"It's a city."
When Tongtian's voice came out from Magic Formation, there was a sinking quality of air pressure. Nezha could hear it clearly from the side, and the flames on Wind-Fire Wheels shrank down a bit.
"How big is the city?"
Gu Changqing's voice was still the same, without any fluctuations, and the question was similar to asking how many cents a pound of cabbage cost today at the vegetable market.
"Visually the diameter exceeds Three Thousand Li, and there are at least twelve layers of Formation barriers around it. Yang Jian and I dare not get too close for fear of triggering the early warning mechanism."
Tongtian paused and lowered his voice by half a minute.
"Master, Heavenly Eye of Yang Jian saw something through the outer barrier."
"What?"
"There are people in the city, many people, but not all of them."
"Thief Race?"
"There are Thief Race and others. Yang Jian said that he saw at least four different racial forms. Some of them he recognized, and some of them didn't even have corresponding entries in Heavenly Eye's database."
When Kelān on Dharma Platform heard this, his body squatting on the edge of the stage leaned forward half an inch.
"Four races." Her voice rose a little higher, "That's a transit station, not a terminal."
Gu Changqing turned his head to look at her.
"Transit station?"
Kelān stood up, clenching his hands under the gray cloak twice and then loosening them.
"The structure of Origin Temple is more complicated than I know. The thirteen sequences are the executive layer on the surface, and there is a Undercover Agent system underneath that is responsible for the transfer of materials and personnel. If there are more than four races mixed in the city of Savage Star Domain, then it will be the hub of Undercover Agent."
"You said before that you only interacted with First Sequence."
"Yes, the Undercover Agent system is not under the control of the sequencer. It is directly responsible to the superiors. I have only heard of such a thing, but I have never seen it with my own eyes."
The voice of Yang Jian from the other end of Communication Array came in, and it was deeper than that of Tongtian.
"Master, let me add a detail."
"Say."
"There is a tower in the middle of the city. There is something hanging on the top of the tower. From the outside, it looks like a mass of black mist. Heavenly Eye cannot penetrate it even at the maximum magnification. However, I compared the energy fluctuation characteristics of the black mist and found that it has the same origin as the sphere in your sleeve."
Gu Changqing's right hand touched the cuff.
"What about the size?"
"If the entity wrapped in the black mist is what I think it is, its diameter will be at least two hundred times that of your ball."
Nezha and Fire-Tipped Spear almost slipped out of my hand.
Two hundred times.
The ball almost collapsed at 73% of the first layer Heavenly Net Star Domain.
Two hundred times the size, all activated, what kind of things can be blown up, Nezha doesn't want to count.
The sickly grayish white on Kelān's face has faded a little, becoming almost transparent.
"That's not Forbidden Artifact."
All three people's eyes turned to her.
"That's part of the door."
From far below Dharma Platform came Tongtian's shouts of arranging for Heavenly Soldier to restore his soul mark. The sound was vague, as if there was a layer of water between them.
Gu Changqing stared at Kelān for two breaths, then removed his right hand from his cuff.
"Part of the door? Leaking out?"
"It's not leaking, it was removed. Someone removed the door components bit by bit from the door and sent them outside. The Chip and Formation fragments that Thief Race picked up are all small parts. The one in the city Savage Star Domain is a big piece."
"Who broke down the door?"
Kelān's mouth closed for a moment.
The speed of the miniature Star Map in the silver-gray pupils slowed down, one circle, two circles, and almost stopped.
"I'm not sure, but my father said something before he died."
"What words?"
"He said there was not only something pushing on the other side of the door, but also someone tearing it down. He had seen the one pushing it, and he could not see the face of the one tearing it down until he died."
Communication Array was quiet for three beats.
Yang Jian's voice came out again, and his tone was much calmer, but he was holding on to every word.
"Master, the Formation barrier of this city is exactly the same as the Runes system on the fragments I brought back. I am confident that I can find the weak point of the barrier within twelve Shichen."
"No need to look for it."
Gu Changqing maintained the connection between Communication Array, took out the black Chip from his arms, and turned it twice on his fingertips.
"Tongtian, Yang Jian, just retreat to the edge of Sixty-First Star Domain and guard it. Don't touch that city."
"Master?" Tongtian's voice contained doubts that A Trace didn't hide.
"There is a door component in that city. If you touch it, it may trigger a chain reaction. Your Cultivation cannot withstand that level of backlash."
Tongtian said nothing, and there were two responses from Magic Formation.
Nezha has been standing nearby for a long time, rubbing his fingers back and forth on the barrel of the gun.
"Master, do you plan to go by yourself?"
"Let's talk about it when we get back."
Gu Changqing put Chip away and walked towards the outskirts of the plain.
Nezha followed, took two steps and looked back at Kelān who was still standing on Dharma Platform.
"Master, what should she do?"
Gu Changqing didn't stop.
"Bring it on."
Nezha curled his lips, and Wind-Fire Wheels jumped up to Dharma Platform and raised his chin towards Kelān.
"Follow me, don't run away, I won't be lenient if you run away."
Kelān jumped off Dharma Platform, his gray cloak flipped in the air, and it was so light that it didn't even raise dust when he landed.
When the three people were walking out of the plain, a commotion suddenly came from behind Dharma Platform.
A group of believers broke through Heavenly Soldier's interception line and stumbled towards this side.
Running at the front was an old woman with gray hair. Her knees were covered in mud. She had obviously crawled all the way here on her knees.
"Master Patriarch."
The old woman's voice was as hoarse as sandpaper. She threw herself three feet away in front of Gu Changqing and fell down. Her forehead hit the dirt with a bang.
"The old woman was blind. She believed those Monster's words and handed over all her soul marks. The old woman deserves to die."
Hundreds of people who came up from behind also knelt down. Some were crying, some were kowtowing, and some held the hands of those around them and kept saying sorry.
Gu Changqing stopped.
The old woman was still kowtowing, the skin on her forehead was broken, and blood mixed with mud was dripping down.
"Stop knocking."
Gu Changqing's voice was not serious, but the old woman's movements still stopped.
"The soul mark will be returned to you. There is no need to kowtow or confess."
The old woman raised her head, her face covered with mud and blood, and the tears in her eyes washed out two ditches of mud.
"Master Patriarch, don't you blame us?"
"What's the blame? The liar is so capable. It's not your fault that you can't see through it."
The old woman's mouth was trembling, and she was having trouble speaking. She could only repeat one word repeatedly.
"Thank you, thank you..."
Some people in the kneeling crowd at the back began to cry loudly.
The system beep sounded in my head.
"Ding, large-scale spontaneous Faith feedback detected."
"Ding, Heavenly Net Star Domain Wangyue Star Clear Firmament Plains area, 430 million believers feel strong feelings of repentance and gratitude at the same time."
"Ding, Vow Power influx rate has reached its peak, current real-time increment: 12 million points per interest."
The numbers are still jumping up.
Nezha looked back at the sea of kneeling people and opened his mouth without saying a word.
More than 400 million Vow Power were poured in at the same time. That number was too big for him to wrap his head around.
Kelān stood two steps away, his silver-grey pupils staring at the kneeling believers, staring at the invisible white light spots steaming up from their bodies.
The light spots floated upward like snow, so dense that even the sky could not be seen clearly.
Her lips moved, and the sound was only audible to herself.
"This is the real Vow Power."