Chapter 300
300 Crack 4
Chapter 300, 300 Rifts (Part 4)
Instead of choosing any fancy names, Lin Hui simply settled on a basic name for the formation.
'Basic Protective Barrier: A complex three-dimensional protective array designed by dozens of array masters based on Lin Hui's request. Once deployed, its strength is at the Blood Ancestor level, capable of blocking hostile units up to the Blood Ancestor level. Hostile units entering the array will suffer a 20% reduction in cultivation level. Allied units will gain a 20% increase in cultivation level. When cultivation level is suppressed, the energy furnace's power supply speed will be increased or decreased accordingly.'
Energy Furnace: Energy Crystals, Internal Force, True Force, Purified Blood, Virtual Force.
Current possible evolutionary branches: 4.
Without hesitation, Lin Hui immediately set his sights on the basic protective barrier and began to explore the evolution branches.
'1—Xuantian Zhenguan.'
'2—Ironclad Mixed Formation.'
'3—Multi-element hybrid protective array.'
'4—Thunderous Sound from the Nine Heavens.'
Upon seeing the last familiar word, Lin Hui paused for a moment before clicking through the details one by one.
'Xuantian Zhenguan: The core protective array of Xuantian Dao, which can greatly expand the size of the array area. By lengthening the spatial volume and weakening the five senses, combined with a maze-like confusing array, it makes it impossible for those who enter to escape.'
Compared to the original array, the defensive strength of this array is only slightly improved.
'Ironclad Primal Array: The core array of the Ironclad Sect, greatly enhancing the outer material protection of the array, adding a 15-meter-thick layer of special high-strength alloy from space to the outer perimeter of the array area. The defensive layer can automatically heal by consuming energy from the array core.'
Compared to the original array, this array offers a significantly enhanced level of protection.
'Multi-element Hybrid Protection Array: The masterpiece of the Element Emperor Domir, utilizing the principle of a chain reaction of nine elements. This array does not have high protective strength, but it possesses extremely powerful energy endurance. Under normal operation, the furnace core only needs to be replaced once every three thousand years.'
Compared to the original array, this array offers slightly improved defensive capabilities.
'Nine Heavens Thunder Sound: The core formation of the Nine Heavens Sect, it uses wind to control wind and can obtain a continuous source of energy from wind disasters to maintain the formation. Internally, it can stabilize the erosion of sect members by wind disasters and increase their cultivation level by half. Externally, it can use chaotic disaster energy to suppress hostile units over a large area.'
Because of the extremely high rank of the Wind Disaster, those below its rank will have their cultivation suppressed by half, regardless of their realm.
Wind and thunder accompany each other, clear source and tranquil mind.
Compared to the original array, this array offers significantly improved defensive strength.
Looking at these different evolutionary paths, especially the last one.
Lin Hui fell silent.
He really didn't want to choose this formation.
But there was really no other way; this branch was just too perfectly suited to the Qingfeng Dao.
Unlimited energy, significantly enhances defensive strength, provides the strongest suppression power, and reduces the erosion of the wind disaster's power on sect members. Increases cultivation level by half.
He didn't know how this half cultivation level was calculated, but no matter how you looked at it, this last item was the best.
But looking at the two characters "九霄" (Jiuxiao),...
Lin Hui remained silent for a moment, but ultimately chose the last option.
Required resources: 210 years of physical energy reserve, 210 years of mental energy reserve.
Time required: 260 years.
Is the evolution of Nine Heavens Thunder Sound confirmed?
'Yes. '
Lin Hui was certain, and the blood-stained characters below his field of vision immediately began to refresh rapidly.
boom!!
Just then, a tremendous rumble of thunder echoed faintly from the direction of the Crystal Sea in the east.
Lin Hui's mind stirred, and he instantly appeared, rushing towards that direction.
Black Cloud City was quickly left behind, a large area of Jade Sea was swept past, and then a pure white crystal sea appeared in front of us.
The temperature also rose rapidly.
Upon entering the Crystal Sea, Lin Hui quickly used the surrounding wind to protect himself, and after a few more seconds of progress, he slowed down and stopped.
Hovering a hundred meters in the air, he looked down.
In the white, salty surface of the crystal sea, a somewhat familiar red figure rose from the sea, carrying a golden, spiked humanoid monster in one hand.
The surrounding area was filled with huge craters left by the recent explosion, and the white seawater was still slowly rebounding and closing up.
The air still carried the stench of blood and some kind of burnt leather.
The red-clad figure looked up and saw Lin Hui. It was none other than Gongsun Xinlian.
"Why are you here?" she asked in surprise.
"Come check it out when you hear the noise." Lin Hui glanced around. "What's going on?"
“Two descendants of the Mist Gods have decayed. This is extremely rare; their lifespans are far longer than ours, so this shouldn’t have happened. This one escaped from the Gods.” Gongsun Xinlian lifted the golden humanoid figure in her hand.
Click.
The next instant, the humanoid corpse automatically shattered and dissipated, turning into countless golden specks of light that vanished.
"This is the second one I've killed in the past few days. These Mist God Rotten Bodies are different from the others. Once the night fog clears, they reappear in the same spot the next day and wreak havoc. They're impossible to eradicate!" Gongsun Xinlian's face showed a trace of fatigue.
"Brother Xie hasn't replied yet? Has the message been sent?" Lin Hui frowned.
"Yes, but there's been no reply yet. I suspect that war has already broken out and they're just tied up." Gongsun Xinlian nodded.
"Let's start tightening our defenses. Given the current situation, what if the Sea Crack causes any more trouble?" Lin Hui didn't finish his sentence.
