"It's true," Zhang Yao nodded. "This newly appointed Vice City Lord resolved the sea-region anomaly just a few days ago, dismantling a Mist God ritual that would have cost hundreds of thousands of lives. His strength is more than sufficient for the responsibility. Does Excellency Tang have any advice?"
"I wouldn't dare." Tang Hanxi paused, a knowing smile spreading across her lips. "This is Black Cloud's affair—I wouldn't presu to offer reckless suggestions. Brother Xie would be quite displeased when he returns. It's simply that the Federation's Inner and Outer Courts have never seen an ordinary person serve as Vice City Lord. Even with Black Cloud's might, once this news travels, it will draw a great deal of covetousness. Did you anticipate that?"
"Since we made the decision, Black Cloud will bear the consequences." Zhang Yao's expression remained impassive; he gave a slight nod. "I only wonder how Excellency Tang learned of this. We originally intended to suppress the news for a while and buy a few peaceful days."
"Soone is spreading it deliberately, naturally. A mortal serving as Vice City Lord is already a rarity. To hold such a post without even being a Blood Ancestor, his devouring value must be extraordinary—the benefits of devouring him would far eclipse those of an ordinary Blood Ancestor." Tang Hanxi smiled.
"What do you an by that?" Zhang Yao asked after a brief silence.
"Why ask when you already know the answer, Brother Zhang? Everyone is burning with curiosity. What kind of fortune could allow a re mortal to rise and rival Divine Descendants—or even lesser Mistborn? If one could devour and fuse with a fortune like that, what heights could they reach?" Tang Hanxi let out a soft, unhurried laugh. "Tsk, tsk… frightening just to think about."
Zhang Yao said nothing. This was precisely the concern he had already raised with his eldest brother and third sister. Now Tang Hanxi was stating it plainly to his face. He shared the sa worry, but his siblings were straightforward by nature—they believed in dealing with others in good faith. Devouring was reserved for enemies alone and could never be turned on their own people. So he had pushed his misgivings down and said no more.
Now those misgivings were coming to life. Once news of Lin Hui's existence spread, he would beco a blazing beacon in the dark for every Mistborn hungry for greater strength. The Federation only governed Mistborn on the surface; in the shadows, solitary rogue Mistborn had almost certainly already caught wind of him and were converging.
"Regardless, my eldest brother and third sister are currently out—partly to intercept those who have already moved on the news," Zhang Yao said gravely. "I must still thank Excellency Tang for bringing this to our attention so promptly." He cupped his fists.
"If you want to thank , make it practical. I want the thirteen mbers of my clan that Black Cloud previously detained returned," Tang Hanxi smiled.
"Agreed," Zhang Yao nodded.
"Straightforward. Then I'll throw in another piece of news at no charge." Tang Hanxi slapped her thigh and laughed. "This matter has already caught the attention of Princess Song Feishi. You know her temperant. Even after the reformation into a Federation, the reach and influence of the first Mistborn Emperor's bloodline is sothing an ordinary city cannot compare to. This princess's own strength is equally formidable. If she has taken an interest in this… the trouble will be considerable."
Zhang Yao's brows drew together at the na. Rogue Mistborn were a minor nuisance by comparison. Princess Song Feishi was a genuine disaster. She was notoriously difficult, and she placed supre importance on bloodline purity—a fierce, uncompromising champion of the theory of maintaining a pristine Mistborn lineage.
"Would such a small matter truly be enough to attract the Fourth Princess's attention?" Zhang Yao asked quietly.
"Pfft—think about it. A mortal capable of rivaling a standard Mistborn? How many years has it been since one of those appeared? Across the Federation's hundreds of thousands of years of history, only a tiny handful have ever erged. Of the Mistborn who devoured them in the past, which one isn't terrifyingly powerful today?"
"Vice City Lord Lin Hui is still far from reaching their level, isn't he?" Zhang Yao said, at a loss.
"He's getting close. In any case, I've delivered the ssage—how you handle it is your affair." Tang Hanxi smiled. "Those rogue Mistborn you can afford to ignore; Corruption will take them before long. But this Fourth Princess… tsk, tsk."
Zhang Yao felt a headache building behind his eyes. He had already guessed who had leaked the news—Tuyue, almost certainly. But the Federation forbade Mistborn City Lords from killing one another, and he could not wage war on Tuyue over this alone. Could he even hold his seat as City Lord if he did?
He had imagined that suppressing the news would win Black Cloud a peerless general for free—an anchor that would hold the city as steady as a mountain. Instead, events had veered sharply off course.
Now that the news was out, Lin Hui's presence was slowly tilting from an asset into a liability. It was only because Black Cloud was powerful enough that the outside world was still confined to churning undercurrents. A weaker City Lord would have had Mistborn at the gate long ago.
…
Lin Hui, anwhile, had no idea that a mounting storm was gathering around him. He had changed his attire, applied a disguise, and was flying at full speed toward Eagle-man Island—deliberately avoiding a Moth Carriage to leave no trail. Relying entirely on his control of Wind Force, he drove himself to a blazing speed that matched the carriage all the sa.
On this trip, he needed not only to extract the pulsation of life, but also to reinforce the Nine Eyes seal. The High Divine Officer-level Mist monsters he had stored previously were far from sufficient for confronting Mistborn.
