The desert at night was an entirely different scene.
The sandy ground had solidified into a thin layer of ice frost, and the vapor seeping from sowhere had turned the whole desert into a pale gray-white.
The cold wind howled.
Near the village built by Paine and others, however, not a single cold breeze could be felt; a special technological environntal protection barrier had isolated the area, turning it into a warm little greenhouse like spring.
After discussing and deciding on plans with everyone, Li Chengyi took a slow walk outside the village with Paine at the end.
Both he and Paine had a lot on their minds. It was just that in the environnt from before, with so many people around, it wasn’t good for conversation.
The moonlight was hazy, and the huge white moon released a soft white light, enveloping the ground.
"When I led you into a dead end, did you hate ?" Li Chengyi, walking ahead, suddenly broke the silence and asked.
Paine fell silent for a mont.
"Actually, I felt a bit of hatred at that ti, but later, when I thought about your initial help, I wasn’t so emotional...."
"Blind Spot, us, Earth-Moon, everything that collapsed, the sudden natural disasters, one after another calamity ca too fiercely, leaving no ti to breathe. I had to lead everyone to flee everywhere. The pressure was so great that I couldn’t sleep at night, only relying on large doses of sleeping pills to barely fall asleep. And now, you’ve co back... I can finally let go."
He stretched his hand to his chest, his expression noticeably more relaxed.
"You’ve had it hard...." Li Chengyi understood in his heart that as a forr common man, a Flower Language Technique holder without direct combat ability, facing so many uncertainties was extrely difficult.
"This world is really mysterious and wonderful, endless Blind Spots, mysterious external forces, incomprehensible powers, phenona. And you... you seem to possess unimaginable power, still as mysterious as ever," Paine sighed.
Li Chengyi remained silent; he was unaware that his image in their eyes had beco like this.
It made sense, considering his occasional disappearances and the inexplicable ergence of various abilities on him, along with his formidable strength. Such a person was indeed as mysterious as Blind Spot in the eyes of ordinary people.
"How far has your Flower Language Technique evolved?" Li Chengyi asked.
"It has reached the final Third Layer," Paine replied. "I can create a shield at any ti that isolates all sensory and causal connections. By integrating it into the technological force field that we’re sustaining now, it becos a powerful force field that can completely shield external perception. That’s the real reason why we’ve been able to evade White Wax for so long."
Li Chengyi had not expected that to be part of the reason.
"In that case, I may need to trouble you to continue maintaining it here. When everything is over, do you want to go back or stay in this world to live?"
"Naturally, I want to go back... Though it’s safe here, it’s not our ho," Paine remarked. "The others think the sa as I do; we’ve already asked among ourselves."
"That’s good," Li Chengyi abruptly paused, looking at several figures approaching from a short distance away.
"Uncle..." At the front, a small, staggering shadow wobbled toward him.
It was Nie Xi, the son of Li Chengjiu.
The little tyke was wrapped up tightly like a ball, rolling slowly towards him as he approached.
Following behind him were Li Chengjiu and Nie Qingche.
Li Chengyi walked over with a smile and lifted his little nephew into his arms, feeling an inexplicable sensation welling up inside him.
In the blink of an eye... he too had beco an elder.
*
*
*
Anze Sanctalia Kingdom.
Inside the bustling capital city of Nadigia.
A few mysterious individuals clad in gray and white robes were swiftly moving through the city’s underground sewers.
The sewers overflowed with waste water, and rats and cockroaches were everywhere; the putrid stench and the moldy walls and floor made the advancing group frown deeply.
But they did not speak. Three in total, they quickly traversed the lengthy, dark sewer and arrived at a dead-end that should have been a maintenance spot.
The walls and floor here were sared with foul-slling fresh blood, forming a vast, complex symbol.
At the center of the symbol, a goat skull was placed, its hollow eyes emitting wisps of black vapour.
"What’s still missing?" the lead gray-robed figure quietly inquired.
"The hair and flesh of a thousand locals. I managed to get it from the hospital through physical exams," the second gray-robed figure answered in a low voice.
"Which ritual chart is this?"
"The eighty-fifth. There are fourteen left. Our long-cherished wish is about to be fulfilled. But the closer we get to this mont, the more we can’t afford to take it lightly," the leader replied.
The second gray-robed figure fell silent, eyeing the figure leading them with a hint of strangeness rising in her heart.
Lately, the leader had grown increasingly indifferent towards their own people, especially cold since he returned from a eting with White Wax mbers from the Holy City. That gentle temperant had suddenly disappeared.
She rembered that eting and could not fathom what had happened to the leader, but the strange coldness had grown increasingly uncomfortable for her.
This situation was becoming more severe within the Church.
So far, at least a third of the middle and upper echelons had exhibited this kind of issue.
They were still the sa person, but sothing inside seed to have been greatly influenced.
The three stepped forward and placed the collected materials in front of the goat skull, then retreated.
A slight click sounded.
Suddenly, as the leading man stepped back, sothing seed to fall from him, landing with a soft noise on the ground.
The other two, both top-tier strong figures, instantly projected their senses to look at the ground.
But what caused both of their pupils to constrict was that the object on the ground turned out to be a chunk of gray-white wax!
"Let’s go, ti to head back," the leader seed oblivious, turning to leave first.
The other two exchanged a glance, both reading deep concern in each other’s eyes.
"Even the leader is showing signs of waxing... The encroachnt of White Wax is getting more severe. I worry that before the ultimate destruction arrives, the Church might falter, unable to wait for the destruction to cleanse and reshape everything."
