ccnovels #384 - Uninvited Guests
#384 - Uninvited Guests
Ever since arriving in the City Above the Clouds, Amina's mood had been slightly troubled.
The more she knew, the more she understood, the heavier her sense of confusion became.
When she heard the word Obsidian, Amina felt a gentle tug on her nerves, and this sense of confusion became even more prevalent.
Even if she deliberately avoided it, their biological connection could not be forgotten.
Later, Wang Jixuan asked her to interact with the ancient remnant spirits, acting as a lubricant between the two sides to prevent them from falling into a life-or-death situation.
Amina moved back and forth like a messenger between He Ruli, Gao Huating, and Wang Jixuan, and the confusion in her heart became increasingly uncontrollable.
It was as if she wasn't a spiritual cultivator at all;
She was just a dispensable messenger, a spiritual slave who couldn't figure out her own position.
Today, He Ruli proposed a compromise, and Wang Jixuan also made a step back. Amina breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a faint sense of loss.
She couldn't figure out why she felt lost.
Probably because of a combination of many factors...
Now, the main hall where Wang Jixuan and others were imprisoned was unobstructed, and Amina no longer needed to deliver messages or do anything else.
She stood in the corridor paved with an unknown material, watching Gao Huating leave the main hall with a flushed face, seemingly feeling a bit guilty as she walked away.
The sense of loss in Amina's heart became even more severe.
"You can actually be found spacing out?"
Nielda Tamon's rough voice came over.
Amina immediately snapped back to reality, her pretty face tensing up as she calmly looked at Nielda Tamon, who had come out for a stroll.
"I was just thinking."
"Thinking about how to win the favor of a cultivator, right?"
Nielda Tamon forced an awkward smile.
This was his unique expression when he was joking.
The big guy also wanted to have some humorous cells.
Amina snorted softly, "So what if I am? It's already been proven that he's a pioneer of the Ina civilization and the source of all spiritual energy technology. Is there anything wrong with me wanting to please him?"
"Of course, that's your freedom."
Nielda Tamon folded his arms, also looking at Wang Jixuan's resting room inside the main hall.
"He's a good opponent."
"But Amina, I still want to remind you, out of our comradeship."
"Don't leave any regrets, express whatever wishes you have."
Amina said indifferently, "What do you mean by that?"
"Literal meaning."
The burly Nielda Tamon smiled smugly:
"You might think I'm just an unsentimental battle maniac, but actually, I've had rich emotional experiences. Sabina is my illegitimate daughter. Of course, her becoming a spiritual cultivator has no direct relation to me. I only discovered this secret after she became a spiritual cultivator."
"That was a drunken night at a ball."
"That's completely different from your father Obsidian. He created a large number of descendants to expand his own influence."
Amina's face darkened, and she said coldly, "Yes, you're indeed quite sentimental."
Nielda Tamon didn't notice Amina's choice of words.
He said cheerfully, "Although I'm bound to have a battle with Wang Zheng, I also want to wait until we both return to our peak to challenge the source of our spiritual energy. But, Amina, the current situation is that we might not even live to see that day."
"Are you that pessimistic?"
"Before I intercepted you, I just received a battle report."
Nielda Tamon sighed with a somber expression:
"Guess how many of us are still fighting now?"
"Sixty?"
"Thirty-two, including the three of us."
Nielda Tamon said in a deep voice:
"The Blade Beasts aren't in a hurry at all, spreading throughout the starfield. They've gained the advantage everywhere, and they can mobilize countless Blade Beasts at any time to exhaust us with human wave tactics."
"Some spiritual cultivators have already surrendered;"
"The surrenders are also eager to do meritorious service for their masters."
"Here…"
Nielda Tamon looked around, "This is our only chance. The flame of our civilization is about to be extinguished, Amina."
Amina said indifferently, "Isn't this also the result of the predecessors' reckless actions?"
"I'm also a victim."
"You Wings of Light weren't victims."
"Indeed, I knew some things, but I didn't stop them. I just watched coldly from the sidelines, feeling that it wasn't my responsibility."
Nielda Tamon readily admitted his mistake, saying in a deep voice:
"It's meaningless to talk about these things now."
"My suggestion is, while the world hasn't been destroyed, enjoy life first, don't go to the battlefield with regrets, and then release all your passion and energy on the battlefield."
"That's what I often tell Sabina."
Amina: …
To be honest, she was a little disgusted by Nielda Tamon's tone.
It always felt like she was several generations younger out of nowhere.
"Thank you for your suggestion," Amina turned to leave.
Nielda Tamon enthusiastically asked from behind, "Should I help you get some wine? Wine that can get us drunk can enhance the atmosphere. We can also use drugs directly!"
