Advent

Gasph!

Xu Feng’s body jolted as he snapped his eyes open, looking around in a daze.

He hadn’t actually fallen. The bonfire was still there, and Zhao Yi was still on the other side, leaning against the large tree and snoring steadily. Like a survivor of a catastrophe, Xu Feng clutched his chest, trying to steady his frantic breathing.

What was that transaction? Does it have something to do with me? And who was that guy? Was it… me?

Xu Feng couldn’t make sense of it. All he knew was that the coin in the boy’s hand felt miraculous, as if it possessed supreme power, and the boy himself radiated an overwhelming pressure. It was as if the clouds of doubt in his heart were slowly being projected onto the sky above.

Rustle.

Leaves stirred; the flames danced.

Xu Feng looked up at the moon. There wasn’t a single star to be seen—everything was dim and murky.

Why is it always about to rain! And why does it keep following me around!

Xu Feng scrambled to his feet and shoved the slumbering Zhao Yi.

“Wake up! Wake up! It’s going to rain!”

“Mmm… huh? Rain?” Zhao Yi struggled to pry his eyes open. The heavy wind lashing against his face helped him sober up quickly.

Rumble.

A dull thud echoed from the heavens, with faint flickers of lightning entwining within the clouds.

“Rain is good!” Zhao Yi slapped his thigh and shouted. Xu Feng had a pretty good guess as to what he was planning.

“We can’t just fly into it! Unless the lightning strikes right next to us, there’s no way we can make it in time!” With only the shoes on his feet, Xu Feng wasn’t sure how many times he’d trip if he tried to sprint, let alone the fact that chasing lightning was basically a death wish.

“We’re going through a ‘lightning tribulation,'” Zhao Yi said, staring at the sky with eyes full of both determination and longing.

Great. There’s no talking him out of this. Xu Feng felt like he already knew how this would end.

“Kid, I have to go! This is our chance to escape this world! I’ll do my best to take lightning-protection measures!” Zhao Yi’s confidence seemed to come from nowhere. Xu Feng agonized over whether or not to follow.

That girl gave me this body. Maybe gambling on having a special constitution wouldn’t be so bad.

“Fine,” Xu Feng agreed through gritted teeth.

The sky, thick with dark clouds, churned restlessly under the gale. Countless streaks of dark red lightning flickered within the layers. The thunder sounded like the roar of a giant beast, making the earth tremble slightly. The forces of nature interwove into a “black box,” enveloping the entire forest.

Boom!

A bolt of lightning, like a massive dragon, plummeted from the sky, tearing a deep gash into the curtain of darkness. The deafening roar sent endless echoes through their hearts.

Just as Zhao Yi had said, the reality of the outside world was mirrored within the lightning’s trail.

“Move, now!” Zhao Yi led the way for Xu Feng. He had a clearer view of where the lightning had struck, but Xu Feng, following behind, found it difficult to keep up.

They say women have a sixth sense; Xu Feng suddenly felt a numbness wash over his body, a bad omen fluttering in his chest.

Predictably, the heavy mist began to spread, surging through the forest with decisive speed, making no attempt to hide its presence. Xu Feng lost sight of Zhao Yi, hearing only the fading echoes of thunder and retreating footsteps.

Crunch, crunch.

The forest was restless. Something was treading over vast patches of leaves, making a coarse, heavy sound. The terrifying mist blinded him, and the phantom pain in his back began to throb again.

It was back—the monster in the mist.

Xu Feng stopped, his heart racing. Sweat poured down his face, yet it couldn’t wash away a single shred of his fear. It could kill him as easily as crushing an ant; it might not even deem him worth the effort.

CRACK!

A massive sound exploded near his ear! Xu Feng’s body instinctively lunged forward, but he unfortunately tripped.

Thud!

Broken branches flew everywhere as a mass of leaves buried Xu Feng’s head. Struggling to crawl back up, he turned to see two tree trunks as thick as a man’s embrace had been snapped clean off, exposing their solid cores and releasing an unfitting scent of fresh wood.

