The sky was undergoing a cataclysmic change!
As if seized by an invisible giant hand, everything lost its original rhythm in an instant.
Wind, sound, even light and shadow all stagnated.
The daylight was swallowed by a layer of clouds spreading out at breakneck speed.
A blood-red sea of clouds, thick enough to have a tangible texture, stacked layer upon layer like coagulated flesh, blanketing the high sky, suffocating.
The entire space felt sealed off.
Lin Hong looked up, watching this unfold in just a minute or two.
The corner of his mouth twitched fiercely, and he almost wanted to slap himself.
“Did my mouth… get blessed?”
He had just thought the calm was unnatural, that something big was likely coming, and sure enough, it arrived, as if his words had become reality.
And this time, it wasn’t just any big thing.
He could sense something deep within the thick blood-red clouds—something gestating, taking shape, slowly squeezing the boundaries of the present world.
It was about to succeed! Otherwise, it wouldn’t so blatantly manifest celestial phenomena, soaking the entire sky and earth.
Lin Hong’s expression turned grave.
This enemy was too terrifying, likely a true incarnation of the Evil Clan itself, existing on a different dimension from him now.
!!!
An indescribable pressure slowly descended from the firmament above.
It was a crushing force born from the hierarchy of laws—as if a lofty god had cast its gaze upon the ground, making every living being below tremble and submit.
In an instant, a faint halo of light flowed over Lin Hong’s skin.
Innate and acquired energies densely covered his body to resist the pressure.
Inside his body, both inner circulations activated to their limits for the first time since they were born.
Never before had they felt such terrifying pressure—like a divine mountain hanging over his head, ready to crash down at any moment.
Both inner circulations frantically produced energy, instinctively fighting back.
Lin Hong stood in the courtyard, muscles taut, the hem of his clothes fluttering without wind.
In short, he could still move, run, jump, even fight.
But the gap in life level was there.
All the energy in his body was in opposition, his perception severely limited, unable to spread far.
His spiritual energy was suppressed within a few zhang around him, unable to expand further.
He looked around.
As far as his eyes could see, some villagers and a few students who hadn’t yet left had all collapsed to the ground, trembling violently, their faces pale as paper.
Some with weaker constitutions had already fainted outright.
Their souls were unstable, seeming ready to leave their bodies at any moment, to be swallowed into the clouds as nourishment.
Lin Hong’s gaze turned slightly heavy.
He quietly made a move, doing what he could to protect them.
Meanwhile, in the old mansion, the commotion grew louder.
Celestia, this imperial princess, had a cool, holy temperament, but now she looked more and more like a giant lightbulb.
The divine radiance within her body was out of control, surging on its own.
Whoosh!
Sacred light spilled from her body—the instinctive reaction of divine power encountering the aura of its natural enemy.
Brilliant light poured out, illuminating the area and even briefly diluting the oppressive atmosphere.
Yet her own expression was extremely grave.
Because she possessed divine power, she understood perfectly what this situation meant.
A god was attempting to descend into the present world!
On the other side.
“I feel like I’ve run into the biggest trouble of my life!” murmured Huiyi Ren.
At this moment, the eleven fifth-rank royal knights and three sixth-rank experts had long lost their composure, their minds in turmoil.
Their understanding and manipulation of heaven and earth’s energy far exceeded ordinary people’s, so they knew better what was happening in the sky above.
An energy of terrifying magnitude was gathering!
As if something that didn’t belong to the present world was pushing against the rejection of the laws, trying to force its way in.
That thing was absolutely supreme terror!
Its very existence already suppressed all laws and order.
Dou Qi stagnated.
Even the natural energy cycles of heaven and earth were thrown into chaos.
The expressions of the fourteen imperial experts were extremely ugly.
Especially the three sixth-rank figures.
Their faces were ashen, and for the first time, genuine alarm flickered in their eyes.
Yet even so, in just a few short breaths, they made their decision.
No matter what that thing in the sky was, even if it was the Evil God itself, they had to meet it head-on.