"No need."
Amina's pace suddenly quickened.
Nielda Tamon scratched his head.
Did he say something wrong, or did he sense it wrong? Amina was clearly interested in that pretty boy Wang Zheng.
Wang Jixuan, who witnessed everything with his spiritual sense, gently shook his head.
Amina was becoming less and less aloof now.
Of course, if Amina's small account appearance was her true personality, it seemed like she was quite lively at heart.
The Taoist priest shook his head, not paying much attention to these things.
He continued to focus on researching the bronze puppets and the more advanced silver and gold puppets.
Wang Jixuan even had the thought of secluding himself here for a few years after the planetary barrier opened.
The spiritual energy in the Blade Beast's body was like a small pond compared to the vast ocean here!
The huge spiritual energy cluster surrounding the Earth's core that he had sensed before was probably the main body of the City Above the Clouds.
"Not bad."
The Taoist priest stretched lazily, probing with his spiritual sense even more meticulously, and had already grasped some of the secrets of these puppets.
As for the problem he gave to He Ruli…
If He Ruli couldn't do it, then he could take the opportunity to propose other conditions.
What Wang Jixuan didn't expect was that he had only waited two days and hadn't received any good or bad news from He Ruli, but instead, he waited for…
A loud noise.
…
Rumble—
It was as if muffled thunder exploded overhead.
A slight tremor appeared in the northwest corner of the City Above the Clouds.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Several figures immediately appeared in the sky above the central palace complex, naturally Wang Jixuan and the two spiritual cultivators.
Wang Jixuan was also using sword control to fly, as he couldn't freely overcome the simulated gravitational field here without forming a Nascent Soul.
However, the object he was controlling was the soles of his shoes.
—By placing two refined metal pieces on the soles of the shoes, the problem could be perfectly solved. Cultivators in the cultivation world often did this.
Outside the city wall in the northwest corner of the City Above the Clouds, a cloud of gray mist appeared.
There seemed to be a small gap there;
But as the mist surged, the City Above the Clouds remained undamaged. The golden light slowly emanating from the city's main body was also rapidly pushing back the mist.
"What's going on?"
Nielda Tamon asked in a deep voice:
"Are there enemies?"
Amina's figure flew forward, "I'll go take a look."
But Wang Jixuan called out to stop Amina, "No need to rush. Wouldn't we know if we ask the guardian here?"
Below, the few people standing on the top of the palace looked around and soon saw a cloud of hazy light, seeing He Ruli revealing her figure.
"Someone is trying to open the passage that I previously closed."
He Ruli said indifferently:
"It's the people that Obsidian brought over, as I mentioned to you before."
Wang Jixuan's spirit perked up.
Ye Zi was here?
Good heavens, he hadn't gone to find Ye Zi to ask where his Three Realms Playboy memory had gone, but Ye Zi had actually come to his door!
Wang Jixuan, who had just advised Amina not to go over, immediately wanted to move forward upon hearing this.
He Ruli reminded, "The ones coming aren't spiritual cultivators, but a group of very strange creatures. I suggest you don't go over there easily. They can't enter the restrictions I've set up."
Amina asked, "Are they very strong?"
"If you were at your peak, one person could easily solve it, but now, there are too many of them."
He Ruli said:
"Come to my command center. You can see things more clearly here."
After speaking, He Ruli's figure slowly dissipated.
Two bronze puppets appeared, bowed slightly to Wang Jixuan and the others, and turned to gesture them to follow.
A few minutes later.
The underground command center that Wang Jixuan had previously explored with his spiritual sense.
Wang Jixuan's six-person team and Nielda Tamon each sat behind a strangely shaped display screen, seeing the same set of real-time images.
The periphery of the City Above the Clouds was surrounded by clouds of gray gas. This gray gas was very peculiar, seemingly able to be blown away by the wind, but as soon as someone entered it, they would quickly encounter invisible resistance.
The further the intruder went in, the greater the resistance;
The stronger the intruder's strength, the greater the resistance they would receive at the same location.
And when the intruder forcibly reached their limit, as long as they took a slight breather, they would be bounced out by the gray gas like a trampoline.
More than sixty men and women wearing black cloaks were currently playing this 'trampoline' game.
They kept entering the gray gas and being pushed back by it.
Wang Jixuan took the opportunity to look at the situation outside the gray gas.
It was a gray and hazy world, as if the Creator had only provided the framework of heaven and earth when designing this small world on the outskirts of Cloud City.
There was no sign of leaves;
Nor were there any members of that group of spirit practitioners.
It seems that this group of high-level spirit slaves was dispatched to probe or exert pressure.
