Clang—!!!
Before the echoes of the Guixu Great Bell had fully faded, the sky above the relay station changed.
The originally gray Chaos mist was like a startled herd of beasts, frantically shoved apart to both sides. From the ruptures in the clouds, a thick, profound darkness that could swallow even one's gaze silently pressed down.
Inside the tavern.
The Heavenly Prides who had been mocking Stone Ridge Mountain moments ago now looked like chickens with their throats seized. The red-haired young man at their head dropped his clay bowl with a snap, shattering it to pieces. His teeth clattered violently, his legs as limp as noodles; he had to brace himself against the table to avoid collapsing.
"The formation... activate the formation, quickly!"
The relay station steward stumbled and crawled out of the tavern. His official cap hung crookedly to one side, and his voice was as shrill as sandpaper grinding together, the ragged wind tearing from his throat filled with utter urgency.
Buzz—!
The foundations accumulated by the Guixu Relay Station over several Epochs erupted at this moment.
An enormous translucent barrier sprang up instantly. Countless golden runes swam across its surface, madly drawing spirit stones from the Earth Veins. Yet the instant the barrier rose, at the touch of that darkness, the once-brilliant runes became like waste paper splashed with strong acid, rapidly blackening, curling, and dissolving.
Chu Qing stood at the tavern entrance.
He was barefoot, the soles of his feet pressed tightly against the cold bluestone slabs.
That sense of unease was no longer an intangible intuition. It had become a tangible weight, heavily crushing down upon his shoulders. He felt the Purple True Blood in his heart beating faster than ever before, even carrying faint peals of thunder with it.
``` [Profession Column: Chu