They couldn’t let it truly descend!
Once that thing fully entered the present world, not just this area, but the entire continent would fall into chaos!
The three exchanged glances, nodded slightly, and three terrifying auras surged from their bodies simultaneously.
That was Dou Qi fluctuation completely surpassing the fifth rank—powerful and condensed, starting to draw on the energy of heaven and earth for their own use.
The three stepped forward simultaneously, heading toward the sky.
Under their feet, the air spontaneously solidified, creating ripples that formed countless invisible steps.
The three walked through the void as if on level ground.
With each step, their bodies rose higher, as if climbing an invisible staircase, ascending all the way to the sky.
This sight shook the hearts of many who still retained some awareness.
Lin Hong was also slightly surprised.
It seemed that in this world, every rank after the fifth was a qualitative change.
If the fifth rank allowed one to condense energy wings and initially break free from the earth’s bonds, then the sixth rank truly began to contact and utilize higher-level heavenly and earthly forces.
On the other side, the eleven royal knights didn’t hesitate for a moment.
Even though nine of them had only just recovered not long ago, they now unfurled their energy wings with a bang.
Eleven powerful auras rose into the air simultaneously!
None of the fourteen imperial experts retreated.
They turned into over a dozen streaks of light, tearing through the heavy, oppressive air, and charged straight toward the thickest, most concentrated core of the blood-red clouds!
Below.
Lin Hong looked up at this scene and couldn’t help but click his tongue.
“The tables have turned. Now I’ve become a powerless spectator.”
He wanted to join the fight, but his hardware didn’t support it.
He could leap high and far, use air currents to shift and maneuver while in the air, and even maintain suspension with the support of spiritual energy.
But in the end, he couldn’t truly fly freely.
That was awkward—the battlefield was high in the sky.
Lin Hong watched the dozen streaks of light plunge into the blood clouds, and his usual lazy demeanor vanished.
Just then, he suddenly sensed something and turned his head toward his shoulder.
A small figure was sitting on his shoulder.
It was a mini youth, his entire body shrouded in a faint glow, his features blurry and indistinct.
At the moment, he was sitting cross-legged with his arms folded on Lin Hong’s shoulder, wearing an air of old-fashioned maturity as he looked up at the sky.
The corner of Lin Hong’s eye twitched.
“…Xiao Ban?”
The little figure didn’t turn his head, but his voice came through—slightly youthful, with a tone that seemed like the type a priest in this world might favor.
“It’s me.”
“…”
Lin Hong felt a numb sensation.
So he had really evolved to the point of taking form?
He glanced left and right, quickly confirming that only he could see it.
So he spoke directly: “Didn’t you say I should go slay a god? As you can see, I’m not there yet. My strength hasn’t reached that stage.”
The little youth on his shoulder still held his arms, looking quite calm.
“Can’t the host sense it? Up there isn’t the full body of the Evil God—just a partial manifestation of its will, about a third or so.”
Lin Hong rolled his eyes.
“You make it sound so easy. I can only tell that I’m no match. The gap in raw power is too far. Even giving my all, I couldn’t win.”
“You can.”
Lin Hong blinked. “…What?”
“You can. There’s a way.”
The youth nodded, his tone certain.
“And the method comes from the host himself.”
Lin Hong was dumbfounded.
Who?
Him?
How did he not know he was that awesome?
The youth formed from the panel didn’t explain.
Instead, he slowly raised a small hand.
The next instant, a tiny, brilliant point of light emerged from his palm.
That light was so condensed, like a miniature star hovering above his fingertip.
Although it was very small, it emitted a powerful energy.
In that moment, Lin Hong’s heart shook violently.
An indescribable sense of familiarity surged up, as if that thing had always belonged to him.
Not as if.
It was his thing.
The panel youth looked at the speck of light in his palm, and for the first time, his voice carried a hint of deep meaning.
“This is a drop of your blood.”
“A long time ago, you personally entrusted it to me for safekeeping, to deal with today’s events.”