Yaoguang's Preparations
As the Jidu Mirage was about to arrive at Fanghu, the sky was already so overcast it was suffocating.
Even the thickest clouds have some gaps, but the Jidu Mirage had none. Looking up from the outer harbor pier, all you could see was an impossibly low expanse of darkness, with the edges even sank inch by inch, making it impossible to look up.
When Jingxing stood on the highest step of the pier, a dull thud came from beneath his feet.
It seemed that the entire Fanghu was trembling because of the arrival of the Jidu Mirage.
As Jingxing walked from the Tidewatch Pavilion to the outer harbor, he didn't dare to look around too much. On the main streets of the inner city, there were queues of people retreating in, carrying poles, bamboo baskets, and rolled-up bedding, all crammed together. The low tables set up at the roadside tea stalls were overturned, and a layer of dust had even settled on the tabletops.
The eggs from the Molting Rebirth Hall were carried hurriedly through the street. An old woman from the Vidyadhara stood at her door, muttered something, and then tightly closed the door.
The Denizens of Abundance Allied Forces, which was floating outside the outer harbor, also pressed forward, taking advantage of the momentum of the Jidu Mirage. They formed a crooked and disorderly formation on the mudflats, with their flags stuck to the flagpoles by the wind. A large, dark mass of people moved forward along the receding waterline.
Jingxing glanced at them twice and then looked away— the Denizens of Abundance over there didn't need his attention.
The sky above the Jidu Mirage, and at a certain point, a net-like pattern lit up the entire sky, spreading out densely as if it were about to shatter at any moment.
The seawater outside Fanghu was pulled up and flowed backwards into the sky. The water columns under the pier shot into the air and dispersed into mist. The mist was then pressed back by the wind, sticking to the railings and splashing onto Jingxing's face.
He stopped, turned around, and witnessed the moment when the Jidu Mirage emerged from the clouds.
First came an undulating darkness, then ridges, rift valleys, and layers upon layers of rock faces—the surface of the Jidu Mirage, awakening from its slumber, appeared barren, like an upside-down mountain falling straight towards Fanghu.
The descent wasn't fast, but with each approach, the sky seemed to shrink, and the Fanghu trembled. The iron chains beneath the pier were pulled taut, emitting a series of ear-piercing clangs.
"This is what it means to revitalize a planet," Jingxing murmured.
The Jidu Mirage seemed to open its gaping maw, ready to tear Fanghu's flesh and blood for its own use.
Jingxing could feel the Xianzhou beneath his feet resisting. Fanghu's grotto-heaven completely enveloped the inner city, stubbornly holding back the corner of the sky that had been crushed by the Jidu Mirage. Without the protection of this grotto-heaven, the gravity alone would have been enough to crush the entire ship city into a ball, not Jidu Mirage to land.
The water in the inland river was completely drained, leaving only a layer of mist clinging to the ground. The remaining lanterns on the street had long been taken down one by one by people who knew that disaster was imminent.
The decks on both sides of the pier were filled with Cloud Knights. The team was urging everyone to retreat to the inner city. The sound of the horns was suppressed by the wind and sounded like a sob coming from underwater.
Jingxing arrived at the location he had chosen, stretched out his hand, Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer jumped out of the sachet and landed in his palm.
The next second, just as Jingxing was preparing to transform his Path Energy to fight, he didn't hear any sound, but a stream of heat suddenly descended from the sky.
Above the Jidu Mirage that was crashing down from above, hundreds of familiar forces suddenly exploded from all directions, surging towards Jingxing.
"What are these...?" Jingxing was taken aback. These energies were all too familiar, originating from the same source as the energy in his hand, yet mixed with some of the aura from Fu Xuan.
"Are those the 'ink blocks' we've been preparing all this time?" Jingxing closed his eyes, trying to sense the location of the ink blocks.
The ink blocks emanated an energy familiar to Jingxing. They connected with each other, outlining images on the surface of the Jidu Mirage, all of which were clearly captured by Jingxing.
Although they couldn't emit light, these ink blocks lit up one by one in Jingxing's mind, just like lamps.
"Although I don't know how Yaoguang did it," Jingxing smiled, "Now I know what to do."
He raised the Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer, pointed it at the Jidu Mirage, then with a horizontal stroke, Jingxing gripped the brush handle and made a single stroke.
The hundreds of bursting ink blocks all stopped abruptly, as if someone had unplugged the power cord in a room full of stereos.
Scattered light, swirling ink, expanding Imaginary Energy... all converged on Jingxing, forming an invisible net on the surface of the Jidu Mirage, enveloping this revitalized planet that had been dormant for many years.
Moreover, Jingxing could sense that Fu Xuan's Constraint were still wrapped around these energy "threads," tightly bound in circles.
Perhaps because all this energy came from him, Jingxing even had the illusion that Fu Xuan was hugging him from behind.
"Looks like I'll have to borrow your—no, I mean, the power of the Xianzhou," Jingxing muttered to himself.
This Constraint is precisely the source of his confidence to act freely. There is no need to worry that Fanghu will follow in the footsteps of Priva II.
Jingxing took a deep breath and silently pressed the pen down.
He wants to use "Temperance" to curb the "Abundance" abundance.
If the Jidu Mirage were left to its own devices, it could devour the entire Fanghu.
Then let it stop, or even disappear.
A horn sounded from the inner city, the sound of the Cloud Knights gathering their ranks. They had their own battlefield, which had nothing to do with Jingxing's side.
Jingxing pressed down on his brush, preparing to dip it in the energy bound to the Jidu Mirage and begin painting.
When he made his first stroke, he felt that the Jidu Mirage was like a sheet of rice paper soaked in water. His energy, when applied, was like ink that could not spread, only limiting the area where the stroke landed.
He continued to intensify his efforts, allowing the Beauty Path Energy to seep into the Jidu Mirage layer by layer, following the mountain ridges, rift valleys, and rock surfaces.
The sharp edges that had grown on the surface of the mirage by absorbing the energy of the Fanghu, and were sprouting outwards, snapped off one by one with a "crack" under Jingxing's influence.
Even the speed at which the Jidu Mirage landed noticeably slowed down.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jingxing also caught a glimpse of Cloud Knights rushing out of the city from the southeast, and the Denizens of Abundance Allied Forces began to clash.
"Actually, it doesn't matter if we stay in the city," he muttered to himself.
In this war, the Denizens of Abundance Allied Forces had to delay the arrival of the Jidu Mirage, and now Jingxing needed to deal with the Jidu Mirage. If he failed, the Xianzhou Alliance would have the opportunity to activate the Cloud-Gazing Mirror and summon the Reignbow’s Manifestation. If he succeeded, the invading Denizens of Abundance Allied Forces would be utterly annihilated by the Cloud Knights.
"That's why I'm the key player." Jingxing muttered to himself as he continued to wield the Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer, painting on the body of the Jidu Mirage.