Chapter 863
Advancement to Demigod
Yang Fan held a warm cup of water and chatted idly with the old gatekeeper, as if he were just an ordinary young man who had forgotten his keys.
But he knew in his heart that as the first pillar of law continued to grow in the void, the law domain it emitted was spreading outward at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Even though he tried to suppress it, he still inevitably caused considerable disturbance to the surrounding environment.
This strange phenomenon, triggered by the power of laws, is quietly sweeping across the entire city, centered on the Yuewan residential community.
Outside the window, the wind still howled, and goose-feather snowflakes danced in the air. The originally pure white snowflakes had, without anyone noticing, quietly taken on a subtle gray tinge.
Without careful observation, these subtle changes would be impossible to detect.
However, if you look closely, you will find that the tiny ice particles at the center of the snowflake are slowly but steadily hardening and changing color, eventually turning into an insignificant black stone chip.
Initially, this strange change in the black snow only occurred within a three-kilometer radius of the Yuewan residential area.
However, the growth of the Pillars of Law has never stopped, and the spread of the Law Domain is getting faster and faster.
In just half an hour, the area covered by black snow expanded rapidly, from three kilometers to thirty kilometers, completely enveloping the eastern part of Linjiang City.
In this area shrouded in black snow, an execution post belonging to the Sharp Blade Special Forces stands quietly on a street corner.
Meng Yilong sat fully armed by the window, clutching a modified assault rifle tightly in his hands, his eyes fixed on the black snow swirling outside.
Recently, various strange phenomena have frequently appeared around the world, extreme weather has ravaged the world, and normally docile animals have mutated, causing a large number of casualties.
Ordinary people know nothing about this.
However, Meng Yilong, as a member of the Sharp Blade Special Forces, was fully aware of this.
This is not a coincidence, but a global catastrophe, a crisis concerning the survival of humanity.
Therefore, the high command of the Great Xia military had already issued an emergency order: in order to protect the lives and property of the people, all members of the Sharp Blade Special Forces on duty must be on standby 24 hours a day.
They always carry firearms and are ready to launch a swift attack to eliminate any mutated creatures they discover.
Because everyone knows that in the face of mutated creatures, every second of delay could result in the death or injury of another innocent person.
None of the team members in the execution unit had any complaints about this.
Because protecting the country and its people is the soldier's duty.
Meng Yilong stared out the window for a while, his brows gradually furrowing.
He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
He hesitated for a moment, then slung his assault rifle over his shoulder and walked out of the warm house.
"Waaah—"
As soon as the door was opened, a fierce gust of wind rushed in, as if a sharp blade were slicing through it.
Just then, a gray snowflake swept straight toward his cheek.
With quick reflexes, Meng Yilong instinctively reached out and caught the snowflake.
The snowflakes landed in his palm, and half of them melted instantly, but he was completely stunned after just one glance down at them.
Right in the center of that snowflake was a tiny black spot, like a small black stone embedded in the snowflake.
Such subtle changes are completely unnoticed by ordinary people.
But Meng Yilong is different.
He noticed a strange mutation in his eyes starting a month ago.
He also had mild myopia of 50 degrees, which meant he had to squint to see things in the distance.
But not long after, his eyesight miraculously recovered and became increasingly better.
Another half month passed, and he found that his eyesight had become somewhat exaggerated: he could see a small character on the wall 20 meters away clearly.
At first, Meng Yilong was somewhat panicked.
But then again, animals all over the world are mutating these days, so it doesn't seem so strange that humans would also undergo some mutations.
He immediately reported the change in his eyes to his superiors.
The higher-ups did not provide a clear explanation, but only instructed him to carefully observe the changes in himself, go to the designated laboratory for a physical examination once a week, and record any abnormalities.
"Hold the grass!"
Meng Yilong exclaimed softly, his tone filled with surprise: "How come there are stones mixed in with the snowflakes?"
With his current eyesight, he could clearly see that the black spots were not stones stuck to the surface of the snowflakes, but rather part of the snowflakes themselves.
Meng Yilong immediately squatted down and carefully searched the ground, quickly finding several snowflakes that had just landed and had not yet completely melted.
He picked up a snowflake and examined it closely with his fingertips. Without exception, every snowflake had tiny stone-like spots in its center.
This is clearly not right.
Meng Yilong slowly stood up, looked up at the leaden sky, and muttered, "Damn it, is some great disaster about to happen again?"
He immediately took out his walkie-talkie and reported the unusual situation he had discovered to the director of the execution office, Lieutenant Ma Lin.
