Chapter 80: Another Mass of Demonic Flame

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Looking at the bustling crowd around them, the two who had originally come with the throng suddenly felt out of place.

“Why are you pushing? Are you in such a rush to die? Queue up properly into four lines, one per person, take it!”

Armored guards at the exit stood in five rows, dividing the departing people into four outbound teams. They continuously handed out black cloth pouches of various sizes to those who had just emerged.

On the city wall above the passage, armored guards also took turns shouting: “The black cloth pouches are special light-blocking pouches, as marked in your booklets. They are for storing Chongjijing. Chongjijing cannot be exposed to light; it will escape as soon as it sees light and will only settle down when placed in a light-proof environment.

Inside the pouch is a mother-child talisman, temporarily transferred from the Royal Court’s resources. This item is very expensive and must be returned after the conference. Many people might not have used a mother-child talisman before; if you don't know how to use it, refer to the booklet provided to you. Instructions are there, and also in the rules.”

Shi Chun, who had received a pouch, walked forward with the team while tearing open its mouth. He pulled out a palm-sized, bronze-mirror-like object with yin-yang dividing patterns. One side was rough, the other smooth as a mirror, but its color was jet black, making it unusable as a mirror.

He had read the distributed booklet and knew this object could be split in half, with the other half given to a contact person. This allowed both parties to communicate remotely. However, it would lose its function if separated by a barrier, and it was said that a barrier had been set up for this competition venue to prevent communication with the outside world.

It also couldn't be used to contact if separated across different planes; for example, this Northern Wilderness and the Royal Capital were not in the same world.

Earlier, Bai Shuchuan of Jieyun Mountain had told his partners that although this mother-child talisman was good, if in a risk zone, it should be avoided as much as possible, because once a team member fell into the hands of an enemy, this thing could lead to their demise.

Bai Shuchuan admonished everyone not to use this item to transmit confidential messages unless absolutely necessary.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang had certainly learned their lesson. This trip had truly opened their eyes, allowing them to see many things they had never encountered before, and even use high-end items they might not have a chance to use again in the future.

Inside the main parade ground, seeing the scene of black pouches being distributed on the screen and unable to hear the sound, Lan Qiaoyan couldn't help but ask her husband beside her, “What are those black pouches for?”

Miao Dingyi glanced at his equally curious daughter and replied, “They’re for storing Chongjijing. Chongjijing only settles down when it’s not exposed to light.”

Miao Yilan then asked, “Father, how much Chongjijing can so many people find?”

Miao Dingyi replied, “There's no fixed number. Chongjijing comes from beyond the heavens; there's a saying that compares it to a meteor, exhausted after traveling through the stars. The Western Extremity is their temporary resting place; once they recover their strength, they fly back into the starry sky. Upon landing, they bore into the ground, and as soon as they leave the ground, they immediately travel to the starry sky to wander. When quiet, they are like stones buried underground, not easy to find. Otherwise, with the power of Sheng Shenzhou, how could the refining of Xun Gate just happen to lack this ingredient?

Among these million people, most are probably just here for show. If they manage to accumulate 10,000 Chongjijing in the end, that would be good. Of course, this is the first time I've heard of such a massive workforce being deployed to search the Western Extremity; perhaps there will be different results.”

Miao Yilan nodded slightly, feeling like she had learned something new. Her gaze, slightly searching, once again turned to the light screen in the sky.

Inside the training ground, a few more people entered and found a corner seat. Among them, the woman veiled in a cloak was Feng Chi, who had infiltrated by using a sect identity to observe the event.

Just then, a scroll suddenly descended from the sky. It was an iron scroll with a metallic sheen, slowly unrolling and expanding with the wind, becoming enormous. The patterns on the scroll were ancient and simple. It passed through the light screen in the air and slowly hovered at a height of over ten zhang above the training ground.

On the fully unfurled scroll, it looked as if countless insects and ants were swarming in a nest, making one’s scalp tingle. Once it settled, it became an overhead topographical map of the land, with mountains, rivers, and various undulating terrains presented in detail.

Around the topographical map, thirty orbs of light were distributed. Later, as light dots within the orbs slowly moved into the map, everyone understood by comparing it with the changing images on the light screen above: the Heavenly Meteor Shower Conference had officially begun, and the light dots on the scroll represented people.

For this conference, the Royal Court had ordered the temporary erection of thirty Xun Gate passages around the Western Extremity venue to prevent everyone from gathering in one place.

Some Xun Gate arrival points had already started letting people in, while some points were still being prepared. The participants from Shengzhou were still waiting.

Shi Chun in the crowd kept looking back and forth. Suddenly, he froze, meeting eyes with someone in the crowd behind him. It was none other than Sun Shigang, who had previously harassed Xiang Lan'er. He happened to be looking at Shi Chun and revealed a clearly malicious grin.

Encountering such a person, Shi Chun was speechless. This enmity had truly formed somewhat inexplicably.

Temporarily ignoring this troublesome fellow, and since he was with the Jieyun Mountain group, the other party couldn't do anything to him for the time being. He now had more important things to do, perhaps concerning the life and death of this trip, so he continued to look around and observe.

Wu Jinliang, who was beside him, quickly noticed his abnormality and whispered, “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve lost your soul.”

Xiang Lan'er, who was in front, heard the sound and looked back at the two of them.

Shi Chun hinted, “I can’t get nervous.”

He now wanted to use his right eye's special ability to find people from the Demonic Path. Since Xiang Lan'er said there would be people from the Demonic Path protecting them, he could conclude that there must be hidden Demonic Path members around Xiang Lan'er.