Wang Ji Xuan turned his head and asked, "Are you sure they can't get in?"
He Ru Li was currently sitting sideways in the large chair, her left hand propping up her forehead at the temple, and she said softly, "I'm sure, please rest assured about this."
Wang Ji Xuan suddenly smiled: "Are you thinking about how to use them to put pressure on me?"
"Yes," He Ru Li smiled calmly, "Now I seem to have more bargaining chips."
Wang Ji Xuan said indifferently: "Does Your Excellency want to overturn and rebuild the preliminary trust we just established?"
"Great Pioneer, please don't be angry, this is just a joke."
He Ru Li said:
"Now that you have arrived here, our plan is nearing completion, and I don't need to create unnecessary complications."
The people next to her breathed a sigh of relief.
He Ru Li then asked: "Pioneer, do you intend to drive these people away, or capture them alive?"
"Hmm," Wang Ji Xuan thought for a while, "Can't we just kill them all?"
"They are intelligent creatures, and they will definitely leave if they sense something is wrong. Our puppets and drones cannot leave the urban area too far for the time being."
He Ru Li explained simply:
"My suggestion is that I go and catch a few spirit slaves to interrogate.
"However, there are certain risks involved."
Wang Ji Xuan said: "I am more interested in the spirit practitioner behind them."
He Ru Li nodded slightly, her fingers tapping gently.
A slight fluctuation appeared on the screen, and four bronze puppets flew out of the palace complex, rushing towards the northwest corner in sync.
They moved very quickly, disappearing into the gray air outside the city wall as soon as they entered.
The high-level spirit slaves outside seemed to sense these four powerful auras.
— These puppets were not designed to conceal their own aura fluctuations.
Without saying a word, the group of high-level spirit slaves began to retreat rapidly, somewhat embarrassedly.
Seven or eight slower individuals were grabbed away by their companions.
The gray air surged, and four bronze puppets appeared at the edge of the gray air, staring at these people expressionlessly.
He Ru Li's voice came from above the puppets:
"Those who disturb the land of slumber will be severely punished."
These high-level spirit slaves simultaneously looked at the few spokesmen.
These people knelt down with a thud.
A group of high-level spirit slaves knelt down sparsely, praying very piously.
The middle-aged man in the lead shouted in the language of spirit practitioners:
"Great God! We pay our sincere respects to you!"
"We received news that a group of bandits broke into the supreme holy land! We are ordered to protect the holy land!"
"Please allow us to enter, we will strictly abide by the orders of our master and will never covet a single blade of grass or tree here! Please believe us!"
"Your master?"
He Ru Li snorted:
"If I remember correctly, the last time she came here, she deceived me and took away our most precious treasure."
The middle-aged man hurriedly said: "Our master was also deceived! Please forgive us!"
"Get out."
He Ru Li snorted: "If you get any closer, I will let you taste the anger from ancient times!"
The four bronze puppets exuded a powerful sense of oppression.
In reality, they were limited by their own 'permissions' and could not leave the gray air too far.
This group of people slowly stood up.
It seemed that if soft tactics didn't work, they would try hard ones.
Wang Ji Xuan asked: "What is their specific strength? I can't expand my spiritual sense."
"Any spirit slave or spirit practitioner is not worth mentioning in Cloud City," He Ru Li said.
Nierda Tamon was an honest man, and said in a deep voice: "Ten high-level spirit slaves are SS-level spirit energy users, and the rest are S-level, but they have some strange fluctuations in their bodies that I feel unfamiliar with."
Amy Nadar said: "Hei Yao and his group took away a lot of technology here, but the good news is that this force that has been hidden in the corner has finally begun to surface."
"Um, can I interject?" Ji Xiao asked in a low voice, "Among the technologies given by this ancient master, there wouldn't be anything that could destroy the outer barrier, right?"
He Ru Li was stunned for a moment, then fell into memory, and her expression suddenly became a little ugly.
Before she could speak, twelve people suddenly rushed out from the group of spirit slaves, tore off their upper clothes, revealing their sturdy or plump upper bodies.
Without exception, they all had a hexagonal mark on their chests.
The twelve people screamed at the same time, and countless dense black dots like locusts flew out of the marks, and these black dots quickly pounced towards the gray clouds in front.
He Ru Li's remnant soul stood up abruptly.
"Necromantic Sacrifice!"
She immediately took action, and the four bronze puppets simultaneously punched forward, forming a huge air shield.
Then these bronze puppets turned around and ran, and golden light shone brightly throughout the city, completely enveloping the city with a thick wall of light.
The black air, like locusts and full of grainy texture, had already broken through the outer gray air with the characteristic of a 'bouncy bed'.