Twenty minutes later.
The entire military system in Linjiang City was in an uproar.
After verification from multiple sources, it has been confirmed that the area affected by the eerie black snow has expanded rapidly from 30 kilometers to a radius of 50 kilometers, covering most of Linjiang City.
As a megacity with a population of over 2000 million, Linjiang City is densely populated. If the black snow causes any danger, the resulting casualties and property losses will be incalculable.
An urgent order was sent directly to the garrison command in Linjiang City.
All military personnel within the city, including the Sharp Blade Special Forces and regular garrison troops, were mobilized to patrol different areas and zones, ready to fight the mutated creatures at any time.
The military bases surrounding Linjiang City instantly erupted into chaos, with piercing alarms blaring.
Tanks, armored vehicles, and military off-road vehicles lined up neatly, their engines roaring, and sped towards the urban area of Linjiang City in droves, their wheels crushing the snow and kicking up clouds of snow foam.
Meng Yilong could no longer stay at the execution center to await orders.
He gathered his four comrades from the same squad, quickly boarded a military off-road vehicle, and drove towards the patrol area he was responsible for—Yuewan Community.
To ensure that no corner was overlooked, the Great Xia military adopted the most rudimentary but also most effective method: dividing the entire Linjiang City into countless grids, with a small team stationed in each grid, implementing "grid management".
Before long, the car arrived at the entrance of Yuewan Community.
"Boom! Boom!"
Meng Yilong strode to the gatehouse of the residential complex and knocked hard on the wooden door.
The gatekeeper had already noticed the military off-road vehicle, and quickly walked to the door and opened the wooden door.
Meng Yilong smiled gently and asked politely, "Sir, has anything strange happened in your Yuewan community recently? Such as unusual weather, strange noises, or have you seen anything different?"
The Great Xia has always emphasized the importance of "military and civilians being one family." During this operation, the higher-ups specifically instructed each team to communicate more with the masses and ask the villagers about the situation, as they might be able to find some crucial clues.
The old man slapped his thigh suddenly: "Yes! Of course!" Meng Yilong instantly perked up and asked eagerly, "Grandpa, what is it? Please tell me in detail!"
The old man turned around, pointed to the thermos on the table, and began to ramble on about the strange thing that had just happened: "An hour ago, Xiao Yang from our neighborhood, the young man sitting inside, forgot his keys..."
Meng Yilong looked in the direction the old man was pointing and his gaze fell on the young man sitting in the corner.
Yang Fan, sitting in the corner, quietly watched Meng Yilong, his heart filled with emotion.
He knows Meng Yilong, or more accurately, he knows the historical Meng Yilong.
According to the original historical timeline, in a few days, a mutated wild dog will appear in a thicket on the outskirts of Linjiang City.
He discovered the mutated wild dogs through the detection of crows and wanted to go to the suburbs to extract their supernatural abilities.
It was at that moment that he witnessed, through the eyes of the crow, the fierce battle between Meng Yilong's team and the mutated wild dog.
During the battle, the mutated wild dog easily broke through the team's defenses with its extremely fast speed, suddenly rushed out of the bushes, and its sharp claws slashed across Meng Yilong's neck, instantly severing his carotid artery.
Meng Yilong didn't even utter a sound before collapsing into a pool of blood, dying on the spot.
But now, Meng Yilong is still standing here, his eyes sharp and his posture upright.
Yang Fan thought to himself, "Since we've run into each other, I'll let you live a few more years."
Once the trajectory of history is set, it is difficult to change; otherwise, it will inevitably suffer a powerful backlash from the laws of history—this is the corrective power of history.
This is an invisible yet terrifyingly powerful force that can forcibly pull everything that has deviated from the course of history back onto the right track.
Anyone who tries to defy fate will pay a heavy price.
However, Yang Fan is no ordinary person.
He possesses the powerful laws of time, allowing him to freely traverse the river of time, peer into the past and future, and even exploit loopholes in time to subtly alter the fates of some individuals.
But he also knew that such changes had their limits.
He could only allow Meng Yilong to live a little longer, but he couldn't live to see the most glorious era of the Great Xia Dynasty, let alone live to a ripe old age.
The longer Meng Yilong lives, the further he deviates from the historical trajectory, and the stronger the corrective force will become, until ultimately no one can save Meng Yilong.
Yang Fan's right hand twitched slightly, and a barely perceptible glint of light flashed at his fingertips.
