Chapter 183

Chapter Fifty-One: I’ll Go

　　From the moment the terrain changed, everyone in the legion knew something big must’ve happened on the battlefield.

　　Then their Dragon King Miss said she’d go scout ahead and told everyone to stay put for defense. After that brief wait, distant houses started making boom-boom sounds, then kaboom-kaboom, until finally, splash! The entire building collapsed.

　　Right after, under the shocked gazes of people far away, the ruins transformed back into a palace.

　　”Captain, what do we do now?” someone asked. “Should we force our way out and reinforce Miss Yuan?”

　　The temporary captain of the Conquering Legion thought for a moment and spoke solemnly, “No rush, let’s wait for Miss Yuan’s…”

　　Before he could finish, a dragon roar echoed from afar. Then came the signature combat pet of Dragon King Miss – the giant Water Dragon, performing a rolling flip in the air.

　　The water-blue translucent dragon shimmered with ripples around its body under the sunlight, just as beautiful as its owner.

　　The captain took in every move of the great dragon and instructed others, “Tactic No. 2, flexible advance!”

　　When the dragon stretched in a straight line, it was Tactic No. 1, aggressive breakout followed by regrouping. A curve in the sky meant Tactic No. 2, prioritizing preservation of strength while advancing cautiously.

　　The curve combined with a spin indicated maintaining flexibility during tactic execution, adapting according to the situation.

　　…………

　　After completing its aerial maneuvers, the giant Water Dragon swooped down toward the palace, kicking off the battle.

　　A Mud Hand grew out of the ground, swiftly absorbing dust from the air, growing larger than the Water Dragon’s head within seconds, grabbing hold of it.

　　But Bai Ling’s attack followed closely; compressed mental energy formed into blades piercing through the giant hand, striking where the throne stood.

　　With several crisp tearing sounds, the throne shattered into pieces, sending dust swirling everywhere.

　　”Did we get him?” Yuan Xiaoling asked.

　　She felt a bit frustrated. Her ultimate skill had always been an ace-in-the-hole against weaker foes, but today, facing an enemy one tier above her, it wasn’t working as well.

　　Bai Ling landed beside her and shook her head, “Hard to say.”

　　Sure enough, when the smoke cleared, there was no one beneath the ruined throne, but Yun Liang appeared elsewhere.

　　”Tch,” Bai Ling clicked her tongue, “Pretty good mobility.”

　　Shortening distances like that made dodging skills easy.

　　But in reality, things weren’t so calm. Yun Liang stood there, his gaze darkly fixed on them both.

　　In single combat, he didn’t fear Bai Ling, but standing nearby was Yuan Xiaoling, at peak Fourth-tier. Perhaps not strong enough to be the main force, but as a secondary attacker drawing enemy attention, Dragon King Miss was more than sufficient.

　　One of them had to go first.

　　Sand and stones flowed across the ground again, the same elongated slide show sensation reappearing.

　　”Be careful.”

　　Just as Bai Ling was about to warn Yuan Xiaoling, she turned around to find her gone, only to reappear beside Yun Liang seconds later.

　　Yuan Xiaoling blinked, feeling disoriented after switching places, opening her eyes to see Yun Liang reaching out toward her.

　　This wouldn’t do. At this distance, she could directly…

　　High-pressure water cannon!

　　Any gamer would know, despite the True Dragon Manifestation being the flashy ultimate, the high-rank unlocked water cannon skill was actually Dragon King Miss’s most powerful ability.

　　Bang ——!

　　Yun Liang reacted quickly, erecting a stone shield in front of him and instinctively tilting his head. The concentrated water cannon pierced through the stone shield, narrowly missing his head and blasting a hole in the wall behind him.

　　The man’s pupils contracted.

　　Looks like holding back isn’t an option. Disable movement first, then take him back for further handling.

　　Thinking this, he reached out into the void, causing the earth and airborne dust particles to resonate, hurtling towards the center of gravity.

　　Yuan Xiaoling felt a jolt in her heart, unsure of what to do, when suddenly the pressure on her eased, the spiritual power lock gone, and a mental force pulling her back.

　　”Hurry back,” Bai Ling said.

　　Seconds later, bang! Countless grains of sand hit a single point, creating a buzzing sound that seemed to pierce the air itself, as if even the air had been crushed.

　　Yun Liang opened his eyes groggily, “So, the core ability of the Mental-type is like this, huh.”

　　Time lost a few seconds in the perception of consciousness, hijacked by a mental intrusion.

　　Bai Ling pulled the Blonde-haired Maiden back and placed her safely by her side.

　　”Why didn’t you seize the chance,” Yuan Xiaoling made a throat-cutting gesture, “and just kill him outright?”

　　Isn’t time-stop assassination supposed to be one of the hardest initial kills to guard against?

　　”People have danger warnings in their consciousness,” Bai Ling helplessly explained, “the more dangerous, the stronger the resistance.”

　　Mental intrusion works like level suppression against weaker opponents, but against stronger ones, it requires a gradual approach.

　　At the broken entrance of the distant palace, Yun Liang’s expression changed several times before finally returning to his initial smile.

　　”With strange Fifth-tier Mental-type manipulators, and a powerful peak Fourth-tier Element-type nearby, fighting two-on-one is unwise.”

　　”So…”

　　”Miss Yuan, Miss Bai, it was an honor exchanging blows with both of you today. Next time we meet, I’ll bring some extra surprises for you two.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling arched an elegant eyebrow, “He’s going to run?”

　　Bai Ling could hear it too, but just as she was about to act, the ground began trembling violently. Countless flows of sand rushed forward at incomprehensible speeds, making it hard to even stand.

　　Because of Dabeitù, Yuan Xiaoling was already unstable on her feet, and now she swayed even more. Fortunately, Bai Ling extended her hand in time, firmly embracing her.

