Chapter 373: Chapter 373: An Unprecedented Change
"Be careful, don’t force it," Chen Xuan cautioned.
"Don’t worry, I know my limits." Xu Xuanling let go of Honglian’s hand.
Their altitude immediately dropped significantly.
At this moment, Chen Xuan could already see the spaceship’s crash site—with the help of the Divine Eye Technique, not even the tiniest detail hundreds of meters away could escape his gaze, let alone a uniquely shaped spaceship. It seemed to have undergone an extremely perilous crash landing, with half of its body buried diagonally in the ground, and only half of its wing remaining.
If it were a regular aircraft, an impact of this magnitude would have shattered it into pieces, yet the spaceship’s massive body was merely slightly deformed, with the main structure still intact. After five years of weathering, sun exposure, and sandstorms, its paintwork looked mottled, though the faded "Dimensional Limit Mechanism" lettering could still be seen on the side.
"That’s the thing they’re looking for." As Chen Xuan tried to maintain altitude, he adjusted his direction to glide towards the spaceship. "How much time do you need?"
"For something this big... it might take three to four minutes," Honglian estimated.
"If the situation gets urgent, prioritize your safety... Hmm?"
"What’s wrong?"
"It’s nothing..." Chen Xuan clicked his tongue. "This place seems familiar."
Honglian followed his gaze, only to vaguely see a tower-like structure partially hidden in the sand and dust in the distance.
"What’s that?" she asked, puzzled.
It looked like a steel column, or rather a chimney... which seemed out of place with the surrounding overpasses. Judging by its size, it could accommodate people, but it was obviously not suitable for long-term residence; as for its function, it seemed sturdier than a signal tower, and there were no high-voltage wires connected above... In short, it was redundant.
"There used to be an abandoned clubhouse here," Chen Xuan reminded.
Honglian pondered for a moment and then realized, "The erosion point outside the third ring?"
"If I remember correctly, the clubhouse’s location was right below the iron tower."
This structure was most likely built to seal off the invasion point. If there are no Ability Users passing through for a long time, the eroding space will gradually shrink, but it will never disappear. After so many years, what has the world on the other side of the invasion point turned into?
Honestly, Chen Xuan was quite curious.
But they had more important things to do now.
Chen Xuan took out a new Wind Riding Talisman, letting the strong wind wrap around him from behind, accelerating toward the crash site.
On the other side, Xu Xuanling was continuously gaining altitude, climbing to about seven or eight hundred meters above the ground. The bridges below seemed to have shrunk into noodles. Yet, even so, she still couldn’t see the Celestial Patrol’s head; its four towering legs were completely revealed from the sandstorm, with numerous cocoon-like corpses hanging on them, illuminated by multicolored lights. With her experience, Xu Xuanling could recognize several, like common streetlights or neon lights resembling advertisement signs...
"What a wondrous creation," she murmured in awe.
Witnessing so many bizarre worlds was all thanks to her master’s teachings.
So even though she had long known that her proficiency in Techniques had surpassed that of an Immortal Master, she still wholeheartedly regarded Chen Xuan and Liu Shuyue as her masters.
For a Cultivator, broadening one’s knowledge is always the most effective way to temper the mind.
Xu Xuanling extended her hand, and as her thoughts turned, hundreds of Qi Swords appeared out of thin air, forming a magnificent sword blade barrier behind her.
This technique originated from Liu Shuyue, and after being improved upon by Ji Yun, it reached new heights, requiring only minimal spiritual power to control a large number of Qi Swords.
Moreover, it could interact with other spells, making one plus one greater than two.
Like the Purple Sky True Thunder Array!
She threw out a stack of talisman paper, and the Thousand Thoughts Sword immediately surged forward, attaching the wind-blown talisman paper onto the sword bodies, then scattered them in all directions. To outsiders, the trajectory of these Qi Swords seemed chaotic, but in reality, they were meticulously following the Array’s layout, each Talisman-bearing sword blade being a component of the grand formation!
In the past, it often required more than a hundred Cultivators to set up such an Array, but now, it could be accomplished by just one person.
This was a skill unique to Xu Xuanling, even Ji Yun and Ji Lian were unaware of it.
And she was not setting up just one Array now.
With the biggest limitation of needing to free up hands removed, she could completely overlap multiple Arrays together!