No one could see that an invisible thread of fate was quietly emerging within Meng Yilong's body.
It rippled slightly, then disappeared into his body.
This sergeant of the Sharp Blade Special Forces was originally destined to die from the claws of the mutated wild dogs a few days later, but his fate was quietly rewritten by the powerful laws of destiny.
The concept of the strong law of destiny dates back many years.
When Yang Fan obtained the Weaver of Fate, he comprehended the Law of Misfortune from this divine weapon.
Over the years, he has finally pushed the Law of Misfortune to its extreme, advancing it to a powerful Law of Destiny, enabling him to manipulate the fate of others and change some predetermined outcomes.
Soon.
The Sharp Blade team members found a metal box, carefully placed the thermos flask from the table into the box, and then put it into a military vehicle.
Yang Fan watched the military off-road vehicle drive away, a slight smile curving his lips, before looking up at the sky.
Only he could see that ripples of time were drifting and spreading amidst the black snow, like ripples on the surface of water, intertwining and colliding with each other.
At this time, the area covered by black snow had quietly expanded to 100 kilometers, completely enveloping the entire Linjiang City and several surrounding cities.
He was well aware that his actions had completely altered the original course of history, causing a massive temporal upheaval.
But Yang Fan was not afraid.
He has now mastered the power of the "past" time and is gradually integrating the power of the "present" and "future" time to form a complete system of time laws, which can temporarily withstand the corrective power of history.
"Boom—!"
A faint, illusory clap of thunder quietly echoed in the sky.
There was no earth-shattering roar, but it carried a powerful pressure of law that spread throughout the entire area covered by black snow.
The first pillar of law has finally been completed!
The ripples of time instantly stirred up a raging storm, with countless tiny time vortexes surging and spinning in the sky, disrupting the surrounding spacetime order.
The area covered by black snow expanded again at an alarming rate, instantly spreading to two hundred kilometers.
Even an ordinary person can clearly see the gray stone chips mixed in with the naked eye.
They fall to the ground and accumulate into a thin layer of black sand, making a "rustling" sound when stepped on.
The entire city of Linjiang, as well as the surrounding area, has been placed under the highest level of martial law.
On the streets, soldiers armed with guns could be seen everywhere. They were divided into small teams and patrolled the streets, vigilantly scanning everything around them.
In the air, fourth- and fifth-generation fighter jets, carrying missiles, roared past, closely monitoring the movements on the ground.
Checkpoints were set up at various intersections in the city to prohibit unauthorized personnel from entering or leaving;
Meanwhile, staff are going door-to-door to spread safety information and organize residents to move to safe areas.
Not only in Daxia, but news of the Black Snow incident spread like wildfire throughout the world.
Everyone was worried about what kind of disaster this strange black snow would bring.
Yang Fan glanced at the old man and quietly altered his memories.
The old man will only remember that Xiao Yang waited for a long time before the locksmith finally arrived, and Xiao Yang left the gatehouse with the locksmith.
Yang Fan took a step forward and instantly appeared in an old house in Yuewan Community.
This is his home.
Many years later, this place will become a tourist attraction in Linjiang City.
Yang Fan traveled to the past and has replaced his original self in the timeline; there will be no other "Yang Fan".
He walked directly to the balcony, looked up at the sky filled with black snow, and said softly, "With such a big commotion, the lackeys of the Eternal God Alliance should be arriving soon, right?"
Although the Eternal Alliance has just lost a time-based demigod, Sagat, they are indeed unable to send another time-based demigod in the short term.
This doesn't mean that the Eternal Alliance doesn't have a second time-based demigod.
As the true rulers of the primordial world, the Eternal Alliance boasts a multitude of powerful figures. While time-based demigods are rare, Sagat is by no means the only one.
However, the primordial world was too vast, and the Divine Alliance was busy suppressing rebellious civilizations and besieging disobedient powerful beings.
Other time-related demigods have their own tasks, and it would take some time to transfer them over.
In short, distant water cannot quench a nearby fire.
But this does not mean that the Eternal Alliance cannot take action against him.
The absence of time-based demigods does not mean the absence of time-based artifacts.
The Eternal Alliance has been passed down for countless years and possesses various powerful artifacts, including many time-related artifacts.
With the power of the time-based artifact, the Eternal Alliance is fully capable of breaking through the space-time barrier and forcibly sending multiple demigods over to surround and kill him.
A cold glint flashed in Yang Fan's eyes: "Once this divine war is over, the last obstacle to my ascension to demigod will be gone!" (End of Chapter)