The Geo Archon Has Been Murdered, Seal Off the Area!

"The Rite of Descension is about to begin! Hurry, let's go take a look!"

Hearing the loud announcement, Emergency Food immediately perked up with interest. She gave a cheeky grin and hurried off ahead of them.

Lumine paused and glanced at Bi Ji beside her. The latter smiled. "Let's go. We should take a look too!"

The two hurried over, only to find they were still a step too late. The crowd had already formed three packed rings around the area.

"Traveler, let's move a little closer. We can't see anything from out here."

"Okay!"

After some jostling, Lumine and Emergency Food finally squeezed their way to the front row.

In the square.

Ningguang's expression was solemn. She looked up at the sky, and when she confirmed that the auspicious hour had arrived, she let out a long breath. The earth and stone around her immediately began to churn.

The Geo element began to roil and surge, forming rocks all around her. Then, with a wave of her hand, they shot toward the censer at the center of the platform, the spot she had indicated.

In an instant.

The censer began to tremble. Moments later, golden light blazed from it, and a beam of gold shot into the sky, bursting open above them.

A moment later.

The once-clear sky began to darken. It was as if all of Liyue Harbor had plunged into the dead of night, with the moon and stars shining brightly overhead.

At the same time, a blue tornado churned and twisted through the sky.

Seeing this, Ningguang's expression froze. Clearly, this scene had taken her by surprise; she had never expected anything like it.

And then, in the next instant—

A thick plume of black smoke suddenly rose into the sky, spreading at astonishing speed until it completely swallowed the blue tornado and even the golden beam of light.

"Hm?"

At this sight, it wasn't just Ningguang who froze. Everyone present did, too.

Some of those present were taking part for the first time, while others had attended many times. But even those who had witnessed the ceremony again and again had never seen anything like this.

"What... what's going on?"

At the sight of the black fog, even the first-timers in the crowd felt that something was terribly wrong.

Especially—

Tianfeng Douluo, hidden among the crowd, was also utterly bewildered. "Why does something feel... off?"

He was still muttering to himself when—

A deafening boom suddenly rang out from the sky.

A massive black shadow plummeted from above and slammed straight into the offering platform, smashing the censer that had just emitted the golden light to smithereens!

"Bang!"

The huge shadow struck the ground with a heavy crash, kicking up clouds of dust and ash. The entire crowd erupted in an uproar!

"W-what is that thing?"

"Wasn't this supposed to be some Rite of Descension? Why did something just fall out of the sky?"

"Wait, look! That looks like... a dragon!"

Across the Douluo Continent, countless living beings saw the figure revealed as the fog parted and drew sharp breaths. "My goodness, it's a giant dragon!"

Star Dou Great Forest, forbidden zone.

Di Tian's eyes widened like bells. Zi JI beside him looked shocked as well. "Beast God, this—"

"Could it be the Mountain Dragon King?"

Beast God Di Tian said nothing. He silently called out in his heart, My Lord?

I see it.

Likewise, the Silver Dragon King in the Silver Dragon Space froze. But a moment later, she shook her head slightly. "It shouldn't be the Mountain Dragon King..."

"Then what is it...?"

"I don't know."

The Silver Dragon King answered frankly, "We can only see what's on the screen. We can't sense its aura, so we can't tell whether it belongs to the dragon race."

Hearing this, Beast God Di Tian drew a deep breath. His heart pounded with excitement, his hands trembling.

How many years? How many years had it been...

He had finally found another dragon!

Even if it was from another world!

But in Di Tian's eyes, if it was a dragon, then it belonged to the same lineage!

"Beast God, something's not right!"

Just as Di Tian was thinking this, Zi JI suddenly cried out beside him.

"Hm?"

Di Tian started, then came back to his senses and looked at Zi JI. "What is it?"

"That looks like... a dragon corpse!"

A dragon corpse?

Di Tian froze, then abruptly lifted his head to look.

But before he could see the screen, a sharp voice rang out from within it!

"The Geo Archon has been murdered! Seal off the area!"

After crouching down to examine the dragon corpse, Ningguang's expression changed drastically. She turned and swept out her hand, shouting sharply.

"Millelith!"

In an instant!

Large numbers of Millelith soldiers poured through the archways, weapons in hand, and secured the entire area in the blink of an eye.

"No, this—"

"My goodness, what are they doing?!"

"What happened?"

"What's going on?"

Emergency Food was stunned too. "W-what's going on?"

"She said the Geo Archon was murdered..."

"Could the Geo Archon... be dead?"

Beside her, Bi Ji's eyes widened in shock, her trembling pupils as expressive as a startled goose's.

The same went for everyone else who had come to attend the Rite of Descension. Every single one of them stared in utter shock.

Including Chen Fan, who was among the crowd.

He was now wearing ordinary local Liyue clothes. In such a large crowd, he didn't stand out at all—his outfit was as common as they came.

Earlier.

When Lumine had searched for people, she had started by looking at their clothes. On top of that, she wasn't standing very high up, so she couldn't take in everyone's faces.

Now all that's left is to wait for Lumine to stir up some trouble.

Chen Fan held Qiqi in his arms and thought silently, But with so many people dressed in clothes that don't fit in, the Millelith will surely keep a close eye on them.

Maybe Lumine won't even need to cause a commotion.

After a night spent repairing her spiritual sea, Qiqi's vacant eyes had regained a little of their sparkle. But her spiritual sea had been unstable for so long that she still hadn't adjusted.

The reason she was following Chen Fan now was that his spiritual power had repaired her spiritual sea, making his presence feel familiar to her. So she instinctively stayed close to him.

Once she adjusted, she wouldn't keep forgetting things anymore.

That was the limit of what Chen Fan could do for her under the circumstances.

Just as he was thinking this, Chen Fan suddenly noticed Bi Ji being stopped and questioned.

Perhaps sensing his gaze, Bi Ji instinctively glanced back. Her eyes lit up at once. "That's my husband, and that's my child. We're a family of three here to attend the Rite of Descension!"

The two Millelith soldiers: "?"

They froze, then instinctively looked back at Chen Fan and Qiqi.

Fortunately, Chen Fan had had the foresight to change Qiqi out of her original clothes yesterday. She was also now buried face-first against his chest, so her forehead talisman wasn't visible at first glance.

So the two Millelith soldiers exchanged glances, uncertain what to do.

But just then!

A sudden boom erupted outside, immediately drawing the attention of a large number of Millelith soldiers!

"Look over there! Something's happening!"