Who could it be? He worried that once the event began and people dispersed, it would be harder to find his target. Therefore, he wanted to identify the target now, but his right eye's ability still wouldn't activate. So he had to try observing the reactions of people around him, to see if he could find any clues.

Wu Jinliang immediately understood his meaning. This was a scheme; he wanted to activate his right eye's miraculous function. He immediately pursed his lips towards Xiang Lan'er in front, signaling, “Didn’t it work last time? Just try again, this is better.” As he spoke, he chuckled to himself, his laughter appearing rather vulgar.

Shi Chun rolled his eyes at him. “There are so many people, we’re in a crowd.”

He was reminding the other party that they were surrounded by people, and if he dared to reach out, he would be discovered.

“You have me,” Wu Jinliang said, then raised his hand and patted the large saber he was holding beside him, and brazenly said, “Do you really think my big saber is just for show?”

Shi Chun was startled. “Ah, yes.” This fellow carried such a large barrier with him; combined with his body helping to block, it was worth a try. He immediately nodded slightly in approval. He took a step forward first, moving closer to Xiang Lan'er, and slightly turned sideways to block the view of people on one side.

Wu Jinliang was cooperative. He shifted his body to block half of Shi Chun's body, and with his large cleaver, dragged and then stood upright, he could completely block all views from the other side.

With a secure environment, Shi Chun's hand slowly lifted again, slowly moving towards Xiang Lan'er's bottom, and carefully watching Xiang Lan'er's reaction from time to time.

His extremely cautious manner amused Wu Jinliang, who was watching him with downcast eyes.

That hand approached then moved away, moved away then approached, yet he didn't dare to actually touch Xiang Lan'er's bottom in public. After several repetitions, Shi Chun not only felt no nervousness at all, but instead became anxious; the more anxious he got, the less nervous he could become.

He also realized that doing this for the first time was fine—it did induce some nervousness—but with his psychological resilience, after experiencing it once, a second attempt was somewhat ineffective.

Just then, Wu Jinliang suddenly struck. *Smack!* He slapped the back of Shi Chun's repeatedly moving hand, forcibly pushing him, helping him achieve his goal.

Shi Chun never dreamed this would happen. Thankfully, he reflexively withdrew his hand in an emergency, as if rebounding. It almost scared him to death; his soul almost floated away from fright. Visibly, he was just a hair's breadth away from actually touching her.

As he glared back at Wu Jinliang, he also raised a hand to his forehead. The splitting headache, the feeling of countless insects and ants gnawing at his spinal cord, had returned.

With such a big commotion happening behind her, Xiang Lan'er wasn't deaf. She turned her head to look at the two, a suspicious expression on her face. “What are you two doing?”

Wu Jinliang grinned widely and chuckled, “Nothing, his hands are just itchy.”

This hint was quite alarming. Shi Chun, without thinking, reached for his waist, dug in like an eagle’s claw, and firmly grasped one of his ribs.

Wu Jinliang's eyes almost popped out from the pain. Then he reached out and grabbed Shi Chun's wrist. With his superior cultivation, he easily pried open Shi Chun's grip and quipped, “Well, did it work or not?”

He was quite pleased that he too had a day when he could overpower the chief of East Nine Plains.

Shi Chun withdrew his hand. He was too lazy to argue with him now; important matters came first, and he began to scrutinize everyone around him.

Xiang Lan'er didn't know what tricks the two were up to. After a brief look, she turned her attention back to the front.

Shi Chun again saw the black flame within her body. Then he looked down at the corresponding part of his own body, secretly wondering, "I am also a member of the Demonic Path, so why don't I have that illusory demonic flame representing the Demonic Path within me?"

Temporarily putting that concern aside, he meticulously searched for other people around him. Soon, his turning head and gaze suddenly fixated.

As he expected, he really saw another demonic flame.

Although there were layers of hazy, humanoid mist obscuring it, he could still see the approximate outline of the demonic flame through the hazy translucence.

He closed his right eye and used his left eye to see the person associated with the demonic flame.

Sun Shigang also looked at him, feeling a bit strange. He didn't know what that fellow was doing, constantly blinking at him, left eye then right eye, back and forth. “What does that mean? Is he hinting at something?” No, it didn't seem like it; the blinking was too obvious to be a hint.

Sun Shigang was actually from the Demonic Path? Shi Chun, slowly turning his head back, felt a slight shock. He then looked at Xiang Lan'er. He couldn't help but recall the scene when these two had clashed. Two Demonic Path members just happened to clash. Were they Demonic Path members from different factions who didn't know each other?

The incident where Sun Shigang had inexplicably targeted him—he had found it a bit strange before, but now he seemed to have some answers. That wasn't an accident; Xiang Lan'er and her Demonic Path group were up to something.

Although he didn't know what they were planning, he could feel it wasn't good. If it were good, Xiang Lan'er wouldn't need to hide it; they were comrades after all. And Sun Shigang had displayed hostile behavior, so his actions naturally leaned towards hostility.

He turned his head again to look at the few fellow disciples beside Sun Shigang. Strange, Sun Shigang's companions didn't have demonic flames.

He looked around again, checking repeatedly. Only Xiang Lan'er and Sun Shigang had demonic flames on them. What was going on? The Demonic Path couldn't possibly just send a Sun Shigang whose cultivation couldn't be absolutely suppressed to escort them, right?

As he repeatedly pondered while enduring his headache, on the city wall behind them, a man in golden armor appeared. He raised a two-foot-long black metal command arrow with a wave of his hand. A cloud-like black mist burst forth from the command arrow, drifted towards the empty space in front, and conjured a transparent, shield-like wave out of thin air.