Light Fortress

"Rhein City mission, Upper City envoy, North Port mission... have all arrived at Light City."

"Central City, Northwest Frontier, Xiyin, Holy City, have also settled in..."

"The delegations dispatched by Changye Five Families have also gradually arrived. Roughly estimated, there are nearly a thousand Transcendents coming to Light City this time, not counting those scattered individuals without affiliations."

Chu Ling pulled up the data.

Her authority in Light City was greatly suppressed.

This place was controlled by the Light Church, under the will of the Light God’s Seat, she dared not touch the deep water area excessively.

So for safety, she only operated some basic databases at present.

"Wutuo’s whereabouts, still haven’t been found."

Chu Ling slowly said, "He should be here, shouldn’t he..."

Gu Shen opened his eyes from the deck chair.

These days corresponded to the preliminary selection, Light City was overcrowded, countless people paraded on the streets preaching, the church specially held a "grand ceremony" for this solemn event, many believers took to the streets to commemorate this ceremony... Chu Ling tried her best, but still couldn’t locate Wutuo.

This guy seemed to have vanished after landing in Southampton City.

"Light City is still waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"From the looks of it, waiting for everyone to gather."

"The holy ceremony has started, the Torch Trial has also entered the preliminary selection... everyone who should be here is here."

Chu Ling said puzzled, "That ’puppeteer’ who took Wutuo, should let this piece out if they want you to make a move."

...

...

The West Sea, also known as the Sea of Sunset.

This sea region is the place where humans can see the sunset the latest.

In Light City, due to the Divine Miracle shrouding, even after sunset, light still illuminates.

But this place is outside the coverage of the Divine Miracle in Light City...

Therefore, here is the junction of black and white, often presenting a delicate gray when day and night alternate.

"Mr. Yao, do you still remember me?"

Wutuo looked at the sickly man in front of him and teased with a smile, "I thought you had forgotten me."

"How could I forget you?"

Yao Jin smiled slightly, "There have been too many trivial matters in the city these days, giving those East Continent people a chance to wait and temper their patience."

"You’re not just tempering the East Continent people."

Wutuo laughed, "I’ve been like sitting on needles in the West Sea, the connection to [Deep Sea] is disabled here, it’s just like the Secret Dungeon."

"Sorry for treating you unfairly."

Yao Jin said softly, "Don’t underestimate that mysterious ’puppeteer’ from the East Continent, to usurp the belief of Hong Xi and Chen Lin, and extract the first secret line... This person might hold a Divine Artifact like the [Holy Book], if he’s a secret weapon cultivated by Changye, then his strength must be formidable."

"Makes sense."

Wutuo laughed, "But no matter how strong, you have to test it to know, this is Light City... can you really watch me get killed?"

"Of course."

Yao Jin had golden lines swirling on his brow, spreading into a sun.

He smiled, reached out, and grabbed something from the golden vortex with five fingers, slowly raising his arm, a slender box was pulled out.

"These days, I purposely went to the Great Elder to ask for a sealed item."

The box was entirely golden, extremely lavish, carved with a golden phoenix bird, the box body was plain, but it could be confirmed that it was old, these ancient tools were often excavated from [Old World] ruins, mostly created by ancient pre-civilizations.

Wutuo was dumbfounded the moment he saw the golden box.

"Is this... the Red Phoenix Crossbow?"

Among Changye Five Families, the Gong Family’s blood power is related to the mythical creature with a human face and bird body.

The Gong Family calls it [Jialouluo].

While in the West Continent, it’s called [Red Phoenix].

Wutuo murmured, "Did you manage to get the legendary Divine Artifact? Is it prepared for me?"

"What are you thinking?"

Yao Jin laughed, "The genuine artifact is under the Red Lake, that’s the weapon of Lord Divine..."

"Although this one isn’t the genuine article, it’s also a meticulously crafted imitation by the temple, made from leftover materials from ancient ruins, modified on a semi-finished product, though it can’t fully pass for the real thing, it’s considered a quasi-S-level sealed item."

Wutuo received the golden box with both hands, feeling its weight.

"Is this... for me?"

He felt somewhat dazed, still disbelief.

"Hmm... It’s always good to be cautious to prevent accidents." Yao Jin said warmly, "The reason I let you wait these days was also because extracting this [Red Phoenix Crossbow] isn’t a trivial matter, even with the Great Elder’s approval, it takes a few days to complete the temple’s process. Open and see."

Wutuo hurriedly opened the golden box.

A golden crossbow the length of a forearm lay on top of the box.

A wisp of spiritual power swept out from Wutuo, touched the golden crossbow, and at that moment, the [Red Phoenix Crossbow] transformed into countless flowing lights, when it appeared again, it was already bound to his left arm.

"Spiritual weapon..." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Wutuo raised his arm, feeling no change in weight.

He aimed at the distant tides.

At that moment, his mind stirred—

A streak of extremely powerful golden light shot out from his arm, without any sign of accumulation!

"Boom!"