For the Nine Eyes to rge into one and pose a genuine threat to a Mistborn, the sealed specins needed to be at least at the level of a top-tier Blood Ancestor. Mist monsters of that caliber were not easy to find around the urban districts. Even within a pantheon of gods, they ranked in the upper tier—second only to Mist Gods themselves, and in fact, so of the weaker Mist Gods fell right at that level.
It was a long-term problem. He would have to plan carefully.
The jade-green ocean streaked past below him. From ti to ti, Lin Hui raised his wrist to check his watch, tracking the ti elapsed.
Black Cloud produced quite a few similar devices. On the surface, they resembled the wristwatches from his previous life, but their tikeeping principles were entirely different. The clocks and watches here used Internal Force to sense the rhythmic pulse of the greater external environnt, taking that as their fundantal counter.
So while there were still seconds, minutes, and hours, Lin Hui had no real way of knowing how closely the ti here corresponded to ti in his past life.
As he flew, Lin Hui found himself hoping, almost idly, that this trip might offer a chance to test the Clear Source Law Body's true lethality against a Mistborn. Last ti, he hadn't dared go all out, but a different environnt and a different identity changed the situation considerably. If he could catch a solitary Mistborn out here, above this boundless ocean—one going missing wouldn't cause much of a stir.
He reined the thought in. His primary objective was what mattered. Suppressing the urge to double back and hunt Tuyue, he pressed on toward Eagle-man Island.
Soon, a vast grayish-white Boundary Wall flashed past beneath him along the sea surface. Beyond it, the Mist thickened rapidly, and the seawater began to bubble and churn.
Vague yet powerful gazes pierced through the churning water, tracking Lin Hui as he shot overhead. The territory outside the Boundary Wall was a high-danger zone. High Divine Officer-level Mist monsters were everywhere; weaker ones survived only by clustering around them.
Lin Hui didn't slow down—he accelerated.
About two hours later, a bizarre landmass composed entirely of golden peaks finally rose from the sea ahead. There was almost no flat ground to speak of; the entire mass was a crush of strangely shaped golden summits, dense smaller peaks layered over one another and piled into towering formations.
Eagle-man Island. A wave of quiet relief moved through him. He hadn't gotten lost after all.
He bled off speed, hovering in place, then began a wide circuit around the landmass's periter to read the situation.
He hadn't gone far before he spotted a fully enclosed silver tal cargo ship drawing toward the shore, sails coming down. Eagle-headed figures with black wings growing from their backs—Eagle-n—were escorting columns of blank-faced humans out of the hold and lining them up on the ground.
Lin Hui's expression shifted. He swept several more sections of the shoreline and found it was no isolated incident. At regular intervals, all around the island, cargo ships were unloading human cargo in the sa thodical fashion.
From the heavily accented Federation language spoken by the Eagle-n, Lin Hui pieced it together: Eagle-man Island was essentially a notorious transit hub and trading post for human slaves, operating outside the Boundary Wall. Enormous numbers of slaves were concentrated here and redistributed in every direction—so sold as food to non-Federation organizations, others sold as laborers to the major urban districts. Newly established Mistborn city-states also purchased large populations from here, taking them back to fill their territories. The population was a raw commodity.
Once he had confird what Eagle-man Island was, Lin Hui lost any remaining thought of giving it a chance at redemption. But he still needed to extract the pulsation of life.
How do I get it?
He hung in the sky, staring at the haze-shrouded island, and turned the problem over. Even from this distance, a massive, transparent fluctuation swept continuously outward from the island, signaling tight security. For an island of this scale to survive for so long in the open Jade Sea, it had to be running robust defenses. Waiting for it to stumble into sudden danger on its own was not a viable plan.
If I want to harvest the pulsation of life, I first need to cripple Eagle-man Island's defense system. Strip away its protection, and it will fall into danger and despair naturally enough. Step in at the right mont—and I can harvest a massive pulsation of life in one sweep. He gazed out at the distant island. So. What is the core of the defense system, and how do I reach it?
He was so absorbed in thought that he failed to notice the figure behind him.
Far across the Jade Sea, a grayish-green humanoid shape was closing fast, cutting across the water like a shooting star. Within the blur of motion, one could just make out a tall, gaunt man with two heads.
After lying in wait for so many days, I finally caught him… Lin Hui… Dao Master of the Clear Wind Dao… Green light flared in the man's eyes. The triocular eye between his brows yawned wide, the corners weeping blood as it fixed desperately on Lin Hui's trail. Devour him, and my strength will surge by leaps and bounds. Then I’ll establish a city-state and spread Corruption. I could even beco a City Lord.
Of the five rogue Mistborn drawn in by the news, they had spread out around Black Cloud from every direction, waiting for Lin Hui to leave the city alone. This one had been the lucky one—Lin Hui had departed in his direction.
What he hadn't counted on was the speed. Lin Hui moved far faster than anticipated. He also couldn't risk triggering the Moon Tower's monitoring by pushing to Super Divine Speed, so he had no choice but to chase at a grinding disadvantage, falling further behind with every passing second.
Beco a Pledge mber to read chapters in advance.
Join our Discord community to explore exclusive visuals and connect with fellow readers.
Please leave a 5-star rating on Novel Updates!
[Index]
[Next Chapter]
Reviews
All reviews (0)