According to the teachings of the Church, after completing the destruction ritual, initiating the reboot of all things, their affiliated Church would be exempted, allowing consciousness to carry over to the next rebirth of the world.
But with the addition of White Wax, a covert erosion had introduced another layer of crisis within the Church.
The chief god seed to tacitly permit and pay no attention to this.
This resulted in growing rifts within the Pure White Church.
The leader’s changes cast a shadow over both of their hearts.
Lately, the holy war had also beco increasingly taxing, with many high-ranking mbers only superficially complying, making no real progress.
’This can’t go on...’ the two silently communicated, ’No one knows what White Wax truly wants, but the abnormalities in the middle and upper echelons are mounting, and it may eventually lead to disaster...’
’It is the will of God,’ the other replied gravely.
Silently, the chill in their hearts grew denser; after the mbers of White Wax joined, the execution of the ritual indeed sped up, but... a profound chill was silently spreading throughout the entire Church.
*
*
*
The surface.
Sowhere in the outskirts of the Venus Federation.
Ludian City Official Wen Lin and Hunter Division Chief Liedeman arrived together, alighting from a sleek luxury car.
Looking around, they found the area desolate and quiet, barren as if it were an abandoned wasteland.
And directly in front of them stood an odd, grey-black stone fortress, silently towering over what should have been empty plains.
The fortress was not large, a hundred ters long and over thirty ters high, looking like a triangle set upon a square with a simple, rough structure.
Besides that, so climbing vines were arranged on the outer walls, and right at the center of the gate was a strange, unique pattern.
"Is this the Garden’s nearby stronghold?" Wen Lin asked in a low voice.
He was just a city official and didn’t understand why he was tasked by superiors to handle this matter.
Liedeman offered no explanation, rely beckoning him to follow, which led them to this place.
"Yes... Let’s go. Let’s head in," Liedeman nodded with a complex expression.
He too had been sowhat baffled when he received the ssage.
He had heard of the Garden but hadn’t expected that even the higher echelons would be alard.
Without any subordinates accompanying them, they reached the iron gates and pressed the bell.
Beep...
The crisp bell rang out.
The gate opened automatically.
Without hesitation, the two quickly entered, following the cobblestone path straight ahead to the front entrance of the fortress.
The main gate also slowly opened, revealing a dim interior with no lights on, only the faint daylight casting through open windows, illuminating a small patch of dark wood flooring.
"Hunters and we have always kept to our own paths. What brings you here?" A beautiful woman with silver-white long hair slowly erged from a dark corner, half her face covered by a silver mask, yet her alluring and bewitching appearance, far beyond ordinary won, could still be discerned.
"We are here to convey a request from the Sunlight Council. The Pure White Praises’ arrangent of the destruction ritual is nearly complete, and once finished, the world will be thoroughly destroyed and restarted. We have mobilized all forces to stop it, but still cannot catch up to their speed of arranging new rituals, so... Under these circumstances, we should unite all the forces we can, to jointly counter the destruction plans of the Pure White Praises," Liedeman carefully chose his words, pronouncing each one with gravity.
The Garden was not just occupying the underworld but also rapidly encroaching on the Pantheon Alliance, the Elental Theocracy, and the Elven Theocracy, its imnse power and quick expansion startling all who knew.
Hence, soone at the Sunlight Council proposed the idea of bringing the Garden into the fight against the holy war.
The final vote was unanimous in favor.
Thereby ca the joint visit of Liedeman and Wen Lin, as they had the most contact with Garden mber Li Chengyi.
"I will report to the leader. You may return and await the outco," the woman replied coolly.
Left with no alternative, Wen Lin and Liedeman retreated and left.
Soon after the two n departed, Li Chengyi slowly stepped out from the darkness, thoughtfully watching the direction they had gone.
"Sending these two to ally with us against the Pure White Praises?" Clearly, the Sunlight Council, backed by the Pantheon Alliance, the Elf God System, the Elent God System, and the War God System, had so certainty about his identity.
They did not realize, however, that he was the true leader of the Garden.
"Master, I’ve also received intelligence here. The Sunlight Council hasn’t just reached out to us; they’ve secretly contacted so archbishops of the Pure White Praises, planning to hold a eting soon, under the guise of the birthday banquet for Cachi, the Venus Federation’s Deputy Speaker," said the silver-haired woman, Morf, who had once been subdued by Li Chengyi as the leader of the New Moon Congregation in Ludian.
"Interesting, they stage a holy war while holding secret feasts to exchange information. The Sunlight Council sure does play a diverse ga," Li Chengyi remarked lightly.
"This banquet is highly confidential. If we didn’t have Church high-ranking mbers invited to attend, we also wouldn’t have been able to detect anything. Perhaps the Council’s higher-ups plan to negotiate a ceasefire with the Pure White Praises?" Morf speculated.
"Never mind that. We’ll just follow the plan," Li Chengyi instructed.
The Garden was still avidly collecting all sorts of flowers, with the latest Wisteria Flowers already located and en route from various locations.
Once assembled, he could enhance the Wisteria Flowers again, achieving the seventh evolution, and reaching the Ultimate Form.
Each evolution would increase the amplification factor of the Floral Dress for him, and the strengthening of a single Floral Dress would lead to an overall enhancent of the Divine Flower Gourt.
Adding to that, reaching the True Fire Realm with the Sword Furnace, Li Chengyi kept growing stronger by the mont.
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