174. Awakening
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Zhurong Fen was no more.
Near ten seconds passed before Luoyin finally drew a breath.
But he remained still.
It was almost as if he couldn't believe it was over, and he stood there calmly, his long silvery hair and light blue robes gently swaying in the wind.
"Is she really gone...?" He wondered aloud.
~"Xiaobai, is everything over?"~ Old man Bao's calm voice found him. ~"We've all seen your dragon light, and the rampaging demons seem to have lost their strength."~
~"Umh! It's easy to destroy them now, and even the oppressive demon aura in the air has dwindled!"~ Kai Zhen put in.
Yet Luoyin still didn't move a muscle.
He couldn't explain it, but something felt off, and the hairs at the back of his neck was rising with unease.
'Destroy the body!' He instantly thought.
Among the truly powerful, overlooking an easy defeat might spell trouble!
But when he directed a jet of his blue aura at Zhurong Fen's lifeless form, it was immediately repelled, revealing a clear crystal shield surrounding her.
The sight of the shield had Luoyin's brows diving into a sharp furrow.
'My crystal shield...?!' His eyes narrowed at the barrier, which resembled his and even faintly bore his aura.
'Not good!' He shielded himself and hastily leapt away as a wave of dense demonic aura sprang from Zhurong Fen's lifeless body.
There was a sudden pulse from the body which glowed a dull blue, and an endless flow of black wraiths emanated from it, rising into a massive dark whirlwind.
"Yin Xiaolong, I must thank you as well!" A deep evil voice echoed, reverberating across the entire city.
The whirlwind of dark smoke convulsed and folded in on itself, diving back down and into the shield, blocking the corpse from view.
And then they vanished completely, along with any sign of Zhurong Fen.
~"Lao Bao! Be alert!"~ Luoyin instantly warned as the ground quaked beneath his feet. ~"There's still something wrong!"~
The strong scent of flowers filled the air and all the trees began to phase away, to be replaced by ruins.
'A Floral illusion!' Luoyin realized.
The clearing from before had been an ultra powerful illusion- an illusion powerful enough to deceive even his Yuan Jing technique!
As he leapt away, Yu Shui Lake finally materialized before him.
Instead of the magnificent and beautiful jade blue scenic water which earned the city its name, the real Yu Shui lake was blood red, its surface partly covered by a dense white mist, giving it a chilling atmosphere.
Even the beautiful white lillies which had floated atop the fake jade-like lake, were all eerie and rotted, reddened to match this blood-like lake.
Right in front of the lake, a bright red formation suddenly flared to life, it's creeping jagged lines spreading out and crawling throughout the entire city.
"Xiaobai!" Old man Bao suddenly appeared beside him, bringing Kai Zhen with him.
"What is happening?!" Kai Zhen asked.
"I fear," Luoyin began, "...that the Demon King is somehow awakening!"
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Meanwhile, at Yu Shui City's Arena...
After the magnificent pillar of light announced Luoyin's awakening as an immortal, the arena had returned to the dark of night.
The linked meditations came to an end and Weiyan, Yinying, and the Swallows all cheered at their success!
The arena calmed after that, and the Swallows milled around the platform, mostly making small talk on the turn of events, and whether Luoyin would really be able to defeat Zhurong Fen.
Yinying stood some distance away, studying himself in awe. After Luoyin's ascent, Yinying's original powers had come flooding back and he had even risen several levels in Beast terms!
As for Xu Weiyan...
She might have chewed her thumbs off in anxiety, if she didn't constantly remember Xu Furen's admonitions against such bad habits.
It was a ridiculous thing to recall at a time like this, but as her thumb made its way towards her lips for the twentieth or thirtieth time, she heard that warning again.
She let out a sigh, sparing her thumb, but her irises darted left and right, as if expecting Luoyin to manifest out of the surrounding mist.
"My Lady, please calm yourself!" Yinying placed a hand on her shoulder. "Even if you ignore the pearl, I'm still here, aren't I? If Xiaobai falls into danger, I would know!
"And if anything happens to him, I won't survive it either!" He stepped to her front.
"Let me tell you, the Dragon Pearl within you feels even more powerful, and look!" He transformed to his black tiger form, showing off bold and elegant gold streaks in his fur.
"I'm at a higher level! Be assured! Xiaobai is not in any danger!"
But Weiyan sighed yet again.
She had utter confidence in Luoyin.
He was powerful, and was one to succeed when he was determined.
But she couldn't help but worry, and certainly didn't like the thought him facing Zhurong Fen alone!
However, she also knew what was at stake and couldn't stop him for her own selfishness...
And besides, the dragon pearl within her indeed felt more powerful than ever, and even the dense demonic air surrounding the city was getting lighter and lighter.
"My Lady, watch out!" Yinying warned, swiftly tugging Weiyan away as the floor gave way beneath her feet.
There was a sudden quake, and brilliant red lines suddenly fanned through the entire city.
"It's a formation!" One of the Swallows observed, and this was soon followed by an even denser demonic wave of aura.
'This aura is-!' Weiyan's eyes widened in fear, her hairs rising on end.
The demon aura awakened a deep sense of foreboding in her... deeper even than her own consciousness, and her eyes suddenly glowed a bright white.
The phoenix symbol reappeared on her forehead, but blazed brighter, showing a myriad of colours, and layers of her bright white flames surrounded her.
Weiyan suddenly found herself at the edge of a deadly cliff.
It overlooked a deep and dark abyss and she instinctively stepped away!
...except, her body didn't move a single inch...
She suddenly had no control of her body!
Weiyan sighed.
This long day of surprises held far too many revelations, so finding herself here was more exasperating than frightening.
'What is happening now...?' She wondered as her limbs stubbornly remained in an alert combat stance, and her head turned against her will, looking about.
Surrounding her was death and distruction, with dying immortals lying in every direction, their lifeforces ebbing away.
Several of the Sky Realm Jade tokens lying about revealed that these were Immortals in the Universal Tier...
And yet something- or someone- had reduced them to this state?!
A cold and sharp laugh had her head snapping up and her eyes narrowed at a dark figure approaching, his stark black hair and robes surrounded by swirls of black demonic aura.
The power rolling off him was immense- stronger than anything Weiyan had ever seen, and every single one of his steps sent an outward wave of aura which nearly brought her to her knees.
"War deity... was it? You've been promoted since I last saw you. Why don't you keep fighting?" There was a sneer in his voice.
"Is this all the immortals can muster? Isn't sky realm at the end of its rope?!" His voice suddenly rang with a sharp rumble, causing a bit of the cliff floor behind Weiyan to crumble into the Abyss.
From within the body which was hers, and yet not hers, Weiyan could guess what was happening...
She was in the body of the previous War Deity who had stopped the Demon King in the past, and this was likely that very scene... A memory over five hundred thousand years old!
So this approaching figure was certainly the Demon King... His aura, though several times more powerful, was all too familiar.
But from within this body of the Ancient War Deity, only one thing bothered Weiyan as her eyes fell on the Demon King's face.
'N-... No way!'
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