The Decaying World
Chapter 262 - 250: Disturbance (2)
"Please don’t concern yourself, Deputy City Lord," Ouyang Yining replied quickly. "On the contrary, your reputation is excellent. Many women were hoping to secure this position. I only managed to win it because my physique and constitution gave me an advantage."
She wasn’t lying. Lin Hui’s reputation among the Blood Ancestors was indeed excellent. He was known for his fondness for women, but he wasn’t tyrannical, had a stable temperament, and didn’t seem to suffer from any dangerous side effects from his abilities. He spent most of his days cultivating and rarely involved himself in administrative matters.
Many Blood Ancestors hoped their kin could get close to Lin Hui and form a favorable connection.
Of course, the most crucial factor was that Lin Hui’s aptitude seemed absurdly high. Furthermore, Liu Xiao had been unable to bear the essence of his bloodline and hadn’t become pregnant after all this time. This gave others ideas—if only they could seize this opportunity to obtain even a sliver of his bloodline...
"Alright. You know the exact location of the divine group’s disturbance, right?" Lin Hui asked no more questions, getting straight to the point.
"Yes. It’s in the Jade Sea, approximately twenty thousand miles northwest of Black Cloud. The Minglan Divine Group seems to have held some sort of large-scale ritual there, causing the surrounding ocean for a thousand miles to turn black. Red lightning fills the air, the fog has thickened, and visibility is near zero."
Ouyang Yining continued.
"According to reports from passing merchant fleets, the area has become a dead zone of black fog. The wind cannot disperse it. An Elder went to probe it earlier, but their attacks had no effect. Now, the fog seems to be expanding. If it isn’t controlled, it’s certain to affect the main shipping route between the cities of Black Cloud and Tianchong, which will have a huge impact on our trade fleets."
"Let’s go take a look first," Lin Hui said with a nod. "Does Extreme Desire Heaven have a contingency plan?"
Every city district had an Extreme Desire Heaven and a Taixu Origin Disk. Since the Fogman City Lord generally didn’t manage day-to-day affairs, these two institutions complemented each other to run the city. Therefore, for a matter like this, Extreme Desire Heaven, as the administrative body, should have already tried all sorts of solutions.
That was why he asked.
"Extreme Desire Heaven has already attempted over a dozen different dispersal rituals, but none have worked. After analyzing samples, they discovered that the black fog contains a very strange, unknown power. It isn’t the Divine Power of a Fog Spirit; instead, it’s some bizarre energy drawn from the night’s mist. It will be very difficult to resolve this quickly. According to their projections, there are only two ways to completely disperse the fog: either use a higher concentration of powerful energy to forcibly compress, scatter, and overwhelm it, or go deep inside and eliminate the source," Ouyang Yining said in a low voice.
"Have they tried to eliminate the source?" Lin Hui asked.
"They’ve tried nine times. The strongest team that went in had a Palace Master-level expert, and none of them returned," Ouyang Yining replied.
"Last question. What’s your power Realm?"
"I was just promoted to Blood Ancestor and have not yet joined Extreme Desire Heaven or the Taixu Origin Disk. The merits from this battle will determine my future placement," Ouyang Yining answered swiftly.
"Move out." Lin Hui was struck by the situation. ’They’ve assigned a Blood Ancestor to be my assistant. This disturbance must be incredibly thorny.’
The entire Black Army rose and formed ranks at the edge of the Moon Tower.
At the edge, which had no railings, a set of steps led downward.
The steps descended to a small, circular platform of white jade.
High in the sky beyond the platform, massive, all-black Moth Cars clad in silver armor hovered in the air.
Each of these moths had four wings with white, eye-shaped markings at their centers. Their mouthparts were extremely sharp and serrated, giving them a vicious appearance.
One Moth Car could hold ten soldiers of the Black Army. Eleven Moth Cars in total picked up their passengers one by one, soon flying out from the relic’s protective array. They braved the fierce winds, heading toward the Unstable Sea Region.
Lin Hui stood in the largest Moth Car, gazing forward.
Above the sea of fog, a brilliant golden sun hung high in the distant sky.
The sky above was blue.
The sea of fog below was grayish-white.
Lin Hui looked down. Below their fleet of Moth Cars, smaller squadrons of Moth Cars occasionally flew past. There were also groups of them pulling large, magnificent-looking commercial vessels, sailing across the sea of fog.
This place was far more bustling than Tuyue.
With a single glance over the sea of fog, one could see no fewer than twenty groups of Moth Cars and sky-ships entering and leaving Black Cloud.
As time went on, such sights grew less frequent, eventually disappearing altogether.
The boundless, white sea of fog returned to tranquility.
"Deputy City Lord, the next leg of the journey is quite far, so we’ll need to briefly accelerate the Moth Cars. We’ll also use a treasured relic to enter a Void Well to save time. Please be careful not to extend your Heart and Spirit outward. The rapid transitional jump could cause it to be torn and damaged," Ouyang Yining advised.
"Understood!" Lin Hui nodded. "What is a Void Well?"
"Void Wells are special apertures created when rare, treasure-class relics activate their super-divine speed ability. These voids only appear when a certain speed threshold is surpassed, and they exist for only a flash. Entering one allows you to travel over six thousand miles in a straight line in an incredibly short time. That’s why they are typically used for ultra-long-distance voyages."
Ouyang Yining had reviewed Lin Hui’s file beforehand. She knew he came from the small territory of Tuyue and was unfamiliar with a great deal of common knowledge, so she explained everything patiently.
"I see... What about the super-divine speed of the Fog People? Can that activate a Void Well?" Lin Hui asked.
"Well... I’m only a Blood Ancestor, and a newly promoted one at that. I’m afraid I don’t know about such matters... My apologies," Ouyang Yining said, looking troubled.
Lin Hui nodded with understanding and said no more.