
Trailing behind the white cloud was a small gray tail, connecting it to the natural dark cloud vortex above.
“Teacher Xu Gaoxuan?”
Huang Xiu looked at the rapidly approaching cloud, her face filled with confusion. ‘This cloud is a teacher?’
No!
As the cloud drew closer and became clearer, her eyes sharply narrowed.
Upon the cloud, three figures stood with their hands clasped behind their backs.
The man leading them wore an administrative jacket, sported a wolf-tail haircut, and possessed an exceptionally handsome appearance.
The fierce winds of their rapid flight made his hair stream wildly, only adding to his ethereal presence.
To the wolf-tailed man’s right was a bald, lean man wearing a vest.
His left and right arms were adorned with text tattoos. The left read: ‘Reason Convinces Men’; the right read…
“Convince your ass?!”
Huang Xiu read it aloud, a wry smile spreading across her face.
The last person on the cloud was a steady middle-aged man, ordinary and unremarkable in appearance, yet simply standing there with the other two made Huang Xiu dare not underestimate him.