The massive wind blades howled, invisible currents solidifying into tangible forces capable of crushing all in their path. This wasn't a gentle breeze; it was a destructive tempest.
Solid objects on the ground were lifted into the air, hurtling towards Ning Huai. But the onslaught from Lu Yan didn't halt there. With a slight tap of his staff, he uttered another word, "Fire."
Wind fueled the flames as they soared skyward, tongues of fire licking the air and scorching Ning Huai's skin. Despite a brief pause, Ning Huai charged recklessly towards Lu Yan, his body still ablaze, hair and eyebrows singed, leaving only his three pairs of eyes intact.
He reached out for Lu Yan's ankle, but in that moment, Lu Yan ascended into the air, his wings trembling slightly, head tilted down, exuding a disdainful air.
Ning Huai roared, "Lu Yan!"
His eyes filled with fury, all three pairs fixed firmly on the figure in the air. Despite not recalling what the Green Bird looked like anymore, the moment he saw him again, Ning Huai knew he had found his target.
But Lu Yan simply said calmly, "Earth."
Chunks of earth rose from the ground, adhering to Ning Huai's lower limbs like living appendages, restraining his movements like hands gripping tightly.
This was just a spawn.
Ten years ago, Lu Yan and Ning Huai were evenly matched. Ten years later, Lu Yan had become a pollutant, and even though Ning Huai had made progress, the Green Bird seemed only stronger.
Ning Huai opened his mouth, emitting a wounded beast-like roar, "I am... Ning Huai!"
Lu Yan's lips twitched slightly, pausing before uttering the next word, "Fire."
A blaze of green fire erupted, towering into the sky, resembling a blooming lotus flower. At the heart of the flames, Ning Huai's spawn began to melt under the intense heat, revealing the raw, red flesh underneath.
Injury to the spawn did not cause pain to the main body. Yet at this moment, Ning Huai felt an unbearable agony.
He severed the mental connection with the spawn, doubling over and gasping for breath.
Meng Hu was tense. "Ning, are you okay?"
Ning Huai gripped the spear in his hand, slowly straightening his posture.
"On the path to the true master, there are spiritual attacks aplenty. Within the Divine Realm, there are three areas, what I call the Inner and Outer Realms. The first is the Outer Realm, resembling normal streets, likely the real world. Some pollutants exist there, but generally manageable at B-level."
"The second area, the Inner Realm, evokes pleasant memories, causing one to lose themselves. Falling here could lead to forgetting one's true self and becoming a pollutant."
"The third area..." Ning Huai unconsciously tightened his grip on the spear, "You can already see the true master. However, there are formidable Divine Realm guards around. All pollutants. Here, I saw... Lu Yan."
"Furthermore, the white mist within the Divine Realm has a certain effect on the human body. Preliminary assessment suggests it weakens and induces hallucinations."
[He's mostly correct, but there's a slight mistake. The first two areas are actually both part of the Inner Realm. They are illusions based on one's real-life experiences.]
If Lu Yan had followed the spawn in, he would probably see Ning Huai in the first area, throwing punches and kicks at thin air.
The chaotic ruin Ning Huai saw was the true current state of the Divine Realm. If it weren't for the True Master's intrusion into Lu Yan's consciousness earlier, it wouldn't have collapsed so thoroughly.
Meng Hu's tiger-like body trembled. "Lu... didn't he already sacrifice himself?"
Bloodshot eyes filled with undisguised hatred, Ning Huai replied, "Yes. That's why I must make the True Master pay."
Though reluctant to accept it, in just a few brief encounters, Ning Huai understood one thing: Lu Yan was Lu Yan, and a pollutant was a pollutant. What he saw now was just a monster wearing Lu Yan's shell.
Quickly composing himself, Ning Huai opened his earpiece, despite knowing there would be no response, and reported stubbornly, "Headquarters, this is 'Alpha.' It is now October 11th, 21st New Calendar. Myself, along with team members Meng Hu and Di Ting, are about to execute the second Divine Realm operation. Report complete."
Ning Huai used to study nuclear physics, so when assigning codenames, he instinctively chose "Alpha," after the alpha particle. Later, he was informed that "Alpha" couldn't be displayed in the system, so it was changed to simply "Alpha."
-
Ning Huai led the way, with Meng Hu bringing up the rear. Lu Yan naturally found himself placed in the middle.
He had the lowest spiritual threshold among the team members and wasn't geared for combat, a fact that both of the others found quite reasonable.
[System: "It doesn't really matter which way you go; you're definitely going to get separated anyway."]
Sure enough, within a few minutes of entering the mist, Ning Huai and Meng Hu chose different directions and started running at full speed.
In their view, they were still walking in a straight line.
["Because of the 'Eye' talent, you won't experience hallucinations."]
["But I don't advise you to be the first to reach the final area. You won't stand a chance."]
Although the first two areas were illusions created by the True Master, the pollutants guarding the True Master's domain were very real.
There were a total of ten guards in the Central Divine Court. Four had already been killed during the previous encounter in the hunting ground, and Ning Huai's spawn had taken care of two more when it entered the Divine Realm. Now, only four remained.
Among them, the most difficult to deal with was the Green Bird.
[When the Green Bird was still a Harbinger, his spiritual threshold was 9200. Now, besides the True Master, he's the only pollutant in the Divine Realm with a pollution value exceeding ten thousand... Oh, sorry, the True Master's pollution value hasn't reached ten thousand yet. He's injured and hasn't fully recovered.]
The remaining pollutants generally had pollution values ranging from 6000 to 7000. There hadn't been much progress compared to before the Divine Realm was sealed off.
In the Divine Realm, not only humans were bred, but also these pollutants.
As human Harbingers grew stronger over the years, the True Master had to find a way to eliminate high-level pollutants to prevent them from becoming uncontrollable and challenging his rule.
Keeping the Green Bird alive was a result of the increasing strength of human Harbingers over the years.
The suicide attacks by the advance team members, although they didn't kill the True Master, often injured him.
That's why, despite being an S-rank pollutant, the True Master spent most of the year sleeping.
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