The Mist God is decaying, and abnormal disasters are appearing around it: increasingly powerful sea storms, frozen orbs of light, the unkillable decaying Mist God, and the ever-present threat of an erupting sea rift overhead. The situation has clearly reached a very dangerous point.
Lin Hui looked around and saw the debris of a broken ship floating in the distance. It was clear that this place had been attacked before, and a message was sent to attract Gongsun Xinlian, who was then finally killed.
"Let's go back," Gongsun Xinlian whispered.
Neither of them was in the mood for idle chatter. Now, most of the surrounding air routes had been cut off by the Black Cloud, and the Blood Ancestors were leading their armies to concentrate their efforts on maintaining the main lifeline air routes.
But this situation won't last long.
The number of sea creatures in the surrounding waters has also increased dramatically, and they have undergone more mutations and enhancements, causing losses to many salvage crews and summoner fleets. With such widespread enhancement and mutation, small and medium-sized fishing fleets simply cannot survive and have been forced to merge into larger fleets.
Upon returning to Black Cloud, Lin Hui did not go back to the Daoist Academy this time, but went directly to Qingfei Mountain.
Because Qingfeng Taoist Temple and Lin Mansion both moved up the mountain and into the newly built mansion here.
Gongsun Xinlian followed him into the Qingfeng Taoist Temple, which was decorated exactly the same way.
The two sat cross-legged in the study. Li Yuanyuan quickly served tea and snacks, bowed, and withdrew.
The calming incense was lit nearby, sending up a straight column of gray smoke.
Gongsun Xinlian looked at Lin Hui in front of her. For the Fog People, these eight years had passed in the blink of an eye, short and boring.
But the profound aura that she could once clearly sense from the person in front of her was now completely gone.
Like an ordinary person, yet strikingly displaying a perfectly proportioned appearance that shouldn't belong to an ordinary person.
Perfect facial features, perfect figure—this eerie perfection was something she had only ever experienced with the perfect Qingfeng Sword of the Qingfeng Path.
“In the past few years, if I hadn’t received the Three Dharma Seals from you, I probably wouldn’t have been able to deal with such frequent troubles with my previous strength,” Gongsun Xinlian said softly.
“You are also a member of my Qingfeng Dao, so there’s no need for such formalities,” Lin Hui said with a smile. Looking at her, he knew very well that Gongsun Xinlian’s initiative to visit him during such a busy time was definitely not just for casual conversation.
So he waited for the other party to continue.
"Now that my eldest brother is gone, my second brother and I are already exhausted from dealing with such a large-scale problem on our own. So, after discussing it for a long time, we've decided to move all the people from the outer city into the inner city. What do you think?" Gongsun Xinlian said in a deep voice.
"What about the radiation? Can the people outside the city withstand it?" Lin Hui frowned.
"It's better than dying out there at the hands of sea beasts and the ever-present threat of the Sea Roaring Power. We've already bought ourselves six months to slow the spread of the Sea Roaring Power's pollution. Meanwhile, the inner city can also activate the isolation formation through the floating mountains and the Moon Tower. The formation can be powered indefinitely by true energy and illusory energy. As long as there's the Zhou Tian and the superior's inspiration, collective power supply shouldn't be a problem." Gongsun Xinlian had clearly thought everything through.
Lin Hui remained silent.
This is an extremely difficult choice.
It is foreseeable that many people will be unwilling to move into the inner city during this migration.
The problem is that after the relocation, the outer city's defenses will definitely be largely abandoned.
Those who stay will die, and those who enter the city will die later. The entire outer city still has tens of millions of people, surrounded by dark clouds.
"Contracting our defenses is the right thing to do. I support it." Lin Hui finally spoke after a long silence.
"With your support, we feel at ease." Gongsun Xinlian forced a smile.
The three brothers had worked hard for many years to accumulate such a large fortune, and now they were being asked to abandon tens of millions of people in one fell swoop. This would inevitably lead to widespread corruption within the inner city.
Without such a large population share, the number of warriors and summoners in the inner city will inevitably be reduced significantly.
"I'm going back now," Gongsun Xinlian said, getting up but not immediately leaving.
She walked slowly to the courtyard gate, then suddenly stopped.
"Lin Hui, for some reason I have a bad feeling."
"Are you worried about your older brother?" Lin Hui asked.
“Not only that.” Gongsun Xinlian raised her head and looked through the array barrier at the huge sea crack that spanned the entire black cloud in the sky.
"While other corrupting forces have invaded before, none have been as dangerous as this one. We three siblings have lived for nearly ten thousand years. The only reason we're here is because you're helping to hold the city. But what about the other cities? They are far less powerful than Black Cloud. Five cities have already fallen, and their lords perished along with them."
“Even the city lord…?” Lin Hui frowned.
“Yes, so the Sea Crack clearly has the power to counter the infinite regeneration of the Mist People.” Gongsun Xinlian turned her head and looked at Lin Hui.
"Master."
She suddenly changed how she addressed me.
"If—and I mean if—I die, the position of Lord of Black Cloud City will be gone."
"I don't accept it," Lin Hui interrupted her directly.
He raised his head and looked directly into the other person's eyes.
"I only want to protect the people around me: my family, friends, and loved ones. I don't care about anything else, and I don't want to care about anything else."
He was well aware of his own strength limits, and he also understood the other party's intentions.
Black Cloud City is their life's work. They have lived too long. If something happens to them, and with too many mortals dying, all their blood relatives, family members, and friends will be corrupted and destroyed along with them.
He understands, but while he can help, he is unwilling to take on the other person's responsibilities.
Because he also has everything he wants to protect.
“I understand.” Gongsun Xinlian remained silent for a moment, then her figure slowly dissipated and she left.
(End of this chapter)