Azure Dragon

When his consciousness returned, Lu Li was startled to find that he was no longer in Fubo Camp.

He now stood in a dim, gloomy world, surrounded by an eerie presence that sent chills down his spine.

Within this uncanny realm, countless terrifying Remnants emerged from the water like ghosts.

Suddenly, in his reflection in the water, he spotted a mysterious woman dressed in red who seemed to be the Remnants' leader.

Then, without warning, he began to see through the Remnants' eyes.

During this strange experience, Lu Li saw a Remnant pursuing a Midnight Ranger.

Just as the Remnant was about to deliver a fatal blow to the Midnight Ranger, however, a general clad in blue-green appeared like a flash of lightning, a spear in his hand.

With astonishing speed and strength, he killed the Remnant in a single strike.

Overwhelmed with relief and delight, the rescued Midnight Ranger cried out, "General!"

The Tacet Mark on the general's back shone. He turned his face slightly and gave a slow nod of acknowledgment.

Yet the general's arrival seemed to enrage the Remnants.

Like a surging tide, they launched a frenzied assault on him from every side.

The general remained composed, however. Gripping his spear tightly, he drove the Remnants back one after another with unstoppable might.

Before him, the Remnants could not advance another inch.

As the battle intensified, a massive Azure Dragon soared from his body, sweeping through the surrounding Remnants with unparalleled might and destroying them one by one.

When the dust gradually cleared, every Remnant that had surrounded the general was gone.

In their place stood Midnight Rangers, solemn and imposing, waiting silently behind him.

Then the general thrust his spear into the air and gave a deep, powerful cry: "Follow the Azure Dragon's guidance! Fight!"

Lu Li's consciousness grew hazy. Darkness filled his vision, and he heard anxious calls beside his ears.

"...Lu Li-Lu Li-"

Lu Li jolted awake, a bead of cold sweat sliding across his forehead.

"What... was that...?"

By then, A Piao had also slipped off Lu Li's shoulders and was pressed close against him, leaning on his shoulder.

A Piao held her forehead with a pained expression, as though enduring a mental assault.

Yangyang sighed in relief. "You're awake. What just happened? Why hasn't A Piao woken up yet?"

Lu Li carried A Piao aside and sat her down against the wall.

Then he frowned and said, "I think... I was hallucinating?"

Yangyang said, "You two gave me a fright... You suddenly froze on the spot, and no matter what I said, neither of you responded. What did you see?"

"I think I was seeing through a Remnant's eyes. Everything was dark, and that place seemed to be... a battlefield?"

"Then I saw a woman in red reflected in the water. She seemed to be controlling those Remnants..."

Yangyang frowned in thought. "...Dressed in red, controlling the Tacet Discord tide..."

"The Fractsidus..."

"You sensed a nearby battlefield across space... What happened after that? Did you notice anything else?"

Lu Li still felt a little dizzy. Holding his head, he struggled to remember.

"Then there was a general in blue-green who drove back all the Remnants, and a massive Azure Dragon that rose from the ground. I also saw a lot of Midnight Rangers charging into battle with him."

Yangyang was somewhat astonished. "The man you described... The Azure Dragon leading his troops has the might to sweep across the wilds and soar above ten thousand soldiers. It is the banner of the Midnight Rangers, and a symbol belonging to their general alone... Jiyan."

"And on the nearby front lines, Jiyan is leading a vast army against the Tacet Discord tide."

Lu Li asked in confusion, "That man was Jiyan? But I've never met him."

As he puzzled over this, A Piao slowly stirred awake beside him.

Seeing this, Lu Li reached out and soothingly stroked her back. "A Piao, how are you feeling?"

She shook her head to show that she was all right.

"What did you see?"

After A Piao explained, they discovered that she had seen the same battlefield as Lu Li.

She had awakened later than him because she had also gone through a battle at the end.

A Piao said, "Something is very wrong with all of this."

Yangyang explained, "This battle is itself a sign of some kind of disturbance, or perhaps it is both."

"The flow coming from the Norfall Barrens is more oppressive and suffocating than ever before."

"There must be something on that battlefield right now that has a connection to you both, though we don't yet know what it is."

Lu Li drew a sharp breath. "Wait, I remember hearing a voice before I lost consciousness?"

A Piao calmly reasoned, "There's something inside my body."

She turned toward Lu Li. "You heard it too?"

"Yes. The voice sounded very young, like a child's. I remember it saying... food?"

Yangyang considered this. "Was it a Remnant? Were you resonating with a Remnant...? I didn't sense the frequency of any voice."

Lu Li rubbed his chin. "It was probably because A Piao was touching me at the time."

Before he lost consciousness, A Piao had been riding on his back and stroking his face. Lu Li suspected that was the reason.

"Whatever that being is, perhaps I can..." A Piao rose as she spoke.

Puzzled, Lu Li and Yangyang followed her toward Fubo Camp's terrace.

A Piao closed her eyes and extended her right hand.

A strange, ethereal frequency rippled before her right hand, distorting that patch of space.

She seemed to be sensing something.

Then A Piao abruptly opened her eyes. The shape of a Tacet Mark appeared in her pupils, gradually shining with golden light.

It reminded Lu Li of Sanhua back then. Her pupils had looked the same, except hers had been red.

"A Piao?" Yangyang asked in confusion.

A Piao explained, "Bai Zhi said earlier that the Leaf had Remnant frequency fluctuations."

"The final token, the Leaf, points over there."

She pointed southwest.

Yangyang followed the direction of her finger with her gaze. "...That's Qichi Village, on the Central Plains Plateau."