The Celestial Patrol was striding towards her as well; it was just a kilometer away moments ago, yet in the blink of an eye, the steel "legs" had already reached her side.
Xu Xuanling galloped on the wind, brushing past the steel leg of her enemy, simultaneously activating the Array.
In an instant, the pitch-black night sky seemed to boil—countless streaks of purple lightning danced above the sandstorm, tearing through the shroud of the night!
...
The metro station’s alarm blared loudly.
"Yan, Yan, something major’s happening outside!" Huang Gou’s cries came from outside the tent.
Lin Qing and Ji immediately scrambled out of their sleeping bags, donned protective suits, and stepped outside the camp, instantly stunned by the scene before them: the western sky was dyed a purplish-red, with light streaming from the sky, transformed into bands of light by the Tyndall effect.
Due to the occluding effect of the nano-sandstorm, Jiang City’s illumination had dropped drastically over the past century, making the moon invisible at night, and the city almost completely pitch-black.
Yet now, they witnessed light piercing through the sandstorm at night.
It was so striking, it even illuminated the surrounding whirling sand.
No wonder the metro station sounded the alarms; such a sight was truly bizarre, making one’s skin crawl just at a glance.
More and more people were awakened by the alarm, gathering on the open ground, but strangely, there was hardly any conversation amidst the crowd, everyone was entranced, staring towards the horizon, witnessing the once pitch-black night sky turning vibrant and colorful after many years.
"Everyone, head to the metro station immediately for emergency shelter!" Uncle Li called out as he ran through the crowd, "They’ll open the doors for five minutes, hurry up!"
Regardless of which metro station, whenever an unexpected emergency arose, they were obligated to follow the humanitarian rescue protocol set by the Mutual Aid Association, offering shelter and aid to nearby passing or staying search teams or traveling merchants without charge.
Though the Fireline Band rarely stayed overnight inside a metro station, in the face of such an eerie scene, the protection provided by concrete and steel sheaths was undoubtedly more reliable than a thin tent.
"Let’s go quickly!" Ji grabbed Lin Qing’s hand.
She nodded, but her gaze couldn’t tear away from the sky glowing with purple light.
Jiang City had been sealed away for too long.
This unprecedented situation, could it signify that some change was about to occur?
As everyone rushed to the metro station entrance, the aberrant sky suddenly unleashed hundreds of bolts of lightning, lighting up the entire horizon in an instant!
Immediately following, continuous thunder rolled over the metro station, shaking the earth violently. This couldn’t be a natural phenomenon; it was undoubtedly related to the nano-living bodies!
People also saw the evidence: under the illuminated sky, a gigantic figure emerged from the darkness, its four legs so astonishingly large that they extended from the ground to the heavens, like four pillars holding up the sky itself. If they fell, the sky would collapse with them.
Once linked with the Celestial Patrol, any incomprehensible bizarre phenomenon started to seem reasonable.
Could it be... the Celestial Patrol was battling another giant nano-living body?
This was the thought on most people’s minds at that moment.
With questions in her heart, Lin Qing followed the crowd into the metro station.
...
The one battling the Celestial Patrol was not another nano-living body, but Xu Xuanling.
She had overlayed three layers of the Purple Sky True Thunder Array and used flexible Qi Sword formations to encase her target within it. Once the Array identified a nano-living body as an enemy, countless Purple Sky True Thunders would rain down, blasting the invader into smithereens! Such formations in the past were only employed at the sect’s critical locations, to defend against Demon Fiends, even a Great Demon would not dare intrude carelessly.
But these lightning bolts, strong enough to split rocks and melt refined iron, merely sparked when hitting the Celestial Patrol, as if they weren’t fatal heavenly thunders but a gentle evening breeze.
Xu Xuanling kept her distance from the opponent, deeply surprised. Although Chen Xuan’s instruction was to delay as much as possible, using the most imposing spells to draw the enemy’s attention, she still harbored a bit of pride in her heart, believing she could cause some trouble for the enemy even if they weren’t Demon Fiends.
In the end, she had to resort to her trump card, yet the Celestial Patrol remained indifferent to it, slightly dampening her confidence.
Indeed, there’s always someone better, and there’s always something beyond.
Xu Xuanling couldn’t help but reflect, but this small disappointment was quickly brushed aside by her. Cultivation is like this: if you can’t see a broader field, how can you assess your success or failure?
Next, it was the Celestial Patrol’s turn to make a move.
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