　　By the time they stabilized themselves and looked up, Yun Liang had vanished, taking Xin Lan hiding inside with him.

　　Without spiritual power supply, the palace resembling a sand emperor’s castle collapsed thunderously, turning the ruins into a cloud of dust.

　　Bai Ling erected a mental barrier in front of the two, blocking the incoming dust.

　　”Still let him escape,” Yuan Xiaoling regretfully shrugged, “a pity.”

　　Bai Ling couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her, “Being able to drive him off is already quite good.”

　　Though at the same tier, as Yun Liang had said, the Yun Family had a complete system for Earth-elemental powers, with highly mature applications of various skills. In comparison, Bai Ling was more of a self-taught amateur.

　　However, after this battle, Bai Ling revealed her mental force abilities and the pseudo-time stop caused by mental intrusion. Conversely, Yun Liang showcased his terrain-altering and short-distance teleportation skills.

　　Yuan Xiaoling glanced back and saw her army advancing. After the major sand event, their pace quickened slightly.

　　”Let’s return and regroup.”

　　At five thirty-five PM, this small mountain siege operation concluded.

　　About ten minutes after Yun Liang left, the main force of the army arrived. After communicating with the control tower, they confirmed there were no other enemies left in the area.

　　Those who could use Earth-diving techniques had already left with Yun Liang, gaining enhanced abilities in flowing sand. The unlucky ones who couldn’t dive underground either died when buildings collapsed, were killed by the army, or were captured alive.

　　As for those rotten wood creatures…

　　”They burrowed underground, and we couldn’t stop them,” the captain said apologetically. “We had fewer achievements during the previous standoff.”

　　Except for the attacks of some Spiritual Energy Manipulators which were relatively strong, most couldn’t deal fatal damage to the rotten wood creatures, so most kills went to Yuan Xiaoling’s frontal assaults and Bai Ling’s covert eliminations.

　　”No problem, I expected this much.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling wasn’t surprised. These rotten wood creatures excelled mainly in their Fourth-tier physical strength, with almost no varied attack methods, essentially putting all their talent points into stats.

　　Dream-dissolving demons were entirely different. They lacked such high physical strength but had bizarrely unpredictable attack methods.

　　Perhaps this was the difference between different Foundation Stones.

　　Yuan Xiaoling pondered this, looking back to find Bai Ling had quietly blended into the crowd, giving her a “see you tonight” glance amidst the masses.

　　Hmm, did I do anything wrong today?

　　”Miss Yuan,” the captain’s voice brought her thoughts back, “what should we do next…?”

　　Yuan Xiaoling glanced toward the ruins. Truly, dust returned to dust, soil returned to soil. Except for some steel bars beyond Earth-element control, everything else turned to ashes.

　　”Search and gather whatever you can find, then retreat for the night… call Wu Bian, and a representative from the office to come see me.”

　　”Yes sir.”

　　…………

　　Since the formation of Dragon King Miss’s army, they had always been dispersed dealing with various situations. It was unprecedented for them to concentrate forces for a large-scale campaign like today.

　　After confirming the action plan at noon, the reorganized Countermeasure Office had everyone present, anxiously awaiting news.

　　But before the battle ended, Wubian responsible for the control tower couldn’t possibly relay real-time updates, so they could only wait anxiously.

　　Xiao Su lay on the table, pretending to review documents, only to realize after fifteen minutes that she had the book upside down.

　　Luo Xing, the big guy, couldn’t sit still, pacing back and forth outside the office door. Li Li found him annoying and ordered him to sit down.

　　”What’s the point of rushing? Can rushing help? You young people just lack patience.”

　　Director He, who had taken over from Dai Hengzhu, gave them a lecture, then pulled out a string of Buddhist beads, counting them while saying, “You guys need to learn how to control yourselves, like this behavior that calms your mind.”

　　Li Li was speechless, “Director He, do you really believe in this?”

　　”It’s not about belief, it’s about the action, cultivating oneself. And these aren’t ordinary beads,” Director He said confidently.

　　Everyone looked over. Luo Xing sat down, Xiao Su stopped pretending to read documents.

　　”What kind of beads?” Li Li asked.

　　”You don’t know? These are the beads from Four Squares Academy, obtained for me by my family when I was young,” Director He reminisced, “I never paid much attention to them before, but unexpectedly, I ended up in this position at Four Squares Academy, truly a karmic connection.”

　　You’re here to clean up the mess, not for any good reason.

　　Li Li thought this but didn’t dare to say it aloud. Instead, she asked, “Director, did your generation often burn incense at Four Squares Academy?”

　　”Of course, back then people didn’t know better, seeing a temple, they’d just go in and pray. Others seeing people praying assumed it was effective, so more people came, and it grew.”

　　Tianhai City only had a few temples, all on mountains, and Four Squares Academy was one of the more famous ones—before being requisitioned, it could be searched online as a Scenic Area.

　　”So, which Buddha does Four Squares Academy worship?” Li Li asked again.

　　Director He paused his bead counting, “Not sure, back then there were all sorts of claims…”

　　Just then, a young man burst in with a fax.

　　”Good news! Good news! Miss Yuan has triumphantly returned!”

　　Director He quickly pocketed the beads and stood up immediately, fast indeed.

　　”Great, great, prepare quickly, for our…”

　　Before he could finish, another message came. Dragon King Miss personally instructed that one or two representatives from the office go see her.

　　Everyone exchanged glances. Dragon King Miss had just returned from battle, might she be a bit bloodthirsty?

　　Finally, Li Li stepped forward, “I’ll go, we’ve interacted more before… Xiao Su, you come along too.”

　　”Eh? Me too?”

　　”Yes.”

　　Don’t ask, just know it’s for meeting notes.