“Hoooowl…” The monster’s long cry filled the air, turning shrill and ghostly as if it were enraged.

Sensing imminent danger, Xu Feng didn’t run. Instead, he dropped into a low crouch!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A gale like a high-speed train roared over his head, accompanied by the thunderous sound of countless trees being snapped. Even the mist thinned out considerably.

Thank god I trusted my gut.

Xu Feng opened his eyes and looked at the jagged stumps around him, relieved to be unharmed. However, he noticed a familiar figure lying near his feet.

Zhao Yi was on his side, his eyes twitching in a deathly slant. His clothes were completely shredded, and his back was riddled with long, stone-like spikes. Blood was trickling down the shafts.

He had been too impatient. That was why this happened.

Xu Feng knelt in front of Zhao Yi, frantically tearing at his own sleeves, not knowing where to start with the bandaging or how to stop the bleeding.

“Hoooowl…” The monster roared again.

The mist regained its mysterious veil, and the monster continued to prowl near Xu Feng. Looking into Zhao Yi’s eyes, Xu Feng no longer saw determination, only regret.

For some reason, the sight of the blood stirred a restless, uncontrollable madness in Xu Feng’s heart.

Drink his blood.

Xu Feng was startled by his own subconscious and quickly pinched his arm to regain his senses. Tearing his sleeves into strips of cloth, he stuffed them into the wounds on Zhao Yi’s back, attempting to drag him backward inch by inch.

However, Xu Feng’s actions seemed to annoy the monster. It turned its massive frame, revealing a portion of its body in the mist. An upper limb covered in black scales suddenly swung out!

Whoosh!

The monster didn’t hit Xu Feng directly, but the force of the wind it generated was enough to flip him over. Xu Feng rolled several times on the ground before coming to a stop, his once-clean face now smeared with mud.

Why didn’t it kill me instantly like last time? Why is it playing with me like this?

Xu Feng wiped his face and stood up, gritting his silver teeth. The monster’s head slowly lowered until it was less than ten meters away. It stopped.

Puff!

The monster exhaled from its nostrils, a blast of white steam that blew Xu Feng’s silver hair back.

When faced with actual death, some people find an inexplicable surge of courage.

“Come on, you ugly thing hiding in the mist! Do it!” Xu Feng glared at those eyes, only to be met with an even stronger snort from the beast.

Xu Feng covered his nose and mouth; the intense stench was suffocating! The monster narrowed its eyes, smiling with a mix of mockery and malice. It suddenly opened its massive maw, inhaling the surrounding mist like a bulldozer as it lunged toward Xu Feng.

Dammit… I’m not ready for this.

Xu Feng lifted his head. In his crimson pupils, a high-altitude layer of clouds was reflected.

BOOM!

A bolt of scarlet lightning flashed across the sky! Rifts began to form faster and in greater numbers than ever before. A cerulean creation surged out from the largest rift, plummeting like a blue meteor!

Undoubtedly, such a collision would cause a massive tremor.

Xu Feng’s body was briefly launched into the air. In that moment of suspension, he saw the mist being blown back in all directions like a nuclear shockwave. The entire forest was cleared with incredible speed.

That cerulean creation—a giant Azure Dragon many times larger than life—was twisting its body, its teeth clamped like iron vices onto the monster’s neck, pinning it down so it couldn’t move or even utter a whimper.

The suspension ended.

Xu Feng fell back down under the pull of gravity, his silver hair flowing upward as if reluctant to leave the sky. Numerous silver ropes dropped from the rifts, and black dots began to descend rapidly. One of those figures pulled out a device.

“Two dream-trapped subjects located! Along with a Mist Dream-Husk! Estimated danger level 10! Requesting secondary support from Actor: [Dragon]!”

The familiar sound of a modern radio broadcast reached his ears. Xu Feng felt like he could finally let go.

The rescue team had finally arrived.