This flash of Spiritual Radiance, incomparably swift, pierced the seawater, seemingly silent.

But Wutuo knows very well...

The damage of this crossbow.

If struck, the body of a Transcendent might be pierced instantly!

"What a powerful weapon..."

His expression was grave, his face slightly pale. Though the weapon’s power was great, it was difficult to use frequently in a battle; firing a shot consumed a lot of his spiritual power!

"This Red Phoenix Crossbow is extremely powerful; as long as spiritual power is locked on, it can be instantly fired," Yao Jin said calmly. "It’s not just for saving your life... Remember, no matter who the opponent is, shoot a crossbow bolt, and ’Light Aura’ will be planted in them. Even if their wounds heal, the Light Aura will not disappear."

Wutuo immediately understood: "Shooting it once is equivalent to planting the ’Light City’ mark..."

"Exactly."

Yao Jin said calmly: "Then... from heaven to earth, there will be no escape."

After saying this, Yao Jin smiled and said: "Next, you can leave the West Sea, it doesn’t matter where... With the methods of that person from the East Continent, as soon as you appear, he has the ability to find you."

"Will appearing so directly be too obvious?"

Wutuo hesitated a bit: "This clearly seems like a trap."

"This is indeed a trap."

Yao Jin shook his head and said: "However, from the day he chased you out of the East Continent, he was already in the trap."

This is an open scheme.

The East Continent wants to kill Wutuo in the West Continent, and must seize the opportunity given by Yao Jin.

"It’s just that for some plays, we still have to act them out fully; you must not enter the city, and there will be no temple strongmen following. Before the ’assassin’ appears, you will be alone."

Yao Jin looked directly into Wutuo’s eyes and said: "Hide the Red Phoenix Crossbow well... After encountering the assassination, leave the rest to me."

...

...

"Wutuo has appeared!"

Chu Ling uploaded a very accurate geographic coordinate.

Gu Shen awoke from his meditative state.

"The Heavenly Eye has captured his movements... He seems to have changed his mind and is no longer hiding. This time he appeared directly, first in the Light City West Market, and then headed south, choosing crowded places as if afraid of not being seen..."

Gu Shen said calmly: "Within Light City, no one dares to act. He’s telling us he’s ready."

After Wutuo made a round in Light City, he indeed went out of the city!

The last coordinate was in a wilderness in the southern suburb of Light City...

Chu Ling updated the final coordinate, where the Heavenly Eye was sparse; it was a place extremely sparsely populated.

"Are you ready to act?"

Gu Shen glanced at the small courtyard; Song Ci was also in meditation, practicing, claiming to help hunt down Wutuo together and asking Gu Shen to call him during action.

But Gu Shen knew he couldn’t do this.

For matters like killing Wutuo, the fewer people the better.

Bringing Song Ci might complicate things afterward.

He silently leaped out of the courtyard, rushing towards the last updated coordinate location.

As dusk fell, twilight descended, Light City remained shrouded in radiance, the streets bustling with grand procession and celebration, countless believers rejoicing, the temple spreading blessings and celebrating with the people; a rare festive scene.

But upon leaving the city.

It was distinctly two different worlds.

Nearing the southern suburb, the solar radiance gradually dissipated, as day and night alternation was a natural law. Forcefully resisting this law within the Divine Domain required burning a large amount of Extraordinary Essence.

The Light God’s Seat would not extend this ’Divine Miracle’ outside the Divine Domain.

Thus, as darkness enveloped, silence reigned, and from afar, the City of Eternal Night seemed like a true sun, emitting countless radiance from inside out.

...

...

The southern suburb wilderness, dried grass everywhere.

Wutuo alone found a withered mountain and sat cross-legged on the peak, patiently waiting.

He stayed within Light City for a full two hours today... Although today’s procession brought countless people to the streets, for an "interested party," this duration was enough to trace his path.

Wutuo first used ancient scripts to carve some simple array patterns.

Then set up barrier-type sealing objects...

He knew the opponent wouldn’t catch up quickly; as Yao Jin said, the personality of the "person behind the scenes" must be cautious, needing some time to confirm there were no ambushers from Light City around before truly taking action.

And this time could be used to prepare some "defensive measures."

So, when the sun completely set and black night fully descended, Wutuo completed his setup on the desolate mountain in the southern suburb of Light City.

He had also awaited the person he was expecting.

Wild winds swirled, blowing from the West Sea direction, crossing the vast Light City, bringing the lingering heat from the frenzied celebrations.

A figure appeared at the foot of the mountain, at some unknown time.

On the mountain top, Wutuo lowered his head, able to see the shadow in the night, raised his palm, snapped his fingers, and a glow of fire ignited on the mountain...

The flame illuminated the silhouette of the Black Shadow.

Yet could not reveal the true face.

The person wore an "Evil Ghost Mask," voice hoarse, containing both anger and sorrow.

"Wutuo, why betray the East Continent?"

...

...

(PS: Still stuck in a writer’s block... Maybe due to continuous writing blowout, my head feels empty these days, taking much time to get into the state.)